Film Review : Fury by David Ayer

Under rated war film with a stand-out soundtrack

image courtesy of Columbia Pictures

 Fury passed relatively unnoticed at  the box office, making modest profits and garnering respectable nods from critics. Recently on Netflix and DVD, this war film is well-worth a second look.

In Fury, Brad Pitt plays 'WarDaddy' ; a veteran tank commander during World War Two, leading a squad of under-armoured Shermans into Germany. The Nazis may have been out-numbered and  losing at this stage, but they still had the edge in tank technology. Monster Tiger tanks are able to shoot through Shermans like butter, and shrug off their own shells like pebbles. The collapsing German front is still laced with fanatical SS, often press-ganging civilians into the last desperate gasp of the Third Reich.

Playing opposite Pitt is the rookie Norman ( Logan Lerman ), a typist drafted into the crew as an emergency replacement. The squad find themselves fighting a desperate delaying action that may well turn out to be the ultimate sacrifice. Perhaps too many shades of Private Ryan ?

In most respects though Fury stands up to Saving Private Ryan and comes off better. It's not as epic in its vision, and is purposely focused on the intimacy of five guys trying to cope with the war in a claustrophobic death-trap. Otherwise it has the same shocking realism that made Saving Private Ryan such a stand-out film in 1998. The soundtrack by Steven Price is one of the best I've heard in a long time and may live with you long after the film. Choral voices and violins are as raw as the brutal imagery.

Like truly great war films though, the most memorable moments are in the brief reposes from the action (excellent though the action scenes are in Fury ). It says a lot about this film that even Shia LaBeouf is convincing as a religious man stubbornly clinging to his faith despite the horror around him. He delivers what is probably the most chilling line in the film when he bluntly tells Norman, in the prelude to battle:
 " Wait till you see it."
"What ?"
" What men can do to each other."
The statement hangs coldly in the air, with a touch of reverence, as if the horror that man has made almost equals God's power.
Jon Bernthal is particularly effective as a frightening black-toothed southerner; the kind of bully you are uncomfortably pleased is on your side. Michael Pena rounds off a solid cast.

Halfway through the film the Americans get a brief respite in a village. A rare moment of domestic comfort occurs as WarDaddy and Norman happen upon a couple of local ladies and enjoy a home-cooked meal and a tune on the piano. When the rest of the crew crash in and ruin the moment, the superiority of the film to Private Ryan is made clearer. War ruins men, turns them into savages. Jon Berthnal's bully sours  the atmosphere like an abused child become the abuser.  Likewise, the scene portrays perhaps the central dilemma of war, or any job associated with violence. How do you fight effectively without losing all your humanity ? When Pitt eats a ruined egg rather than beat Bernthal senseless for licking it, he hints at a way. Yet Pitt, suitably physical, controls his crew with an aura of barely restrained violence, rather than with rank. What he makes Norman do in order to survive is horrifying, yet logical ;  " Do your job" is another line delivered by the crew with chilling banality. Ethics are largely out of the window for now ; especially when fighting the SS on German soil, because hesitation costs American lives.

Grim as it is, Fury ends on a satisfactory note. There's a nod to the humanity left on the other side, and the main characters redeem themselves as best as they can given the circumstances.

My only criticism of the film is we never really get to know much about the characters, but perhaps this is part of the point ; they were all just meat in a giant war-machine. Pitt's character speaks German, and there is a hint this is his heritage, not training. How does it make him feel, to fight Germans in Germany ? We never really find out, though it is hinted at with his visceral hatred of the SS compared to his relative restraint with  civilians. Likewise, the opening scene takes a moment to show him mournfully petting a German horse before regretfully sending it on its way. It's a rare moment of humanity in an otherwise blisteringly raw film, and notably one that shows gentleness to an animal, not a person. In war, people have a role to play, and unfortunately must be treated as such.

8/10

Here's a taste of that special soundtrack :
The War Is Not Over by Steven Price