Constructed in mere days from an old retail space in downtown Surawong, Bangkok, a “police station” stands so convincingly realistic that passerby might have mistaken it as an actual place to file their complaint related to the Patpong red light district next door.
Upon stepping inside, the temporary essence of this structure is evident. It has been transformed into a movie set for the martial arts action epic, “The Furious”. The room has been dressed up as a functioning, albeit worn-down, law enforcement office complete with scuffed grey metal desks, walls adorned with notices: wanted posters, company objectives, job ads and rules. It soon becomes apparent that the film’s story unfolds somewhere in Southeast Asia, as evidenced by the plethora of English text on the walls. Amidst the film props lie bundles of lighting and camera gear, ready to be rolled out for the upcoming scene.
The police station has been scheduled for 18 days out of a 90-day filming period. The setting holds crucial importance in “The Furious” – an exhilarating revenge thriller aimed at reminding audiences that even in the era of high-tech Hollywood, Asian martial arts films remain a formidable competition. The movie is headed by esteemed producer Bill Kong, best known for “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” and “Hero”.
Kong has been successful in rounding up a notable pan-Asian cast of actors and fighters. The film revolves around Tanigaki Kenji, a Japanese action choreographer turned director. Despite being a Japanese national, Tanigaki’s professional journey has been mostly in Hong Kong, making Cantonese, rather than Thai, Japanese or English, the primary language on set.
On the day of Variety’s set visit, the recreated precinct was being utilized for a narrative sequence destined to appear in the film’s final act. The scene details a conversation between two inmates, providing a moment of respite before the climactic showdown. Working within spatial constraints, the setup yet necessitates tri-camera coverage, with reverse angles being heavily featured.
According to the film script, the final act may span 15-20 minutes in total and it is anticipated that all but three minutes of this duration will feature raw, intense action. Kong believes that it’s the drama scenes interspersed between the action that allow the audience to catch their breath and empathize with the characters. He humbly claims that he could never be the director.
Amidst the bustle of the crew, the actual director, Tanigaki is a sight to behold. He can be found hunched down on a small plastic stool, fixated at a collection of monitors decked with wireless connectors and antennae. Tanigaki remains in that spot immobile, scrutinizing every fragment of the recorded scene. As anticipations surge, the scene finally gets rolling; the actors move about in their individual cells, pacing, smoking, stretching and slowly head into their deep conversation. The dialogue remains unheard unless one is either in the cell or earmarked with headphones. Finally, Tanigaki decides to call “cut” in the Hong Kong style.
At once, the calmness evaporates, the noise level spikes and Tanigaki jumps to his feet. He swiftly makes his way towards the stunt crew and actors. He sometimes whips out his mobile phone to display snippets from earlier practice sessions or previous shots to showcase fine details of how certain things should be executed.
Tanigaki, with his boundless energy and robustly athletic build, resembles a Japanese Jackie Chan and is an embodiment of action cinema himself. He has a thorough liking for elongated scenes since they leave room for unexpected magic to occur. However, the absence of editing on the three-camera footage does not fail to catch his attention.
He asserts that his seasoned lineup of actors can wrap up their bit on the very first take. However, he admits of being on the constant lookout for surprising streaks and thus resorts to multiple shots, “Sometimes they happen, he tells Variety.”
Despite working with an experienced cast well acquainted with filming action scenes, Tanigaki is aware of the high stakes he is experimenting with. “In a conventional action movie, we substitute actors with stunt doubles. Here, it’s all actor against actor,” he explains. He acknowledges the tremendous help that intensive prior preparations were in making the choreographed fight scenes appear spontaneous on camera. However, he prefers fine-tuning the moves on set.
He speaks highly of the value of rehearsals which according to him helped in fostering trust among the cast. This understanding made elaborate stunts safer to perform, “We create sequences that appear risky on the screen, but they are not in reality,” he assures.
Such assurances do little to assuage co-producer Todd Brown’s concerns upon his first visit to the set. He appears daunted by the concrete solidness of the police station’s elements, “It doesn’t look as if much is meant to break away,” he opines.
Tanigaki, still grinning from his previous explanation, does not underestimate the seriousness of his work. “I stated earlier that we intend to expand the horizons of martial arts cinema. After covering two-thirds of the shoot, I’m gratified that we are doing just that,” he avows.
Both Tanigaki and Kong are showered with praises upon the Thai staff members. “The Thai crew members are extremely professional and gel very well with the Japanese stunt team,” exclaims Tanigaki. Kong agrees, attributing the cordiality and adaptability of local staff as instrumental in making Thailand a favored destination for international film projects. The movie also features a contingent of Thai actors playing the parts of underlings who come under the heavy blows of the central cast.
Following a successful wrap-up in late July, within its proposed budget under $20 million, the next actions are set to be taken up by Brown and his colleagues at XYZ Films. They anticipate launching the movie’s sales at the forthcoming Toronto International Film Festival, eyeing a 2025 delivery of the completed project.
Brown alludes to a buyer’s meet happening at Toronto where entities such as Netflix are included in the invite, “Obviously, we are aiming for a theatrical release, but we have also kept a buyout price in mind if a streaming platform is eager to acquire the film from us,” he sheds light.
The final product is anticipated to be delivered by the second quarter of 2025, but Brown feels that a premiere at Berlin Film Festival cannot be dismissed outright, “The festival was previously a friendly platform for movies like ours, and I hope it still upholds its origins,” Brown concludes.
Credit: variety.com
