INTRODUCTION:

In the middle of the burgeoning Vietnamese entertainment industry, Le Van Kiet's Furie
(2019) stands out as a significant move for Vietnamese film to penetrate the Asian action
picture market, with the potential to dominate the worldwide box office in the future. The plot
follows Hai Phuong (played by Ngo Thanh Van), a debt collector who works for a lender in order
to make a living for herself and her daughter. One day, Mai - her beloved daughter is kidnapped
by organ trafficking gangsters leading Hai Phuong is forced to flee to Saigon in a bloody hunt to
save her. During 97 minutes of the movie, the audiences were delved deeper into Hai Phuong’s
backstory. This is because Furie is regarded as a distinctive movie in the reflection of local
cultural factors in the invasion of Western cultural imperialism. Furthermore, great attempts
about feminism theory was stated in the Furie, not only by its story focus on woman's power
but also by “feminine mystique” such as symbols, beliefs, construction or contribution to the
movie success. This helps Furie become the most anticipated blockbusters and further
contribute to the development of the Vietnamese film industry.

ANALYSIS:
Despite its modest budget, Furie captivates viewers in 98 minutes with dramatic action
sequences, shots that fully exploit the natural beauty of regions in Vietnam, especially honoring
the sacred motherhood.
● Cultural Imperialism
Since the 1970s, academics have been debating the topic of cultural imperialism
extensively. In summary, cultural imperialism refers to the invasion of a foreign culture into a
local culture with the intention of elevating something above it. Cultural imperialism, as defined
by Herlihy-Mera, is a practice that aims to turn “the local cultures emblems of a conquering
tribe from 'foreign' to 'natural' domestic”. Furthermore, with the inevitable globalization trend,
cultural imperialism is increasingly developing, especially in the film industries. As a result,
there is a growing convergence or diversification in the film industries of many third-world
emerging markets as cultural imperialism advances, as well as a mutual invasion of cultural
imperialism inside these nations. This has been the direct influence of the rich nations' cultural
imperialism (Chen & Shen 2021, p. 207). On the other hand, mechanical replication under
American cultural imperialism, undermines the true atmosphere of pieces of art in today's
cultural milieu (Chen & Shen 2021, p. 209). This is also the reason many local cinematic
backgrounds allow a free-market or trade paradigm due to the fact that the movie makers
would like to take more advantages and approval from mass audiences when integrating the
foreign culture into the tradition in order to achieve the diversity and artistic goals. Take the
Bollywood film industry as a typical example. The emergence of Indian Bollywood films state
how the film business can combine both indigenous cultural features and Western cultural
imperialism. Bollywood may have a Hollywood base in terms of themes, artists, and foreign
settings, but it retains Indian cultural features such as the use of music and performance in films
and the representation of Indian family ties (Hasan and Nika 2014). In Slumdog Millionaire - a
movie that achieved resounding success at the Oscar Awards is the combination of
individualism in contemporary Western when Jamal - the main character won the “Slumdog
Millionaire” journeys by his knowledge, abilities and full of experience during his likelihood.
Besides that, there are some situations in Anthony Dod Mantle's "Slumdog Millionaire" that are
among the most aesthetically striking scenes caught on film this year. Through Boyle's direction,
Mantle's significantly bigger lensing, the city of Mumbai, which has been cruelly in the news for
deeds not dissimilar to those depicted in this film, is both compassionately and grotesquely
brought to life (Propes 2008).
Hence, in the Furie movie, the single mom “Hai Phuong" with her endless love for her
child fights with the kidnappers and dangerous criminals to save her beloved daughter.
Throughout the film, it is not only “Hai Phuong's non-stop fighting” to save her daughter from
the organ traffickers, but also the help of police soldiers, nurses at the hospital she takes
treatment and local people. This has created both artistics and humanity for the cinematic
picture in the Furie movie. Hofstede (1994) expressed in his theory that collectivism indicates
the integration and connection of an individual into a group, family or society and in turn, the
support of the whole society when any individual needs. As a result, it could be said that “Hai
Phuong" could not successfully save her daughter without help from other people in the
society. Moreover, not only an action movie, “Furie synthesizes family melodrama, revenge,
and acrobatic combat into a story about mothers and children” (comment by Brent McKnight
audience 2020, posted on Rotten Tomatoes Website).

● Feminism film theory

According to Hollinger (2012), feminist film theory have spread to include not just
contemporary Hollywood filmmaking and its different styles, but also avant-garde and
documents, lady film directors, the cinematic mirror image of African American women, foreign
films, homosexual films, and actresses are all represented. Feminist Cinema Studies is an
attempt to explore some of the principles of feminist film literary theory in relation to various
genres of film analysis. Particularly, after the revolution for feminism rights in the 1960s and
1970s, films do not just reflect reality but shapes ideas about gender and sexuality. Friedan
(cited in McCabe 2004, p.5) stated that “feminine mystique” as a journey of search for “truth"
about “natural of feminine roles", promoting self-determination of women and personal
fulfilment rights. In the case of the Furie movie, it can be stated the foremost thing is that this
movie producer is by a woman and also the main actress. Secondly, throughout the film, the
good qualities of mothers in general and Vietnamese women in particular are portrayed in the
most honest way such as sacrifice, love, hard work and courage. This is especially expressed
through the scenes of “Hai Phuong”, despite the danger, fighting with child kidnappers to save
her daughter. Materialistic characters attacking ways through life using violence is another
different feature of the Furie (Hellerman 2019). Furthermore, Ngo Thanh Van - the main actress
also successfully describes the complex psychology of the character from painful traits to
intense, strong and determined ones. This movie is also an evidence of female achievement
which easily tailors specific audiences besides the mass (McCabe 2004, p.9). The Furie recognize
the relevance of legendary women's lives as chances for negotiating and re-inscribing notions
about sexuality on screen, rather than dismissing such prominent subjects as irreconcilable with
a feminist interpretation of history. Furthermore, we consider 'woman' to be a broad term that
embraces a range of gender identities, including trans people like Lili Elbe, who starred in the
2015 movie The Danish Girl (acted by Tom Hooper). Despite backlash for casting cis-gender
man Eddie Redmayne in the part of Elbe,13 the film's ceremony of a transgender pioneer was a
tentative step toward public acceptance of sexual preference self-identification. As criticism
from Victor Stiff (2019), “Veronica Ngo shows a level of acting chops rarely seen in these small-
scale crime flicks. Even if you’re just here for Furie’s action sequences, Ngo has the goods to win
you over. She’s no Liam Neeson in Taken or Denzel Washington in Man on Fire, but her
character possesses elements of both those iconic roles. Hai Phuong comes off as a dark and
brooding badass as she leaves a blood-soaked warpath in her wake”.

DISCUSSION
The Furie is regarded as a movie that has made a notable contribution to the
Vietnamese cinema industry as well as created a blockbuster at the box offices, bringing
Vietnamese cinema far into the international arena. The first contribution lies in its storyline,
not only delivering the goods in its action-heavy tale of a mother’s love for her daughter but it
also deeply reflects cultural values of Asia people that is love, courage and sacrifice for family
from the woman's perspective. Although the director of Furie movie - Mr. Le Van Kiet describes
strong women in positions of control; it has still been worth touching, especially in the scenes
that capture her fear, worriness, hurt and hunger to save her daughter through movie colours,
light and sound. Color is employed liberally and frequently in the rich tradition of Asian action
pictures. It lends a rustic appeal to the rural scenes and a macabre edge to the bright blue
Saigon segments. Despite this, the lighting fails to establish Furie as anything special. Its final
fight's blue and red have been done so many times that it's become a familiar sight in American
action films like John Wick and Atomic Blonde (Carroll 2019). Additionally, the film, directed by
Le-Van Kiet, highlights the distinctive skills of vovinam, Vietnam's traditional martial art (Scott
2019) and hence, it won $8.6 million (200 billion dong) from its domestic release. Finally, the
beauty of Vietnamese landscapes were captured entirely thanks to sharp cinematography.
Countryside Vietnam's brilliant and lush greens are truly stunning, and the cityscape's electric
lighting tries it's hardest to keep up. Kiet uses giallo-like colors to lighten Hai's urban escapades,
creating a disturbing environment as she turns each new spot and confronts each new hazard.
It may not have the financing of a film like Atomic Blonde (2017), but it does have a comparable
vibe with vivid images and an angry, asskicking lady storming through (Hunter 2019). As a
consequence, Furie is a film with a lot of hope and chances, and it lays the ground for Vietnam's
entry into the realm of action films. Particularly, Furie has been selected as Vietnamese
representative for the international feature film category at the 2020 Oscars as well as having a
great receivement in the USA market.

CONCLUSION
With its unique and critical values, it can be said that Furie deserves to stand in the top
priority, creating a breakthrough for the national movie maker. Besides the awards, Furie really
encourages real movie makers to spend not only tangible resources but also passion, enthusiast
to release valuable products for both domestic and international audiences, contributing to
start the first step of emerging into the global market.

REFERENCE
1. Carroll, Andrew 2019, ‘Film Review | Vietnam Enters The Asian Action Scene With Furie’,
Headstuff, 27 May 2019, viewed 30 Nov 2021,
<https://headstuff.org/entertainment/film/furie-review-netflix-vietnam-action/>.

2. Chen, X. & Shen, S. 2021, ‘Review of the Impact of Cultural Imperialism in the Context of
Globalization to the Film Industry’, 2nd International Conference on Language, Art and
Cultural Exchange (ICLACE 2021), 21-23 May 2021, Dali, China.

3. Hasan, A. & Nika, F.A 2014, “Glocalization: A study of Bollywood movies”, International
Journal of Communication and Social Research, vol.2, no.2, pp.55-60.

4. Herlihy-Mera, J. 2018, After American Studies: Rething the Legacies of Transnational

Exceptionalism, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, London & New York.

5. Hofstede, G. 1994, ‘The business of international business is culture’, International

Business Review, vol.3, p. 1-14.
6. Hollinger, Karen 2012, Feminist Film Studies, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, London
& New York.

7. Hunter, Rob 2019, ‘Furie’ s Review: Come for Veronica Ngo, Stay for Veronica Ngo’, Film
School Rejects, 01 Mar 2019, viewed 30 Nov 2021, <https://filmschoolrejects.com/furie-
review/>.

8. McCabe, Janet Elizabeth 2004, Feminist Film Studies: Writing the Woman Into Cinema,
Wallflower Press, London & New York.

9. McKnight, Brent 2020, ‘CRITIC REVIEWS FOR FURIE’, Rotten Tomatoes, 30 June 2020,
viewed 28 Nov 2021, < https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/furie>.

10. Propes, Richard 2008, ‘Slumdog Millionaire Review’, The Independent Critic, viewed 28
Nov 2021, < https://theindependentcritic.com/slumdog_millionaire>.

11. Scott, Mathew 2019, ‘Oscars: Vietnam Selects ‘Furie’ for International Feature Film
Category’, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Sep 2019, viewed 30 Nov 2021,
<https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/2020-oscars-vietnam-
selects-furie-international-feature-film-category-1243222/>.

12. Stiff, Victor 2019, ‘Furie Review: A Gritty Crime Thriller’, That Shelf, 25 June 2019,
viewed 28 Nov 2021, <https://thatshelf.com/furie-review-a-gritty-crime-thriller/>.

13. Zaveri, Rhythm 2019, ‘Film Review: Furie (2019) by Le Van Kiet’, Asian Movie Pulse, 19
Nov 2019, viewed 30 Nov 2021, <https://asianmoviepulse.com/2019/11/film-review-
furie-2019-by-le-van-kiet-2/>.