Sudden Fury (1975 film)

Last updated
Sudden Fury
Sudden-fury-canadian-movie-poster-md.jpg
Directed byBrian Damude
Written byBrian Damude
Produced byLawrence J. (Ben) Caza
StarringDominic Hogan
Gay Rowan
Dan Hennessey
CinematographyJames B. Kelly
Edited byDavid Nicholson
Music byMatthew McCauley
Production
company
Film Can Productions
Distributed byAmbassador Film Distributors
Release date
  • November 7, 1975 (1975-11-07)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Sudden Fury is a Canadian thriller drama film directed by Brian Damude and released in 1975. [1]

Contents

The film centres on Fred (Dominic Hogan) and Janet (Gay Rowan), an unhappily married couple who are taking a trip. Fred needs some of Janet's money to invest in a country inn, but after Janet both refuses and reveals that she has been having an extramarital affair, Fred drives the car into the ditch and leaves Janet to die; however, when Al (Dan Hennessey) stops to save her, Fred undertakes a scheme to frame Al for Janet's murder by also setting him up to kill the owners of the farm where Fred has taken refuge. [2]

The film's cast also includes Hollis McLaren, David Yorston, Eric Clavering, Sean McCann, Robin Ward, Steve Weston and Gerry Huckstep.

The film was a Canadian Film Award nominee for Best Motion Picture at the 26th Canadian Film Awards in 1975. [3]

Critical response

Writing for Cinema Canada , Piers Handling wrote that "I started out by saying that Sudden Fury was somewhat of a formula film. It is very much an action film and it becomes more and more so throughout its length, as the visual passages begin to replace dialogue. One of its weaknesses, however, is its occasional wordiness. One of the signs of a true master is sensing when an image can be used to replace dialogue, or when dialogue is superfluous to the visuals. Damude has yet to learn this." He concluded that "there is a raw sense of cinema about Sudden Fury, so even with its lapses it manages to convey its ideas strongly though crudely." [2]

Martin Knelman of The Globe and Mail reviewed the film negatively, writing that "On its own terms, the picture works, but what terms! Sudden Fury is efficient in the naive manner of drugstore mystery-book trash, so the fact that it sells doesn't exactly swell one's heart with pride at the accomplishments of the Canadian film industry." He further opined that "Damude isn't coasting, like the fallen great man Orson Welles, or trying to stretch himself, like the restless Louis Malle. Sudden Fury represents the limit of his aspirations. The fact that something like this could be regarded in some quarters as a breakthrough makes Sudden Fury the most depressing film of the lot." [4]

In his 2003 book A Century of Canadian Cinema, Gerald Pratley called it an "effectively told and cleverly filmed low-budget picture", and a "straightforward but ingenious tale". [1]

Legacy

In October 2019, a restored print of the film was screened at the TIFF Bell Lightbox as part of the See the North film screening series, alongside a talk by Damude about the film. [5] In the same year, Nicole Dorsey used the film as a plot point in her debut film Black Conflux , in a scene featuring the sociopathic lead character Dennis watching Sudden Fury on video. [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time</i> 1975 Canadian film

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time is a Canadian comedy film, directed by John Trent and released in 1975. One of John Candy's earliest films, he plays the minor role of an investigating police officer. However, for marketing/publicity reasons, Candy appears on the cover of the DVD release.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Motion Picture to the best Canadian film of the year.

The Wars is a Canadian drama film, directed by Robin Phillips and released in 1983. An adaptation of the novel The Wars by Timothy Findley, the film centres on Robert Ross, the immature and closeted gay son of an upper class Rosedale family who enlists to serve in the Canadian Army during World War I.

Eclipse is a Canadian drama film, written and directed by Jeremy Podeswa and released in 1994.

Final Assignment is a 1980 Canadian thriller drama film, written by Marc Rosen and directed by Paul Almond.

<i>Face-Off</i> (1971 film) 1971 Canadian film

Face-Off is a 1971 Canadian feature film produced by John F. Bassett starring Art Hindle, Trudy Young and John Vernon. The story line concerns a rookie Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey player and his romance with a musician. Several National Hockey League players also appeared in the film.

Sonatine is a 1984 Canadian drama film written and directed by Micheline Lanctôt. The film was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 57th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Lions for Breakfast is a Canadian family drama film, directed by William Davidson and released in 1975. The film centres on two brothers, 22-year old Trick and ten-year-old Zanny, who are on a bus trip to find a new place to live after the death of their parents. The supporting cast includes Jan Rubeš as Ivan, an older drifter the brothers connect with on the trip; Susan Petrie as Jenny, a young woman who becomes a love interest for Trick; and Paul Bradley as Charlie, a garage attendant.

<i>Black Conflux</i> 2019 Canadian drama film

Black Conflux is a 2019 Canadian drama film written and directed by Nicole Dorsey in her feature directorial debut. Starring Ella Ballentine, Ryan McDonald, Luke Bilyk, Olivia Scriven, Sofia Banzhaf, and Lawrence Barry, the film follows a teenage girl from Newfoundland and Labrador whose quest for independence leads her into the orbit of a mentally unstable and potentially violent man in his twenties.

Gerald Arthur Pratley was a Canadian film critic and historian. A longtime film critic for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, he was historically most noted as founder and director of the Ontario Film Institute, a film archive and reference library which was acquired by the Toronto International Film Festival in 1990 and became the contemporary Film Reference Library and TIFF Cinematheque.

The Stratford Film Festival was an annual film festival in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, which was staged from 1956 to 1961 and from 1971 to 1975. One of the first film festivals in North America ever to present international films, it was the preeminent film festival in the Southern Ontario region until the launch of the Festival of Festivals in 1976 resulted in a loss of arts funding and audience support that led the Stratford Film Festival to permanently cease operations that same year.

<i>The Men</i> (1971 film) 1971 Canadian film

The Men is a Canadian crime comedy film, written and directed by Gilles Carle and released in 1971. The film centres on Jean and Émile, a lumberjack and a student who have been living off the grid in the wilderness, who decide that they need a woman to join them and head into town to look for one. They resort to kidnapping Dolores, a prison guard who is the daughter of the village police chief, leading the villagers to mount a vigilante mob to capture Jean and Émile and bring them to justice.

Monkeys in the Attic is a Canadian drama film, directed by Morley Markson and released in 1974. The film centres on the psychological and sexual games engaged in by two bohemian couples sharing a townhouse in Toronto, Ontario.

Brethren is a Canadian drama film, directed by Dennis Zahoruk and released in 1976. The film centres on three estranged adult brothers returning to their small hometown to attend the funeral of their abusive and unloving father.

Bar Salon is a Canadian drama film, directed by André Forcier and released in 1974. Considered to be the film which first established Forcier's reputation as a major filmmaking talent, the film stars Guy L'Écuyer as Charles Méthot, the owner of a seedy bar in Montreal which is failing due to its lack of clientele; desperate, he turns to his friend Larry for help, and is offered a new job as manager of a busier suburban bar, where he is drawn into an affair with a topless dancer who steals his car, and eventually ends up in jail after a drunken brawl.

Men with Guns is a 1997 Canadian crime drama film directed by Kari Skogland. The film stars Donal Logue and Gregory Sporleder as Goldman and Lucas, two smalltime hustlers who run afoul of local mob boss Horace Burke when they discover and steal a stash of cocaine.

Those Damned Savages is a Canadian drama film, directed by Jean Pierre Lefebvre and released in 1971. A satirical critique of colonialism, the film explores its thesis that racist attitudes toward First Nations have not changed through a narrative that places various real historical figures from the 17th century in modern-day Montreal.

Taureau is a Canadian drama film, directed by Clément Perron and released in 1973. The film centres on the Gilberts, a family in a small town in the Beauce region of Quebec who become a target of social ostracism when their intellectually slow but physically strong and handsome son Taureau initiates a relationship with Denise, the town school teacher.

Love in a Four Letter World is a Canadian softcore pornographic film, directed by John Sone and released in 1970. The film stars Michael Kane and Helen Whyte as Harry and Vera Haven, a wealthy couple whose lives are turned upside down when a group of hippies move into a commune in the house next door, drawing first their daughter Susan, and then Helen herself, into their bohemian free love philosophy.

The Heatwave Lasted Four Days is a 1975 Canadian thriller drama film, directed by Douglas Jackson. The film stars Gordon Pinsent as Cliff Reynolds, a television news cameraman in Montreal who becomes drawn into the city's criminal underworld after witnessing a heroin deal while filming a news report.

References

  1. 1 2 Gerald Pratley, A Century of Canadian Cinema. Lynx Images, 2003. ISBN   1-894073-21-5. p. 208.
  2. 1 2 Piers Handling, "Brian Damude's Sudden Fury". Cinema Canada , No. 22 (October 1975), pp. 48-49.
  3. ↑ Martin Knelman, "Rebirth of the film awards". The Globe and Mail , October 2, 1975.
  4. ↑ Martin Knelman, "Clearing out the movie leftovers: a string of second rate stuff". The Globe and Mail , November 8, 1975.
  5. ↑ "Sudden Fury with Brian Damude". Toronto International Film Festival, October 2, 2019.
  6. ↑ David Davidson, "Nicole Dorsey’s long-delayed Black Conflux heralds arrival of stunning new Canadian talent". The Globe and Mail , June 29, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.