F U R Y is a no holds barred depiction of World War II at its brutal reality - mangled bodies, bullets zipping into someone's eye socket, cleaning up the blood in your vehicle after your comrade gets killed by a round with half his face splattered on the wall, a tank rolling over a body half-buried in the mud and snow.
F U R Y is also a depiction into the humanity of war. In a time where men kill men, where you were an outcast if you didn't kill Germans, there was also time to slow down and lead a normal lifestyle between onslaughts.
A face is spotted in a German apartment block. Instead of being a sniper, it was a lady looking out on the intrusion of the American tanks. Instead of a hidden German soldier, her young female cousin was the one hiding under the bed. Instead of having designs on the women, all Don "Wardaddy" Collier wanted was a basin of hot water to have a proper shave. Instead of taking a gun out of his bag, all that came out was a well-packed box of eggs to be cooked for breakfast. (Do you have any idea how rare that is in a war?)
Following the success of the assembly line technique of mass production popularized by Henry Ford (Remember his quote - "You can have any colour as long as it's black"?), the Americans developed the Sherman Tank. Overwhelming adversaries through greater numbers was a viable strategy for technology competition, and was used successfully by the United States in World War II. Shermans were well-designed for mass production and engineered with a rugged reliability that allowed them to keep rolling and fighting far longer than their German counterparts without breaking down.
Yet, despite the Sherman's mobility and maneuverability, the Sherman's smaller cannons often failed to penetrate Panzer and Tiger tank armours. Sherman tank crews often had to outmove the Panzers and Tigers to destroy them. And the larger numbers with a more vulnerable armour often resulted in a higher casualty rate for Sherman tank crews.
Merlion Wayfarer enjoyed the fast, intensive action in the film. The pace was not gripping, yet the actions of every single member of the cast showed a humanity that is not often portrayed in other glorified war movies. Yes, there is still the cowboy and cavalry portrayal here, but it was a more humanistic depiction, with an angle from both the American and the German perspectives, and where most of the main cast perish in their heroic efforts...
"Ideals are peaceful. History is violent."
