MOVIE NEWS – On Monday night, the world premiere of the action film Monkey Man was held at the SXSW media festival in Austin, Texas, and during the closing credits, the roof of the cinema almost flew off, the audience was so wild. Dev Patel, who is the title character, director, screenwriter and one of the producers of the film in one person, was moved to tears and could hardly find words when he was called to the stage.

This is no wonder, because Patel‘s old dream has come true with The Ape Man. The actor, who became world famous in one fell swoop with Ghetto Millionaire, spent eight years developing the revenge drama, which was inspired by the Indian Monkey God, Hanuman. The hero of the story is a young man who trained in illegal fights, who takes revenge on his mother’s killer, and even joins forces with oppressed people like him to fight against the entire corrupt system.

Patel told the audience that he has been a lover of action movies since childhood. Bruce Lee was his first idol, partly because of the color of his skin – with which Patel implied that being of Indian origin, he always felt a bit left out. He also said that he subordinated everything to Monkey Man so much that his friends thought he was crazy. “He put his heart, his soul, his everything into making this movie,” Oscar winner Jordan Peele (Get Out!), who became one of the film’s producers along the way, said earlier. Monkey Man was originally intended to be presented on a streaming platform, but Peele saw such a great fantasy in it that he got involved in the production, transferred the production to the Universal studio, and thanks to this, it can be shown in cinemas.

Apeman was as challenging to make as the protagonist fights his enemies. They filmed during Covid, and the strict security measures made the life of the crew very difficult. At the beginning of filming, the chief lighting officer died of a heart attack, Patel broke his leg and injured his wrist – the bandage is also visible in the film.

In addition to Bruce Lee,

Patel was also influenced by the world of Korean revenge dramas and the new wave of Indonesian action films, as well as the John Wick films. He spiced it all up with Indian flavors, and, as he says, there is no lack of social content in his film. “A completely disadvantaged guy joins forces with the other unfortunates, they realize the power of the community and start against the oppressive system,” he summed up the essence of the story on stage.

The specialty of Monkey Man is that Patel himself fights in the action scenes, as he is a black belt karate champion.

Highlights of the premiere can be viewed here.

(Monkey Man – domestic release: April 4, 2024.)

Source: UIP Dunafilm