Dev Patel, exhausted and joyful, premieres ‘Monkey Man’ movie to standing ovation at SXSW

Dev Patel’s hero in “Monkey Man,” simply named “Kid,” suffers through savage beatings in India’s underground fight world in order to make money to aid his plan of long-festering vengeance. 

The submission to the pain comes off as both masochistic cleansing ritual, as he attempts to remove his traumatized history from his DNA, and as an act of love. By bowing to the bloody suffering, the sinewy fighter inches closer to exacting justice for the death of his mother (Adithi Kalkunte), a backstory told through choppy but effective flashback. 

The Kid’s suffering serves as a thin allegory for 32-year-old Patel’s undertaking of getting his hero’s journey to the screen. The star of “Lion” and “Slumdog Millionaire” appeared beaten but jubilant when he presented the world premiere of his directorial debut at the South by Southwest Film Festival at the Paramount Theatre Monday. Hearing the film’s origin story, it was clear Patel’s bedraggled but buoyant comportment was no act. 

The tale of getting this film made is the stuff that makes you want to turn any critical eye away from the final product and simply appreciate the achievement. Patel’s shoot in India was disrupted by COVID lockdowns and then moved to the islands of Indonesia, where, left with limited resources, Patel hired random members of the crew as actors, used footage from his mobile phone for part of a frenetic action sequence, and created rigged camera set ups that sound like something from someone’s high school backyard production. 

“We faced catastrophe everyday,” Patel said at the premiere. 

And we haven’t even talked about the physical abuse endured by the actor in the film animated by gory and graphic fight sequences. The entire production teetered on collapse when a doctor had to insert a screw into Patel’s hand to hold it together. Disregarding doctor’s orders, the actor threw himself immediately back into action sequences reminiscent of the blurry and bloody confusion of Indonesian actioner “The Raid.”

All of this for a movie Patel had long dreamed of making … with someone else as the director.  Patel said he had originally shared the idea with “District 9”’director Neil Blomkamp, but the director, who worked with Patel on 2015’s “Chappie,” told the actor that his vision of the story was so complete that Patel should direct it himself. 

Patel found himself “reluctantly pushed into the driver’s seat,” as he said on stage at the premiere. Despite the unending challenges, he delivered. The film would not have made it to the big screen, though, had there not been a final push from Jordan Peele, the “Get Out” and “Us” director whose body of work over the past decade has served as a strong argument for more much-needed representation in the film industry. 

Peele’s production company, fittingly called “Monkeypaw Productions,” pushed the film over the finish line and ensured theatrical release (thank goodness, because this thing needs a big screen to breathe). The producer was on hand, beaming with awed pride, to introduce the film at SXSW. 

“No one has put their soul, energy, mind and body into a film than this man. And he has done it for us to enjoy this film,” Peele said. 

When Patel staggered to the stage after the credits, like Rocky mid-ring at the end of “Rocky,” you could see the weariness in his bones. The crowd rose for a standing ovation, something of a rarity at SXSW screenings. The response lifted and spun the emotional director around, literally, as he hid his face a few times, his widening smile prepared to swallow the tears that seemed imminent. It is rare to witness such a personal and moving response from a filmmaker. It was an impression few in the raucous crowd will likely shake anytime soon. 

OK, OK, but what of the film? It’s hard to criticize a baby or its mother after hearing/witnessing the birth story, so we will leave that for closer to the April 5 release date. 

In broad terms, the movie is a throttling homage to Korean revenge films and Patel’s boyhood hero, Bruce Lee, whose brown skin made Patel feel seen and imbued the London native with possibility. 

One rarely finds as much heart in an action film as exists in “Monkey Man.” The Kid’s motivating trauma is detailed in flashbacks that can leave as many questions as answers, but the taut vagueness, and the brutality it echoes, resonate in a disturbing way. 

The plot is driven by the action film device of fighting up toward the final boss, a framework that also establishes a commentary on Indian class hierarchy. 

A corrupt cop (Sikandar Kher), fuzzy religious leader (Makarand Deshpande) and state-sanctioned violence all work as emblems of societal poison, though the nuances may be lost on some Western audiences. 

“Monkey Man” is a hero’s journey told inside a darkened, tumbling bread box, one stuffed with ideas about love, loss and justice. Storytelling hallmarks of such a quest abound, with the wounded hero supported by an unexpected community of outsiders; a pithy and diminutive sidekick proving comic relief along the way (Pitobash); a severe but disturbingly humorous devil of a madame (Ashwini Kalsekar); and a mysterious and thinly drawn sex worker aiding the hero (Sobhita Dhulipala, whose eyes demand a new category at the Oscars). 

And the whole thing is set against the backdrop of an epic Hindu poem, Ramayana, and its centerpiece deity, Hanuman, a story Patel’s grandfather shared with him when the actor was a young boy. Joseph Campbell tips his cap. 

There’s a lot going on, and given the constraints that bound his wrestling with such a sprawling tale, it’s nearly miraculous (in cinematic terms) that Patel pulled it off. His exhausted look at SXSW was well earned, as were his tears of joy. 

More SXSW coverage

More:Which celebrities have been spotted so far at SXSW 2024 in Austin? Check out the photos.

More:SXSW panel on independents' voting power dropped over objections to late addition of RFK Jr.