The producers of the internationally cherished Animal Kingdom adapt Julia Leigh’s acclaimed novel, a psychological drama set in the Tasmanian wilderness.
Martin (Dafoe) is a mercenary hired by a mysterious European biotech company to track down the last remaining Tasmanian Tiger - previously presumed extinct. Also stars Sam Neill (The Piano) and Frances O’Connor (Mansfield Park).
"Both a classic tale of man versus beast and a chilling exploration of the ethics involved when the goals of multinational corporations conflict with the natural world... an allegory charting one troubled man’s foray into dual wildernesses: the remote Tasmanian hills and his own soul." (Toronto International Film Festival 2011)
As anyone who saw Antichrist can testify, a Willem Dafoe woodland visit will not end well. And whilst Dafoe's biggest onset worry was apparently leeches, it's those kind of audience preconceptions and some Ocker thriller cliches that limit the success of this eco actioner.
Smart-mouth kids, unwelcoming locals and dangerous terrain all predictably make an appearance, so that by the time some yahoos turn up in a ute, with guns and deer spotters, you've already started to lose all hope of seeing anything original (it feels like a cross between Jindabyne, with its mountain-set mystery, and supernatural family drama The Tree).
Dafoe is at his inscrutable best, giving his gun-for-hire a sense of character via obsessions with opera and baths. However, most of the others are sketchy at best and bad for Tasmanian tourism at worst. Julia Leigh's 1999 source novel is highly acclaimed but TV director Nettheim only succeeds in emulating Leigh's own recent directorial effort Sleeping Beauty, with its cool detachment and melancholic pacing.
By James Croot, Flicks.co.nz
I loved this movie, the main character was so determined, so methodical and self assured. He clearly relished solitude. It really captured the essence of the hunter and the scenery was jaw dropping. Also it brought home to me how man is ever more pushing species to extinction and i have been pondered on this for a long time since.
As ever, Dafoe is tremendous and the Tasmanian wilds provide a potent backdrop to an arty expedition.
It taps into questions of solitude and loneliness, obsession and repression of emotion, all tied up with an eco-conscious bow.
The result is intriguing and Nettheim succeeds in giving The Hunter an unsettling ambience but, finally, it seems hollow at the centre.
A tremendous achievement by all concerned, a film that delivers its emotional payload with sensitivity and power.
Beautifully lensed and impeccably performed byWillem Dafoe... maintains an intriguing ambience, but general audiencess may feel they're not given enough information about the protag to become fully immersed in his journey toward redemption.
