The Hunter
Review by Anthony Morris
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The Hunter
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When a mysterious corporation (that isn't the one out of the Alien
movies) hires him to go to Tasmania to follow up on rumours about a
surviving Tasmanian Tiger, professional hunter Martin (Willem Dafoe)
has no qualms about killing what may be the last creature of its kind.
Tasmania
isn't quite what he expected though: billeted in a run-down house where
a grieving mother (Frances O’Connor) has drugged herself unconscious
while the kids run wild, he soon finds himself in the middle of a
struggle between greenies and loggers where neither side wants him
around.
Add in the wilds of Tasmania and a guide (Sam Neill)
who seems to have an agenda of his own and even his hunting skills
might not be enough to get Martin out of this one.
Based on a
novel by Julia Leigh (who wrote and directed Sleeping Beauty), this
isn't quite as heavy with the metaphors as her other film of 2011 but
there is no doubt there is a strong element of "Man vs Wild" going on
here.
Fortunately Dafoe is able to animate his fairly thinly
written role well, and while much to the wilderness footage is stunning
and absorbing the same can't really be said for his human interactions
back in what passes for civilisation.
It's not enough to
cripple the film – even when the greenies bring out the fire-twirlers –
but it does weaken it somewhat, and an ending that makes sense on an
emotional level while being utterly silly on a story level doesn't help
matters much.
But whenever Dafoe is trudging through the scrub on his own The Hunter comes into its own, and there’s enough of that to make this worth a look. 3 out
of 5
The Hunter
Australian release: 6th October,
2011
Official
Site: The Hunter
Cast: Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill, Frances O'Connor
Director: Daniel Nettheim
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