Friday, October 26, 2018

"The Hunter" review



"A stranger in a strange land" has been a stable of storytelling throughout human history. While arriving alone to a location, a character can try as he can to remain who he was before his journey, but he will almost certainly be changed by those around him.  The journey itself can change the character, and have them grow into someone different and new.   Daniel Nettheim's 2011 film The Hunter is one such film which follows this trope.
                The story is that of Martin(Willem Dafoe) a mercenary hired by a company to track down, and kill the last Tasmanian tiger in existence, due to the creature's pharmaceutical capabilities.  During his mission Martin is given lodging with a local woman(Frances O'Connor) and her children, who have been rocked by the disappearance of her husband one year prior.  While the children are more than excited to have some company, the wife has since fallen into a neigh cationic state via stupor brought about by over-prescribed medication.  Along with having to hunt the tiger, and restoring the family's homestead, Martin must deal with Jack(Sam Neil), local guide who seems to have an ominous connection with the family, as well as local loggers who want outsiders to stop imposing on their livelihoods.  All of this transpires around Martin, while he still ventures out into the wilderness in search of the legendary creature.
                Dafoe is in his element as the slightly-distant mercenary, who at first is only concerned about his mission, but becomes a sort of replacement for the family's missing husband.  He comes across as a man who gains a sense of humanity which was missing, but regains it throughout his journey.  Concise, cold, and a man who tries to focus on his job, but gets sidetracked by the world around him.  As always Sam Neil is fantastic in any of his roles, though mostly known for his work in Jurassic Park he has a large filmography full of quality work.  There are two child actors in the film who are actually very good, where as in some films a scene can be killed by a child actor who is placed in the film because one of his family is a producer on the film, or something.  But the performances by young actors Morgana Daviesand Finn Woodlock are quite good, and fit well with the tone of the story.
                When it comes to the visuals, the film relies heavily on the wild, and at times almost alien landscape of Tasmania.  Where as in film Australia is generally restricted to the red sands of the outback, or the rainforest areas along the country's east-coast, The Hunter reveals Tasmania to viewers who might have the foreign land revealed to them for the first time.  The variation in the landscape changes throughout the film, and works as a way to frame Martin's journey.  The house he stays at is in a very grounded and peaceful forest area, but as he gets closer to finding the tiger nature becomes more hostile, starting with a temperate forest, to marshland, and eventually to a snow-covered mountain area.
                The setup of the film is Martin's search for a creature which is supposedly extinct, but during most of the movie that plotline takes a backseat to his interaction with the locals, and the effect that he as an outsider has on the community.  Where are before his arrival things weren't great, the townsfolk and loggers were content to live their lives, but the rumors of a living Tasmanian tiger have begun to spread, and fears that conversationalists will put an end to the logging rise up.  This of course leads to mob mentality which causes trouble for Martin, as well as anyone who isn't in favor of the logging industry. Though Martin has no real stake in the outcome of anything besides his job be has built up enough of a connection with his hosts that he does try and affect the situation, albeit not in a direct manor.
                The Hunter is a superb film, visually, writing-wise, as well as fantastically acted with an amazing performance by Willem Dafoe being the highlight of the film.  Martin's journey as a character is the cornerstone of the film, with the audience following him throughout his trials and tribulations in search of an animal thought to be long dead.

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