THE HUNTER is an excellent adventure thriller telling the story of Martin David, a skilled mercenary, but now sent into the Tasmanian wilderness on search for a tiger believed to be extinct centuries ago. Hired by the mysterious Red Leaf Corporation, a biotech company, that wants the tiger’s genetic material, he arrives at a heavily wooded region in Tasmania.
Posing as a scientist, who has come for his study, Martin gets to camp at a broken-down farmhouse, where he stays with a family: a mother and her two kids. Surprisingly, the father of the kids, who is happened to be an environment activist, has gone missing for quite some time that adds another angle to the story.
Nevertheless, Martin becomes increasingly close to the family while he is driven down to a path of unforeseen danger with all possibility of endangering his mission.
Director Daniel Nettheim’s movie is based on Julia Leigh’s 1999 debut novel of the same name “The Hunter”. The book has so far received broad critical acclaim and has been shortlisted for many prizes. So far translated into nine different languages, the book “The Hunter” very rarely tackles the subject of extinction.
Hence, the film adaptation is no different but based on the fictional plot, the movie somehow leaves us with possibility that the Tasmania tiger might still exists in those wilderness. The tagline – one man’s search for the last Tasmania tiger becomes a deeper journey into the core of his own existence – somehow gives us an idea what this movie is all about.
Certainly, it is not about the hunter or the animal but the gripping question of survival and also how a man confronts his loneliness and identity in the wilderness.
Willem Dafoe, as Martin, probably is the finest choice for this character for his extraordinary acting skills which even adds merit to such an extremely quite movie. Even though there is not much action on screen the breathtaking visuals of backwoods and the suspense that the story builds together keeps the whole matter engaging.
Here is the movie trailer of THE HUNTER
Directed by: Daniel Nettheim
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Frances O’Connor, Sam Neill, Morgana Davies and Finn Woodlock
Where to watch The Hunter (2011)
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