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Released by: Olive Films
Released on: July 31, 2012.
Director: Rafi Pitts
Cast: Rafi Pitts, Mitra Hajjar, Ali Nicksaulat, Hassan Ghalenoi
Year: 2010
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The Movie
Right before the main character's tipping point in The Hunter a TV program in the background is on and its content is subtitled. The line that appears is this: “Who is the one who praises yo in hell, Lord?†That statements pretty much sums up the entirety of this dark soul-crusher of an excellent film. Writer-Director Pitts also stars in this film, about an ex-con whose life is suddenly ruined, how he violently reacts to that, and what consequences he faces as a result.
Pitts is Ali, recently released from prison and working as a night watchman at a factory. Despite his lousy schedule he still tries to spend as much time as possible with his wife, Sara (Hajjar), and their young daughter, Saba. Apart from their time together Ali heads out of the city to the nearby forests and relaxes by hunting. So when Sara and Saba don't return home one day, Ali begins to worry and search, he eventually gets a call to come to the police station. And after an interminably long wait he's finally able to speak with a detective where Ali finally asserts himself a bit more and is able to learn that Sara was killed during a police showdown with anti-government protesters. Saba is nowhere to be found, though, so Ali begins a desperate search in the surrounding neighborhoods for her. Soon enough, however, he's summoned again to the police station, this time to identify his daughter's body.
Distraught, he heads to his parents' house on what would have been Saba's seventh birthday. But he doesn't tell them the truth about his wife and daughter; instead, he drops off Saba's cat with the elderly couple and it seems clear he's now committed to another course of action. He calmly drives out to hill overlooking a freeway and, with his hunting rifle, kills two policemen in a passing car. Now on the run he's eventually chased down by a police car in the woods and wrecks his own car as a result. He flees into the woods but is soon caught by the two policemen chasing him.
And here the film takes on another story since Ali is pretty much quiet after his capture. The two policemen clearly don't care for one another and so when they get lost in the foggy forest trying to take Ali back to their car they soon are at each other's throats. Eventually finding some shelter they each then get their own time with the silent Ali and each policemen is thus used to demonstrate opposing viewpoints on justice and social activism. The dirty cop just wants to shoot both Ali and his partner, blaming Ali for the country's moral demise in the process. The good cop is tired of his dirty partner and of his job but appeals to Ali's humanity, to see the face outside of the uniform. And when the good cop gives Ali a chance at his freedom and removing his bad partner, it's Ali's turn at that point to come to a new understanding and not take the violent path. Yet, in the end, that proves to be his undoing and Ali's tragic tale comes to a bitter, dark end.
The film is exceptionally well-shot and features some beautiful footage of the Iranian countryside. Many of the shots are setup to diminish Ali's size in the frame so that he's like a fish in a bowl and all of life around him looms above - and the cinematography features many big, wide and balanced shots to accomplish this. For his part, Pitts' performance as Ali is quite good as he's near emotionless but never without that quality, always hovering around the edge like his character's mindset.
Audio/Video/Extras
The Hunter is presented fullscreen (16:9) and really fills that out well. The slight graininess that's visible may be due more to the quality of film available in Iran but, also, helps enhance the mood of the film overall. The Farsi-language soundtrack is handled by a Dolby Digital 2.0 that handles this fairly quiet/silent film well. English subtitles are included and this disc has a chapter breakdown available from the main menu as well.
Summary
Dark, quiet and moody The Hunter is an excellent examination of how the political world can harm even the most innocent and, in turn, make things worse for all involved - whether they want to be involved or not. The hell on Earth is one of our own devising and we are helpless within it, no matter how good or bad we are or seem to be.
