DVD Review
By Rama Gaind
The Hunter (Madman Entertainment)
Cast: Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill, Frances O’Connor, Sullivan Stapleton, Callan Mulvey, Jacek Koman
Director: Daniel Nettheim
Producer: Vincent Sheehan
Screenplay: Julia Leigh (novel); Alice Addison and Wain Fimeri
Music: Andrew Lacaster, Michael Lira, Matteo Zingales
Martin David (Dafoe, The English Patient, Platoon) is a modern-day mercenary, who is hired to travel to Australia to track down the legendary Tasmanian tiger.
On the pretence of doing research, he ventures into the state’s spectacular wilderness and stays in a farmhouse where Lucy Armstrong (O’Connor, AI: Artificial Intelligence) lives with her two children talented Sass (Morgana Davies, from The Tree) and her brother, Bike (Finn Woodlock).
Lucy is anguished over the disappearance of her zoologist husband, Jarrah, and is watched over possessively by neighbour, Jack Mendy (Neill, The Piano).
Martin finds himself unexpectedly drawn to the troubled family and the treacherous landscape.
While the children are glad to have a man around the place, the loggers (thinking he’s a greenie) are unhappy and set to make his life miserable.
Daniel Nettheim has directed a convincing and attractively made film.
As expected, Willem Dafoe is effective (though an Australian actor would have been more logical) getting excellent support from Frances O’Connor and Sam Neill.
Tasmania is the real star of this gripping film, an extraordinary wilderness landscape resplendently photographed for the wide screen by Robert Humphreys.
Atmospheric, absorbing and astounding!
