The Hunter (2011) - Man wants to kill Tasmania's last tiger

♥♥♥

 

Lush mountain scenery and a family situation lurks on this star-centered poster for Daniel Nettheim's The Hunter

A professional huntsman arrives to a remote part of Tasmania, where it is his mission to shoot and bring home with him a tiger that was thought to be extinct. But in the process he falls for a woman in the area, - and for the tiger.

 

The Hunter is written by Alice Addison (The Silence (2006, TV movie)), with Wain Fimeri (Pozieres (2000, TV movie)) and co-writer/director Daniel Nettheim (Angst (2000)) making contributions. It is an adaptation of the same-titled 1999 novel by Julia Leigh (Disquiet (2008)).

An unusual story and a strong cast, which keeps us guessing, speaks in favor of The Hunter. Frances O'Connor (Best Man Down (2012)) has that special sympathetic quality and is good here, and Finn Woodlock (Neighbours (2013, TV-series)) as her son also brings sensitivity to the part. The Tasmanian nature and animals are also fascinating. These qualities keep The Hunter afloat and exciting for the most part.

But (understandably) we never really care for Willem Dafoe's (The Florida Project (2017)) title character due to his mission and engagement with a mysterious, evil company. He walks around and kills animals throughout the film SPOILER and ends up shooting the beautiful tiger, only to cremate it. An incredibly unsympathetic behavior, - and it changes little that he becomes a stepfather for the boy. SPOILER Throughout The Hunter Dafoe's character stands as a swaying leaf between the environmentalists and 'tree-huggers' of the story, - and I didn't buy the proposed change in him in the film's ending, which I really hated.

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown, projected 4 mil. $

Box office: 1.6 mil. $

= Uncertain, but likely a mega-flop (projected return of 0.4 times its cost)

[The Hunter premiered 9 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 102 minutes. Shooting took place around October 2010 in Australia. The film opened #68 to a 19k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #57 and in 17 theaters (different weeks), grossing 176k $ (11 % of the total gross). North America was the film's 3rd biggest market. Its biggest were Australia with 947k $ (59.2 %) and the UK with 367k $ (22.9 %). If made on a low 4 mil. $ budget, the film would rank as a mega-flop. Nettheim returned with 22 TV credits but has not returned to theaters since. Dafoe returned with a voice performance in Gauguin: Maker of Myth (2011, video), and theatrically in John Carter (2012).  The Hunter is fresh at 72 % with a 6.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Hunter?