Forests are a goldmine for a variety of institutions, and the wars between them are heated. Loggers depend on them for employment and preservationists actively protest to keep them lush and untouched. Then there are private corporations who insist on obtaining something deep inside them. The Hunter portrays a mercenary’s attempt to find an capture an elusive and supposedly extinct Tasmania Tiger and his struggle to navigate through a variety of external party interest, as well as the vicious forest.
Martin (Willem Dafoe) is hired to capture and obtain hair, blood, organ samples of the Tanzanian Tiger, an extinct species. He arrives in Tasmania and is provided accommodations at a home where the mother (Frances O’Connor) is addicted to sleeping pills, a talkative daughter, a non-talkative son, and a missing husband. The corporation has also enlisted the help of Jack (Sam Neill), of which, Martin rejects. Martin finds himself between the warring loggers and environmentalists even though his mission is different from both parties.
The Hunter places Martin into world where he must reluctantly rebuild a family that had been destroyed the hunt for the elusive Tasmanian Tiger. The children are concerned that their father has left but will return. Meanwhile, the generator that powers the home is damaged, a boon for Martin as he is reliant on his technology for the hunt. While the daughter aides Martin in and around the home, the son, who never speaks, provides Martin with hand-drawn pictures of the tiger for clues and tips.
As Martin assimilates into the family and improves their lives after their father’s disappearance, he begins to irritate the loggers and the environmentalists even more. He lies to the environmentalists about the types of traps he uses, and the loggers are equally unhappy with his appearance in their territory. Although he never encroaches on either side’s interests, worse, the corporate client places additional pressure on Martin to complete his mission. Essentially, the hunter becomes the hunted. He is as endangered as the tiger he is hunting.
The home and family that Martin is assisting is also a metaphor for Martin’s hunt. They evoke the naturalism and beauty of being located away from civilization. The children are not at all prude about being naked and joining Martin in the bath. They too are targeted, and the disappearance of their father is a clue to the threat of their family.
2011 was quite the year for novelist and director Julia Leigh. The film adaptation of The Hunter, based off her novel, and her directorial debut, Sleeping Beauty, all landed in 2011. The two films do share a common theme, the exploitation of beauty and the hunt to capture it. Willem Dafoe, like many of his roles, captures the rugged essence of a talented mercenary and a gentle giant. His demeanor is meant for roles like this, where he can employ the intensity of his eyes and the strength necessary for desolate locales such as Tasmania’s forests.
Initially expectations about The Hunter included desolate locations, long periods of silence and contemplation of the main character, and other typical visuals suggested by the premise and the film’s poster. But the film kicks all these expectations and becomes a rifling statement on the battle between corporate, labor, and environmental interests in the unexplored. The film pleasantly exudes boorish life of a mercenary returning to a humanity he lost long ago.
