“It’s probably better off extinct, if it’s alive people will always want to find it, hunt it down”
From the trailer, subject and its enigmatic star Willem Dafoe, I was expecting ‘The Hunter’ to be all about cold isolation, looming death and mysterious nature. Those themes are definitely explored but it was more about the opposites of tender friendship, fragile life and warm humanity. The exploration of all these themes is woven around the initially simple story of Hunter Martin David who is sent into the mountains of Tasmania to hunt down the legendary ‘Tazzie-Tiger’ (Thylacine), an animal thought extinct for some 80 years.
Martin makes his base camp with a damaged yet free-spirited family whose father has mysteriously gone missing in those very same mountains. He becomes a surrogate father and protector to the two children as they are surrounded by dangers coming from all directions. From the suspicious locals, to angry employees of the logging company, to distrusting eco-warriors and most dangerous of all, the powerful BioTech corporation that is paying Martin. ‘The Hunter’ is melancholy yet life affirming and breathtakingly beautiful. I urge you to catch a screening.
Here’s the last known footage of a Thylacine:
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