MovieChat Forums > The Hunted (2003) Discussion > The Style IS the Substance

The Style IS the Substance

posted 12 years ago by famousmortimer-2
3 replies | jump to latest

Some sequences stand as lessons in directing/camera placement/editing. Friedkin has this one-of-a-kind, gut-level understanding of the form.

For example:

The introduction of the Serbian commander. He is first glimpsed through the muzzle flashes of his men's rifles as they exterminate a group of villagers to his satisfaction.

The slaughter of the hunters/sweepers. We hear the screams of the second hunter over an abstract shot of a figure (Hallam) walking towards camera through the brush.

LT entering the woods for the first time and spying the hole in the sapling made by Hallam's knife. The cross-cutting between the zoom-in on the hole and the zoom-in on LT's eyes.

Hallam's questioning at the FBI office. Every angle is canted slightly. Hallam is the master of this domain despite being the prisoner. Reality itself is off-balance.

[–] hadas-2 12 years ago

Interesting comments.

I thought that there were some good shots too. Great peformances.Fantastic fight scenes. I felt let down by the plot and the script though. Could have been much more.

[–] motherfckzombies 11 years ago

Agreed, well shot and had great action scenes and performances. The script and overall film pacing was formulaic and very Hollywood. It has a few flashes of genius but its clearly a squandered opportunity to let Friedkin do what he does best, by the studio.

[–] DracTarashV 9 years ago

That's something many viewers are just unable to appreciate. As formulaic as the end results are, this is still a nicely executed and highly entertaining movie. And Del Toro and Jones? They delivered some top-notch performances.

You want something corny? You got it!