La Traque

You think you know grim and then a film like this comes along. A rape revenge film where there's not much revenge and not even much rape, but plenty of scenes were men give in to peer pressure and take the easy route out of a bad situation.

Somewhere in France, Mimsy Farmer is looking to buy or at least rent a house, but instead finds herself right in the middle of hunting season. At first she's quite taken by the place, but soon finds that there are lecherous men around who wouldn't mind putting the moves on her. Let's get to this complicated bunch of characters....now!

There's Mansarat, a man who is having an affair with his friend David's wife. David is a wealthy landowner. Then there's Clamoud, a bungling bunch of nerves, and Rollin, a sober Christian who disapproves of everything. And the Danville brothers - mechanics who like to drink and are the ones who set the whole horror show in motion by raping Mimsy in a destroyed building in the middle of a hunt.

Problem being, Chamoud or Clamoud or whatever has forgotten his gun at the scene of the crime, and when one of the rapist brothers goes back to get it, Mimsy shoots a hole in his gut. Thus begins a series of events involving a lady on the run and a bunch of dour-faced Frenchmen trying to track her down.

I guess the theme of the film, except for 'never go to France for any reason at all' is complacency and the group mind. Only one man commits the rape, but for various reasons each fellow present is complacent in the violence and the subsequent events. It's a good film, but not an easy watch. Kudos to Mimsy Farmer for having minimal dialogue but bring true horror to the screen.

I see only 11 reviews and 839 ratings and that's a shame because this is a good movie. I wouldn't call it a hidden gem neither a MUST WATCH movie but it's underappreciated for sure : A good 70's drama/thriller, well directed and well acted which made me invested and kept my attention until its ending. Characters felt real, not cartoonish and fake like characters from similar movies, they had a background and the story overall was convincing.

It's not enjoyable and this has nothing to do with revenge movies, in which the victim is turning into John Rambo. To be honest, i would prefer a different ending, but this ending is strong and that's what differentiates this movie from similar, totally unrealistic movies. The last scene, with the credits roll and this particular music, will stay with me for some time.

During the 70's some of the most wellknown films in the subgenre commonly referred to as rape & revenge were made. Films like I Spit on Your Grave(1978), Thriller - en grym film (1974), The Last House on the Left (1972)and countless others.

The genre is still alive and well thanks to some bigbudget remakes of above mentioned films.

La traque (1975)however is rape & revenge that is above genre standard and separates itself by using some very dark reflections on society and social criticism.

The story is simple, about a group men from all walks of life, one is a politician, another is a former captain in the army, scrap dealers etc. Basically this group of men becomes a sort of microcosmos of the world in general and society.

But when one of them during the hunt while intoxicated, rapes an English girl who is just a tourist, things go from bad to even worse...

There are some sad truths being said about men, sexism, misogyny and also what group pressure can do to people. Having the Milgram experiment in the back of your mind while watching this film is important.

But the film also exposes some of the dark secrets these men have. How they stab each other in the back, use various secrets against each other in order to preserve control over a situation that is quickly spiraling out of control.

The film also poses an interesting question to the viewers watching this film, what would you do? And how would your friends react?

And the fact that some of these men are on the outside well respected, ordinary, men but during these circumstances chooses to be more brutal then the animals they are hunting, makes this film with a very dark look on humanity.

Director Serge Leroy have chosen a very good cast, with people like Michael Lonsdale, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Jean-Luc Bideau as some of the members of the hunting party.

They look and feel very genuine in their roles, their acting flawless.

Biggest flaw in this film is Mimsy Farmers role, she is simple the prey, but plays this part with anger, ear and passion in the right amount.

So future viewers who want a darker more complex, rape & revenge film with sharp stab at society, gender etc should seek this one out.

A true gem, masterpiece, brilliant, intelligent, unusual, nasty, disturbing, realistic. A story as you have never seen before and never see after this one. How can we compare this with THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME? It is more subtle, because not an ordinary action film, with good guys vs evil ones. Here, you slowly but surely find out that everyone is nasty, it is the true picture of what the ordinary citizen is ready to do to save his own skin. The tension grows, increases more and more along this absolute must see film, before exploding in the most shocking sequence ever made without blood on the screen. Far more shocking than any other horror film. Because this is not a horror film, just the picture of the true horror that may exist in real life and not only in a movie theater. Horror of the soul, the human soul. Maybe you will vomit after the watching.

A group of friends meet to hunt boar in the woods. They encounter a young woman and one of them rapes her. The others decide to do whatever it takes to conceal the crime.

There are two hunts going on here. There are the "respectable men" hunting down a defenceless young woman. And then there is director Serge Leroy hunting down the aforementioned respectables to expose the amoral logic and cold-blooded brutality underpinning their social position.

The simple story is told with great skill. The tension builds grimly as each man acquiesces to the crime that's unfolding and we realise there's less and less hope for the unfortunate girl. Along the way, we learn more about the hunters: how one of them accidentally killed before and concealed it to avoid a scandal; how another had to pursue and kill a traitor (a woman) in the Resistance. Another is a politician with much to lose if the woman talks; another is an ex-army captain, trained to kill; another is simply a coward. The girl, meanwhile, remains largely unknown to us, as defenceless and pathetic as the animals they casually slaughter.

There have been innumerable horror films in which faceless psychopaths pursue women to their deaths. What makes "La Traque" all the more unnerving is that the faces of these hunters are all too familiar. They are the faces of politicians, landowners, war heroes, pillars of the Establishment (and Leroy carefully chooses actors who have played such respectable types in other films). Their actions derive not from a loss of control, but from an excess of it: these are men who have learnt to suppress human compassion when necessary to achieve their goals in life. And murder is the logical consequence of that.

Part of the discomfort of watching this film is the sensation of being asked, "Would your friends and neighbours act differently under the same circumstances? Would you?"