Il sapore della paura

'La Traque' (1975) aka 'The Track' is a hugely effective and robustly-made Gallic hybrid of 'The Most Dangerous Game', darkly seasoned with a salacious soupcon of Peckinpah's immaculate 'Straw Dog's. The blistering and uncompromising 'La Traque' includes a bravura cast of notable French character actors, with an especially sympathetic portrayal of the desperate victim by personal favourite, Mimsy Farmer. Talented Director, Serge Leroy, keeps the swelteringly oppressive tension ratchet-tight, and unlike many other similarly lurid thrillers of that most gloriously exploitative epoch, he also pays a great deal of attention to the welcome merits of solid characterization. 'La Traque' is quite a special film indeed, and its cracking Giallo-esque score by gifted composer, Giancarlo Chiaramello should be vastly appealing to most, if not all, Euro-cult soundtrack collectors/aficionados; and one must also herald the truly brilliant, evocative, visually astute photography of one, Claude Renoir, and his canny use of hand-held cameras in the breathlessly exhilarating forest chase being particularly striking. 'La Traque' (1975) is yet another exquisite exemplar from the heady 70s that remains unjustifiably obscure today. This tremendously exciting, uncompromisingly bleak film is highly recommended, and, for me, its continued obscurity is wholly unjustified!

Serge Leroy has never been a great director but this one is arguably his best.A group of notables go hunting in the woods.A young girl (Mimsy Farmer,who was the star of "More") ,becomes their victim."La traque" (tracking) is not a misnomer cause the girl is tracked down all along the movie which includes violence and murder.It could have been an umpteenth version of "the most dangerous game" ,it is actually much more.Leroy beats Chabrol at his own game when he shows ,as his colleague perhaps never did,how the bourgeois can get away with complete impunity.A solid cast,featuring some of the best actors of the time (Mickael Lonsdale,Jean-Pierre Marielle,Paul Crauchet,Michel Constantin..) gives the characters substance.And Claude Renoir's cinematography brilliantly enhances the silvan landscapes where the unfortunate heroine runs for her life.

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?"

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.

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.