Caçador

The cat and mouse/hunter-prey theme is pretty well rought but this film adds a convincing human element to a film that might otherwise get caught up in the landscape or action.

The early scenes and some of the supporting cast are a little lackluster, and reminded this viewer how difficult it is for New Zealand films to escape a sort of provincialism (for want of a better word) that can often be detected in kiwi films trying to be 'international'. Winstone, Morrison and Andy Anderson as the colonial tracker all stand out in this.

The film has plenty of action and fistycuffs and ballyhoo but the focus is firmly on the tension of the hunt and the connection that forms between Winston and Morrison's characters.

Without adding a spoiler I will say the ending, while not disappointing, might have been 'more'. You make your own mind up!

I love it when you watch a movie expecting it to be pretty poor and it turns out to be a good wee movie. This film meets all the criteria for a nice easy to watch film, great actors, beautifully shot and a few twists in the plot. Temuera Morrison plays Keremara a Maori wrongly accused of a crime, he has no option to go on the run as he will be hanged under British justice. Ray Winstone plays Van Diemen a war weary Boer newly arrived from South Africa after the Boer War, his reputation is well known by the British for tracking and fighting. Van Diemen takes up the chase for Keremara along with the British soldiers, will Keremara be caught, will he be killed by Van Diemen or will he find true justice. I found myself really caring about both the main characters and what the outcome for both of them. The first 15 minutes are slow but once the focus is on Keremara and Van Diemen the movie comes into it's own, well worth a watch folks.

Take your pick!....scenery-wonderful, Winstone and Morrison a wonderful combination on screen. Plot and storyline really well interwoven and a supremely wonderful finale. Got this as a Christmas gift having viewed it when on TV, fabulous the 2nd time around. Brits do not come out of this well, but everyone plays their part to make this a most enjoyable, entertaining and very different type of film...Highly recommended

The Boer War has ended. Arjan van Diemen (Ray Winstone) arrives in New Zealand. The soldiers are returning home but he's a former Boer soldier who lost everything. Three drunken white soldiers find a white woman with a Maori man. The white men start a beating and one of them accidentally kills another. The innocent Maori is accused of murder and becomes a hunted man. Arjan joins the hunting party for the reward.

For the longest time, I struggle to formulate Arjan's journey. I don't think that this movie ends perfectly but it ends well enough. One way to help is not to show the inciting incident. His innocence or guilt can be achieved in other ways. The arrival to that opinion can parallel Arjan's journey. It's harder to pinpoint his thinking unless it's laid bare. I do like the finger idea but it's a little rushed. They should reveal his finger premise from the very beginning. All in all, this is a riveting chase movie with two great actors and a few minor problems.

I saw Tracker at a preview screening a few days back and wasn't sure what to expect - The idea of Ray Winstone attempting a South African Accent in particular made me nervous. And it does get off to a slowish start. But...

As soon as the chase is underway the film really opens out. Moments of genuine threat, tension and some really quite crunchy violence are counterbalanced by a pervading air of melancholy - hunter and hunted have both lost everything - and an increasing dramatic weight to the story as they find common ground whilst engaged in a high risk game of cat and mouse.

It's not the most psychologically complicated movie in the world, basically being a boys own action film, but it's made well, with obvious love and attention to detail plus two towering central performances from the leads. And it has a heart. By the time the film reached it's climax I was properly choked up and genuinely on the edge of my seat.

And Ray did a good job with the accent after all.