Tracker

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.

I saw this film for the second time last night and fell in love with it all over again. If you want to lose yourself in a beautifully directed film with the most spellbinding scenery and cinematography, then this movie is a must. Ray Winston keeps that special something that we all love and expect from his acting, the support is by the by, as the two main character make the movie and i would have been happy with just the two of them in the movie. The drawing together of the two main characters story is a stroke of genius, with some very comical moments that made me laugh out loud. You soon learn to love the characters and feel emotional for the pain and suffering they have both experienced and had to learn to overcome. Thanks for a real non-hyped, relaxing film that will stay fresh for years to come.

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.

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 am not sure what the complaints are all about. The acting is brilliant, the story line holds together just fine. The scenery is fantastic. It is culturally and historically sensitive.

The back and forth in the story between the Tracker and the Maori escapee is reminiscent of another great movie, Hell in the Pacific, which starred Toshiro Mifune and Lee Marvin. Each of them would get the upper hand from time to time.

This movie had me on the edge of my seat and the twist at the end had me gasping. I cannot say enough about this movie. All I can say is watch it!