William Friedkin in Focus: The Hunted

With roots in documentary, Friedkin easily translated his political anger across to fiction film, blending a verite style with heightened action sequences. Across three films we see how his use of action and stuntwork complements his pessimistic worldview and emboldens his status as Hollywood’s agitator/rebel.

The Hunted

One of Friedkin’s last studio pictures, The Hunted, delivered a leaner and even more jaded cautionary tale about the American imperialist machine, and the killers it produces. Benicio Del Toro is a highly-trained and decorated soldier, who returns from the Kosovo war traumatised by the horrors he has witnessed and inflicted. He ‘goes rogue’ and viciously kills two hunters in the British Columbian wilderness. Tommy Lee Jones plays the man who trained him and brought in to track him down.

The energetic rage of Friedkin’s earlier films has become a defeated cynical voice. The action is grittier and more relentless, the chase scenes more dogged and tiring. Tommy Lee Jones’ performance of a man racked with guilt at what he has created, and the evils he has been complicit in, lends a fatalistic tone to the proceedings. The opening narration from Johnny Cash only emphasizes this.

Supported by Film Hub NI, awarding funds from the National Lottery through the BFI Film Audience Network.

Part of Belfast Film Festival>>