The Hunter (2012)
Average Rating: 6.3/10
Reviews Counted: 23
Fresh: 18 | Rotten: 5
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 7.6/10
Critic Reviews: 9
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
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Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 3,068
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Movie Info
Recently released from prison, Ali (writer-director Rafi Pitts) attempts to make the most of his return to Tehran, amidst much talk of the upcoming elections and promises of change. Forced to work nights, he still tries to spend as much time as he can with his wife and their young daughter, escaping the stress of urban life through hunting trips to the secluded forest north of the city. But one day, Ali's family goes missing-and after a long and fruitless experience with the police, Ali's own
Cast
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Rafi Pitts
Ali Alavi -
Mitra Hajjar
Sara Alavi -
Ali Nicksaulat
Police Commander -
Manoochehr Rahimi
Inspector -
Hassan Ghalenoi
Policeman - Soldier -
Saba Yaghoobi
Saba -
Ismail Amini
Young Boy -
Naser Madahi
Basiri - Old Night guar... -
Ali Mazinani
Reza - Young night guar... -
Ossta Shah Tir
Ali's Father -
Malak D. Khazai
Ali's Mother -
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The Hunter Trailer & Photos
All Critics (23) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (18) | Rotten (5)
This is a parable about modern Iran, and like many recent Iranian films it leaves its meaning to the viewer.
Top CriticCinematographer Mohammad Davudi's nighttime shots of jammed Tehran highways help convey the society's dehumanization.
Filmed during the months leading up to the 2009 presidential election in Iran, The Hunter still seethes with fury -- and anticipates the blood that would spill after the vote.
The clammy chill that pervades "The Hunter," the fourth feature film by the Iranian director Rafi Pitts, seeps under your skin as you wait for its grim, taciturn protagonist to detonate.
By the time you realize how stealthy the film's critique has been, you've already fallen right into its trap.
Pitts turns images of everyday urban sights - plaza steps, concrete apartment houses - into reflections of Ali's sense of emptiness and entrapment.
The film is stunningly composed, with images that convey Pitts' sense of being ground down by modernity and beset by institutional hypocrisy.
Atmospheric, but underwhelming, underwritten and emotionally hollow.
Writer-director Rafi Pitts manages an atmosphere of choked, ambiguous dread that recalls nothing less than Godard's Alphaville.
Moody and rather depressing, it's also haunting and utterly involving right to the bitter end.
Pitts is a solemn, silent presence and his director's eye ensures a succession of expertly composed images that each tell a story.
It doesn't offer even a basic driving narrative that might at least have engaged our attention.
The biggest problem with the film is not its snail's saunter, but rather the minimalist way Pitts approaches the scripting.
A film with a split personality, it initially intrigues before eventually infuriating.
The story dulls into a cat-and-mouse pursuit narrative, with Pitts's own inexpressive performance one weakness among many.
Seemingly destined to go largely under-appreciated, this is a work of precision and complexity.
Pitts ably conveys the bleakness of daily life and the accompanying mistrust of authority.
Pitts is at pains not to make an overtly political drama but his decision to keep the action spare and bleak means it becomes irritatingly obscure and, well, dull.
Audience Reviews for The Hunter
Super Reviewer
"The Hunter" is a fine example of economic and terse filmmaking, making good use of its jump cuts to express the passage of time in a nonstop urban society(that apparently does not involve stoplights) that lies in contrast to the peaceful countryside. That's not the only contrast in a country that tries to be so uniform on the surface like Iran(you try and find someone in a country where half the country is supposed to dress alike) where tensions lie just below the surface, just waiting to erupt.
Super Reviewer
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Foreign Titles
- The Hunter (2010) (DE)
- The Hunter (2010) (UK)
The Hunter is about a young watchman named Ali Alavi who treasures every moment he spend with his family, until one night it's all taken away from him. The plot in general doesn't much dialogue being exchange, but it little dialogue helps draw you into the movie. It atmosphere felt authentic and real while every character felt like a real human being. I find the character Ali Alavi real fascinating, his desire for revenge, his view on life, and the fact he's a loner contribute to the development of Ali Alavi. I enjoyed the writing very much, it's unconventional and unlike most of the movies I see. One scene I enjoyed allot was the chase scene in the fog which was beautifully filmed and had no music playing. In every other movie music would be added to such a scene, but not in The Hunter as it feels real and there is thrills watching a scene like that. The Hunter plot might have little dialogue, but it's huge on it plot.
Rafi Pitts did an excellent job as a director. He knows how to captures certain scenes and convey emotion in it. He knows how to move the story in interesting directions and how to tell one. As an actor, he does everything as it should be done. Rafi Pitts created an interesting piece of cinema that'll be hard to imitate from it grim atmosphere in the forest to the cinematography of it amazing setting. The man is clearly talented and I hope he makes more films in the future.
The Hunter has an incredible atmosphere, fascinating protagonist, and a experience that not many films can offer. If in the mood for something original and gripping, you can't go wrong with The Hunter.