THE HUNTED

US, 2003, 94 minutes, Colour.
Tommy Lee Jones, Benicio Del Toro, Connie Nielson.
Directed by William Friedkin.

In the 1970s, director William Friedkin was at the peak of his career: an Oscar for The French Connection and acclaim for The Exorcist. It was never quite the same for him again. He has had some successes with films like To Live and Die in LA. He has had harsh criticism for films like Sphinx and Jade. The rest of his films have been somewhere in between. Which is where we find The Hunted. There is not so much new about the screenplay, except that we have a veteran of US military activity in the Balkans so affected by the violence that he goes out of his mind and becomes a deadly killer. Eventually the authorities have to call in the retired expert who trained him to hunt him down. And that is what happens, firstly, at the edge of the city and then out in the forests. Most of the film is a chase story of the cat and mouse variety. Tommy Lee Jones has done this kind of thing before. Benicio del Toro is intense as the hunted man. Connie Neilson represents the police who have to cooperate with the hunter. Friedkin has always been able to suggest fear and terror on the screen and, in a modest way, that is what he does here.

1. A chase film, a hunt film? Thriller aspects? The situation, the characters, the action? The moral issues about the pursuit, conspiracy theories?

2. The prologue with Kosovo, the vivid presentation of war action? The transition to Canada, the winter, the trapped wolf? The transition to Oregon, the hunter killing the hunters? The Portland city settings, the river, the rapids, the abandoned plant? The dramatic musical score?

3. The prologue and its effect, the Serbs, Milosevic, the presence of peacekeeping forces, US presence? The brutality, the ethnic cleansing? Benicio Del Toro as the soldier, his experience, the set-up, the explosion, the rescue? His seeing the child? The effect? The close-up of his face and eyes?

4. His being in the woods, pursuing the hunters, their wanting to kill the deer? Their equipment? His killing them?
5. The transition to L.T., hunting, freeing the wolf? His life, background, the trainer for survival? His being brought in to pursue the killer?

6. Portland, the police officials, the boss, his assistant? The woman and her conducting of the inquiry? Their determination? The role of the police?

7. Tracking the killer, his arrest, imprisonment, the interrogation, his manner, the mystery of his behaviour?

8. His escape, using his wits, strength? The drains, the pursuit, coming up into the street, the trams, the bicycle, running, climbing? His being caught on the tram, scaling the bridge, his jump, downriver, the rapids? His hiding in the old plant, the build-up to the confrontation?

9. L.T. as the pursuer, his following him all over the city, the police and the helicopters, the bridge, the death of the two policemen?

10. L.T. following on the bridge, the old plant, using his wits and strength, the teacher and the pupil, outwitting the trainee? The physical impact of their confrontation and fight? Death?

11. The background of US authorities, military, secrets, the renegade soldiers after the experience of service, brutality? Motivation?

12. The resolution of the hunt with L.T? The issue still being an open question about actions and motivations?