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The Hunting Party (1971)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
5/20, 12/20
5/20:
The Hunting Party is the kind of film that starts off okay and then gets better and better before it ends brilliantly
well, offering philosophical gems to look back on.
If Gene Hackman was a bad dude in Unforgiven, he's a meaner and more sadistic motherfucker here. His character's
message is pretty simple: nobody fucks with him or steals anything from him. It doesn't matter if he views his wife as
mere possession. Do Brandt wrong, and he'll come at you with single-minded intensity.
But it's Oliver Reed who steals the show. I don't think many women will complain of being kidnapped and then raped
by him as long as he's nice at the end. Playing a character who's ultimately taken over by Stockholm syndrome, Candice
Bergen isn't bad herself. They both have good chemistry and, in their quiet way, succeed in turning
The Hunting Party into a romantic picture.
There are montages that remind me of The Wild Bunch, but the key difference is that the latter is a poetry
of violence while the former is focused on brutality. By arriving at the ending, I think back to what
had transpired. It's a sign of great director. So, kudos to Don Medford for pulling off a fine picture.
Of course, it's easy for me to say Frank Calder's gang should've stopped running away from the posse and developed a
plan by breaking up into two with one of them going after the hunters. However, let's not forget that he didn't know how to
read and thus couldn't be too bright himself, hence the kidnapping-rape of Brandt's wife. Therefore, it's an angle that needs
to be taken into consideration when evaluating the film as a whole.
All in all, The Hunting Party is a tough, gritty, and brutal Western with men reduced to their base forms.
12/20:
Filled with Peckinpah-like brutality, The Hunting Party is the sort of film that keeps getting better and better.
Without doubt, it's Oliver Reed who steals the show. What a gifted actor he was, especially when it comes to using his eyes
to convey character. If not for him, The Hunting Party won't have worked. The ending is incredible and devastating
all at once which shows how far gone Brandt Ruger is. Gene Hackman will play the same type of character in
Unforgiven, netting the second Oscar win of his career. It's all about the psychology, and he's perfect.
All in all, The Hunting Party is a brilliant Western picture with a powerful performance by Oliver Reed.