Iranian British trained Director Rafi Pitts follows his award-winning 2006 feature, It's Winter, with this minimalist political drama...

Contains spoilers

Night-watchman Ali is desperate to spend time with his wife and daughter but is refused a day shift on the grounds that he has a criminal record and 'should thank god' he has a job. When his wife Sara and six year-old daughter Saba go missing after a three-hour police-station wait, he's told Sara has been accidentally killed in a shoot-out between police and rebels, and they'll have no idea whose bullet it was until after an autopsy.

With his daughter still missing, Ali trawls the streets of Tehran looking for her - scouring hospitals, orphanages and school gates. Confused by her whereabouts, he's adamant his wife and daughter were “one” and never separated. Eventually proven right by the appearance of Saba's body, Ali loses his cool and shoots two policeman from a distance. On the run, he seeks refuge in a motel, gets a new car and is chased by police until he flips the car, getting a leg injury. Unable to run fast enough, he is captured by two warring and incompetent policemen who soon get lost in the woodland fog.

Taut and concise with plenty of long takes, The Hunter is more about atmospheric natural background noise than dialogue. A fairground target-shooting scene and discussions of hunting trips foreshadow later events. Pitts as the quiet solemn lead creates much of the tension – he's like a loaded weapon ready to fire at any moment. After the discovery of Sara's body he seems almost in denial and his desperate search for Saba is clearly the quiet before the storm.

His captors are argumentative rivals – one corrupt, willing to take bribes and kill the people he doesn't like, and the other bullied and fearful for his reputation. Lost in the woods without walkie talkies, they argue over whose fault it is and bicker about conflicting personality traits: “You talk too much”. The elements are against them until they find a path along the river leading to a hut.

The contrast of their characters allows Pitts to comment on corrupt officials while also warning us never to judge purely on appearance: “Don't look at my uniform – I'm only human like you. Duty forces me.” It's ironically the corrupt officer who tries to mock Ali by saying “so you kill cops – you think there's no law and order in this country,” when it's unlikely his wife and daughter's deaths will be punished. In the end their silent prisoner demonstrates far more humanity than the police who were hunting him.

Splitting The Hunter between the city and countryside gives the film a balance, allowing for plenty of atmospheric shots of hazy landscapes overlooking the city, peaceful seaside getaways, bustling city traffic, night sequences showing the mean streets of the city and beautiful aerial urban shots.

With the backdrop of an election and radio snippets suggesting unrest, Pitts' film is a realistic and understated commentary on a political situation. A film full of mourning and uncertainty, The Hunter's subdued pace may prove too slow for the average punter, but its sad Night Of The Living Dead ending, although unexpected, is strangely apt.

Studio: Artificial Eye
Director/Writer: Rafi Pitts
Date: October 29 2010
Running Time: 90 mins
Language: Farsi
Certificate: 12
Starring: Rafi Pitts, Mitra Hajjar, Ali Nicksaulat, Hassan Ghalenoi

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