quietearth [Celluloid 08.12.10] movie news drama



While I've never heard anything good about Dafoe as a person, I really don't care. The dude is one serious talent, and is great in supporting roles or as a headliner. On a side note, if only we could get him to pick better films then Spider-Man, ugh. Anyways, news is that Vincent Sheehan and the same production folks behind Animal Kingdom will be shooting an adaptation of Julia Leigh's novel with Daniel Nettheim directing. What's it about you ask?

Here's whats official:
Based on the acclaimed novel by Julia Leigh, The Hunter is a powerful psychological thriller that tells the story of Martin, a mercenary sent by an anonymous biotech company on a mysterious search for the last Tasmanian tiger.


And here's what Publisher's Weekly had to say about this 10+ year old novel:
[...] describes the deadly search for the fabled, and perhaps extinct, Tasmanian tiger, aka the thylacine. A mysterious man who is identified to the reader only as M assumes the identity of "Martin David, naturalist" and arrives at the filthy, disheveled house of depressed Lucy Armstrong, whose husband, Jarrah, a naturalist and bioethics expert, recently disappeared on the plateau. Lucy's home becomes the base for M's treks into the wilderness, ostensibly to study the habits of Tasmanian devils. In fact, and in secret, M works for a biotech company. His mission: to secure genetic material from what may be the world's last remaining thylacine, reportedly sighted on the plateau. M must hide his true occupation from Lucy and her lonely children, Sass and Bike, as well as from the National Parks researchers and the suspicious local townspeople. Sydney-based Leigh shifts ably between M's laconic narration and third-person storytelling. With the exception of a superfluous (and clumsily handled) romantic subplot, the novel's events are compelling, drawing the reader deep into M's inner jungle. Leigh is most effective when writing in M's voice, exploring his relationship to the wilderness, his tracking expertise and his ability "to think like a true and worthy predator."

Normally a rundown like this wouldn't interest me, but Sheehan + Dafoe + Australia = possibility. Shooting begins in October. More as it comes!

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uncleB (9 years ago) Reply

Defoe is underrated. The roles he chooses are sometimes hit or miss but the guy is a great actor. Bobbie Peru

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