The Naked Prey (The Criterion Collection)
by Cornel Wilde
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DVD details
Actor: Cornel WildeDirector: Cornel Wilde
Brand: Image Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Restored, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-01-15
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Criterion Collection
DVD Reviews of The Naked Prey (The Criterion Collection)
DVD Review: The Natives are restless .....
Summary: 5 Stars
Okay, so much for my weak attempt at humor. In all seriousness, this is a classic film which is likely to be different than anything you've viewed before. Originally to be set up as a contest between the North American Blackfoot Indians and John Colter in Wyoming, it was filmed in Africa instead for financial reasons. This was a real story in which Colter evaded his pursuers for 11 days in a run for Fort Raymond.
Basics of the (film) story are:
Group of white ivory hunters leave British fort with their native bearers in search of elephant tusks. I say to myself, "self, this is another safari film."
A hunting party (scouting party?) of local natives meet the safari and want gifts for their chief in exchange for passage through their lands. Safari guide, Cornel Wilde (the man), wants to oblige them, however the leader of the safari refuses, saying the goods he is carrying are for trading for ivory, not to be used as handouts to every native beggar who comes along and pushes the native leader aside. Big mistake.
White hunters find elephants and massacre the herd. The bearers are removing the tusks and some of the meat while the white hunters clean their weapons and relax around the campfire. Native hunting party has followed and is watching from the bushes.
Native party attacks the safari and, after a brief fight, captures or kills the safari. The surviving safari members are taken to the hunter's village where the jealously guarded goods for trade are pillaged by the locals under the grinning guise of the chief as the white hunters watch.
Native court is set up and each of the members is sentenced (to death in some gristly, unique fashion) by the chief among the cheers of the village. When at last Cornel is to be sentenced, the leader of the hunting party speaks briefly to the chief of his wanting to pay the tribute earlier. This earns the Man a chance to live.
The natives fire an arrow into the distance. The Man is stripped naked and set to run towards the arrow. A group of hunters are ready to pursue (one by one as each passes the arrow) when the Man reaches the arrow.
The first native hunter is off and pursues the Man, tossing his javelin and barely missing his target. The man takes up the javelin and kills the hunter ... taking his clothing, food and weapons. At this point the movie settles into the chase. A group of pissed off natives, expert hunters and trackers all, and the solitary white man. The man evades his tormentors through the chase, sometimes narrowly and eventually makes his way back to the British holding.
I venture to say that much of the success of the film was because it was shot in Africa. Had it held true to the actual chase in 1808 in America, it would be just one more Indian/white man movie. As it is, this is unique.
Shot with beautiful panoramic views of the landscape and interlaced with the day to day doings of the wildlife in the savannah, this film offers a magnificent view of the dark continent ... free of the common themes and cliches of other African stories. One will note that there is no Hollywood style background music in the movie at all. All background music is authentic African songs and drums. This lends authenticity to the film and contributes to its uniqueness. Dialogue is minimal after the initial safari sequence, consisting mainly of short conversations between members of the hunting group chasing the Man. Dialogue is in the native language (with no subtitles) so you can't understand the words, but the meaning of what is being said is very clear through expressions and gestures.
This is a gem of a film which will please anyone who enjoys the outdoorsy adventure kind of story presented. If you like stories about Africa, so much the better. I'm glad to see this finally released on DVD as the video is out of print, so choices were limited to finding a used copy of the tape or trying to catch the movie on TV. I have a worn copy I made from a television showing some twenty years ago and certainly welcome the crispness available on today's digital medium.
The film is not overly bloody (though there is a little), but might be disturbing to the younger set. I would think that most children seven and up can handle it without any dreams that night. Very young children will probably not know what's going on and will more than likely not be interested in the movie.
A very adult movie with an adult theme which I highly recommend.
~P~
Description of The Naked Prey (The Criterion Collection)
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