The Hunters

There seem to be several films called The Hunters; this is about the 1996 Swedish thriller directed by Kjell Sundvall.

I picked up this film largely on the strength of my admiration for Rolf Lassgård's iconic portrayal of the characters Kurt Wallander and Sebastian Bergman.

The plot is interesting and the film is well directed, but I found myself a bit disappointed. I think the first half builds up the tension well, but when the going gets tough, only Lassgard gets going. As much as the lead performance grows, the others diminish and the contrast just leaps out at you.

Lassgard is great as the troubled Erik, but all the other policemen are lame and wooden. The hunting party are supposed to be tough and ruthless, maybe with a touch of self-doubt: but most of the time we get either psychopath or blubbing baby. And don't get me started on Leif. He was good in the first half and then just became more and more hammy.

Enjoyable enough; could have been a lot better.