An ex-Boer war guerrilla in New Zealand is sent out to bring back a Maori accused of killing a British soldier. Gradually they grow to know and respect one another but a posse, led by the British Commanding officer is close behind and his sole intention is to see the Maori hang. Written by Filmfinders 1903. A guerilla fighter from the South African Boer war called Arjan (Winstone) takes on a manhunt for Maori seaman Kereama (Morrison), who is accused of murdering a British soldier. What follows is a cat and mouse pursuit through the varied landscape of NZ with both hunter and huntee testing their bushcraft and wits against that of the other. Written by Anonymous
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Strong and Moving!
As Good As It Gets
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
You should watch this. Don't read anything more about it needing nothing more than an excellent opportunity to experience another life in highly plausible reality believably. In ways a slow starter, keep it in forefront and appreciate subtle detailing throughout vs occasional and arbitrary emphasis. Appreciate the art of man-tracking and the skills necessary minimalist survival is merely uncomfortable. Anticipate multi-individual characters developing and can't remember when last guessed what will happen next, and was right. Be in that other time where we as a people came from and experience dynamics that develop legends and young people's heroes. Who would you be 100 yrs ago?
Keremea a Moari sailor finds himself being falsely accused of murder in New Zealand at the turn of the 20th Century so flees in to the countryside hotly pursued by a posse led by Arjen Van Diemen a veteran of the Boer war Reading the above synopsis the premise is one that's very familiar , almost too familiar . In many ways it resembles that of a revisionary Western in the tradition of CHATO'S LAND where whites pursue the noble savage and as the story unravels white men are portrayed as being less noble and more savage than their prey . Certainly the audience are under no illusion who to root for but unfortunately the film suffers from a seen it all before feel . It's a common feeling on this page that TRACKER is a film that isn't as good as it could have been but it's impossible to do anything radically different with this type of story One aspect that is very noticeable is the landscapes . It was common in 1970s Antipodian cinema to to have sweeping rural locations for settings . Later on Australian cinema seemed to locate to urban locations to tell a story where as New Zealand seemed happy to keep its output in a rural setting . Of course LORD OF THE RINGS needed a landscape of wide open spaces but you can see any director quickly falling in love with the country with its beautiful vistas of coastline , forests , mountains and rivers . Here director Ian Sharp seems hypnotised by the countryside , so much so that the hypnotic beauty of the natural countryside ends up becoming the star of TRACKED and overwhelms the narrative
I didn't think it was possible, but I finally watched a Ray Winstone movie that wasn't very good. "Tracker" has a fine premise and could have provided a valuable history lesson, as few Americans (myself included) have little knowledge of the Boer Wars. However, despite the gorgeous New Zealand scenery, the plot, direction and acting are fairly lame. Temuera Morrison, playing the native Maori being tracked, overacts to an embarrassing degree and even Winstone - one of my favorite non-American actors - seems to be doing little more than going through the motions. The plot is predictable, the dialog stilted and the movie itself does little more than take up time.
Good characters, and a wonderful setting. Ray Winstone looks good as a grizzled Boer, the Maori fugitive conveys his conflicted upbringing very well, and the British Empire characters are convincing enough. However, the relationship between the tracker and the tracked is quite stilted and wooden, unfolding predictably through various twists of fate and escape attempts. The motivation for the tracker in releasing the prisoner towards the end is not quite clear ... it would have been better if he had cynically taken the reward and *then* released the prisoner. This is all mitigated by the great setting and wonderful imagery of the New Zealand wilderness, but the story falls apart at the climactic scene through a fairly basic continuity blunder at the end when Winstone has dry clothes despite jumping into a pool...this also undermines the critical twist. Definitely worth watching if you like outdoors movies, as it deservedly scores highly on scenery, but it could have been a far better film with attention to plot and dialogue.