Tracker (2010)

Tracker (2010). 1h 42m | R

“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 u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eReading the above synopsis the premise is one thatu0026#39;s very familiar , almost too familiar . In many ways it resembles that of a revisionary Western in the tradition of CHATOu0026#39;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 . Itu0026#39;s a common feeling on this page that TRACKER is a film that isnu0026#39;t as good as it could have been but itu0026#39;s impossible to do anything radically different with this type of story u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOne 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”