Neil BakerHunters on a White Field (Jakt) is showing at the Tribeca Film Festival from June 8 – 15. BOOK TICKETS
When we treat nature as nothing more than sport, we quietly dig our own graves. Since the first humans emerged from caves, hunting has been linked to survival; in the early days of human life, hunting was a necessity, a way of securing warmth, clothing and food that enabled us, as humans, to grow and thrive. Over time, we became farmers by learning to control the land around us and use the soil for food and the further growth of small villages and communities. Those villages grew into towns and eventually cities as we consumed more and more of the natural environment, cutting down forests, building damns and replacing wetlands with farming fields.
As we grew, our appetite for meat grew, becoming unsustainable as we filled warehouses with baby chickens whose lives were short and bred bulls, cows, and sheep for one purpose and one purpose only: our growing dinner plates. Nature became our plate, and hunting became a sport as we killed deer, pheasants and endangered animals with impunity. Gone were the spears of our ancestors, replaced by long-range guns that no animal could avoid as we beat our chests and considered our kills a “win” for humanity. We have raped our earth, and now we face the price as our natural resources dwindle and the world screams out for release from our human grip. Eventually, all that will be left is each other, and the hunt will continue as we turn on our fellow human beings. In her dark, mysterious and challenging feature debut, Hunters on a White Field (Jakt), writer and director Sarah Gyllenstierna asks how far three men will go to keep the hunt alive.
Based on a novel by Mats Wägeus, Hunting on a White Field (Jakt) wastes no time in introducing us to Alex (Ardalan Esmaili) and Gregor (Magnus Krepper), two work colleagues about to embark on a weekend of hunting deep in Sweden’s tranquil forests. Gregor is no novice hunter, and the lodge they’re heading for is owned by his long-time friend Henrik (Jens Hultén), who they plan to meet on the road before working their way to the lodge together. But, for Alex, this is a new experience, which he is not altogether comfortable with despite putting on a brave face with his more hyper-masculine colleague. As they arrive at the lodge, it’s clear that this will be a weekend of bonding, wine, whisky and kills as Henrik welcomes them with open arms while remaining slightly aloof with Alex, the newbie who seems a bit too wet behind the ears. Alex knows he will need to prove himself in this testosterone-driven environment, but something also seems off, uncertain and unsure as the hunt begins.
As the rivalry increases, Alex becomes more confident in his abilities. At the same time, Henrik, the alpha male, struggles to prove his worth as a hunter, further ratcheting up the tension. But when the animals they shoot vanish, and hallucinogens, whisky, wine, and red meat begin to twist and contort reality, the weekend suddenly turns into something far more deadly; after all, the hunt must continue, and every man must prove his dominance no matter the cost.
From its opening scenes, the tension at the heart of Sarah Gyllenstierna’s assured debut slowly increases with each frame as the hunt spirals out of control, and nature plays its deadly trick on three men bound by a need to own the forest surrounding them. Speaking ahead of the Hunters on a White Field (Jakt) Tribeca premiere, Gyllenstierna said,
“What attracted me to the novel that my script is based on was its twisted and absurdist take on humans’ capacity for self-destruction. The context of three men on a hunting trip provided an opportunity to explore group dynamics and the psychological forces that can come into play in sealed-off environments, as well as ideas about instinct and fragility within individuals and within the flock. The men in the film yearn for a sense of camaraderie and belonging, but the hunt instead leads them down a rabbit hole of primal instincts and conflicted emotions.”
There is no doubt that Gyllenstierna’s screenplay and direction honour each of the themes she raises as Esmaili, Krepper, and Hultén’s taut performances powerfully reflect the fragility of each man’s psychological ability to deal with the events unfolding as long-buried primal instincts suddenly find release. These stunning central performances are coupled with Josua Enblom’s impressive cinematography and Ola Fløttum’s suspense-laden score as the majestic beauty of Sweden’s dense wild forests meets the blood-red desire of the hunt and the deep pulsating need for the kill. The result is an exquisitely crafted, heart-pounding thriller that sees the beauty of the forest laced with tension as the divide between hunter and prey slowly becomes ever more blurred. Here, each kill, red-blooded meal and alcohol-fueled conversation add to a feeling of impending doom as the forest plays its own deadly game.
But Hunter’s on a White Field (Jakt) is far more than just a reflection of the primal instincts that lay dormant in all humans and the psychological torment of isolation in setting them free. It conveys a profound message about our relationship with the natural world and the inherent need for dominance and control in all humans. It asks us whether we will ever move beyond the hunter to become custodians and whether our taste for blood will ultimately lead to our undoing as a human race.
