1966 film
La Caza (English: The Hunt) is a 1966 Spanish film directed by Carlos Saura. The film is a psychological thriller about three veterans of the Spanish Civil War who meet to go rabbit hunting. It was the first Saura's international success, winning the Silver Berlin Bear as Best Director at Berlin Film Festival. Nowadays, it is considered a classic.
Synopsis
José, Paco and Luis, three middle-aged men, veteran Falangist, reunite in a provincial village of Castile, spending a hot summer's day drinking, reminiscing and hunting rabbits. José instigates the hunt. He is in debt because of an impending divorce and is living beyond his means with a younger woman. His main objective at the reunion is to secure a loan from Paco, a shrewd businessman, also unhappily in love and looking for younger women. Paco brings with him Luis, now employed at his factory. Luis is a weak, forlorn individual, an alcoholic addicted to wine, women and science fiction rather than social conviviality or male camaraderie. A fourth member of the group, Enrique, a teenage relative of Paco's comes along for the thrill of the rabbit hunt.
Meeting at the local bar, the men proceed to a run down farm house and hire Juan and his young daughter Nina as well as several ferrets to rout the rabbits from their holes. As the hunters prepare their guns, they reminisce about the Civil War and the excitement of hunting men instead of animals. After a few drinks, José ask Paco fro a loan; it will cement their relationship, he says. Paco refuses but offers José a job instead.
During the hunt, Paco kills a ferret; he claims he shot it accidentally, but José feels he did it maliciously. As the hunt gains in intensity, the gunfire becomes more rapid. the smoldering hatred and frustrations of the three men are triggered when Paco is hit by a blast from José's shotgun and falls mortally wounded, into a stream. Luis enraged by the killing, tries to kill José by running him down with a land rover. José retaliates, shooting at Luis, but the latter, an expert sniper, fires a single shot at José and kills him instantly. Enrique, unhurt is left alone in the midst of this carnage, trying to fathom the inexplicable behavior of the three wartime comrades.
Reception
The film was shot in a valley that once witnesses a Civil War battle similar to the one described in the dialogue. It received the Silver Bear for best direction at the 1966 Berlin Film festival, the jury was headed by Pier Paolo Pasolini.
Spain
