My sole reason for seeing this - about which I knew nothing - was the name of Natascha Reignier on the marquee. This German-born, Belgian-raised actress caught my eye first in Le Pont des Arts and I figured I could stand a little more of her. It's one of those stories when you find yourself saying to and/or about the main character 'why did you do it' usually when the ingénue in the old, dark house, throws on a negligee, grabs a candle and heads for the cellar/locked room at three in the morning against all the laws of logic, common sense and self-preservation. Here we wonder why Olivier (Mathieu Demy), having shaken off the bonds, not to say tentacles of the close-knit life on Corsica, elects to return on vacation with pregnant French girlfriend (Natasca Reignier) in tow and, having done so, is apparently content to leave her to her own devices whilst he joins in boar hunts in which he is accepted only via the good word put in by Vincent, (Thierry de Peretti). So from the first there are subtle layers of unease lacing the plot like sunbeams penetrating a dense forest. With at least two layers of tension - Olivier/Marianne, Olivier/hunters - working against him the last thing Olivier needs is to stop at a filling station and witness one of the boar hunters kill the cashier. Any moral qualms this would normally trigger are intensified because we are, remember, in Corsica where, as Damon Runyon might have said, the best you can get by interfering in things that don't concern you is the worst of it. In short, a broody piece with spectacular scenery and a highly watchable leading lady.
4 Reviews
Omerta (The boar hunter)
ulicknormanowen18 January 2020
Although the action takes place in Corsica ,viewing this film will provide you with a complete change of scene here,even for a French.Filmed on location, the cinematography is splendid indeed,taking advantage of the magnificent landscapes of the island.It creates such a grandiose atmosphere in which the hero -who spends his vacation on the island but is a native , his aunt notably lives here - is completely lost as the movie progresses.Even the boar hunters he is part of become threatening .
This is not really a thriller: oddly ,the scene of the murder might remind you of that of Clint Eastwood 's "true crime" (1998);and the hero,who witnesses the whole scene , flees ;there the comparison with the American movie ends; the young man ,cannot bring himself to go to the police station .
The code of silence has always been a golden rule in Corsica ,as such writers as Guy De Maupassant or Prosper Mérimée have shown in the nineteenth century ; informing, betraying are unthinkable.Even in the twenty-first century ,his friendly hunt mates tell him so .Even the aunt remembers stories of long ago.
Disturbing scenes increase tenfold the hero's feeling of guilty : the little chuch devoted to a saint whose eyes were scratched out because she did not want to renege on Jesus in Roman times ; the bleeding chunks of wild boar meat .
I'd tone my praise down a bit for the hero's fantasies filmed in black and white which do not bring anything to a haunting movie which does not need them at all.
Silence is the keynote :the movie begins and ends in silence ;if you are going for a thriller (the poster may fool you) ,you will be disappointed .If you are looking something different ,off the beaten track, you will be rewarded.
This is not really a thriller: oddly ,the scene of the murder might remind you of that of Clint Eastwood 's "true crime" (1998);and the hero,who witnesses the whole scene , flees ;there the comparison with the American movie ends; the young man ,cannot bring himself to go to the police station .
The code of silence has always been a golden rule in Corsica ,as such writers as Guy De Maupassant or Prosper Mérimée have shown in the nineteenth century ; informing, betraying are unthinkable.Even in the twenty-first century ,his friendly hunt mates tell him so .Even the aunt remembers stories of long ago.
Disturbing scenes increase tenfold the hero's feeling of guilty : the little chuch devoted to a saint whose eyes were scratched out because she did not want to renege on Jesus in Roman times ; the bleeding chunks of wild boar meat .
I'd tone my praise down a bit for the hero's fantasies filmed in black and white which do not bring anything to a haunting movie which does not need them at all.
Silence is the keynote :the movie begins and ends in silence ;if you are going for a thriller (the poster may fool you) ,you will be disappointed .If you are looking something different ,off the beaten track, you will be rewarded.
Omerta
ulicknormanowen22 January 2020
A young man whose wife is going to have a baby ,comes back to his native Corsica for a vacation where he hunts wild boars ;he will be confronted to a terrifying drama.
Although the action takes place in Corsica ,viewing this film will provide you with a complete change of scene here,even for a French.Filmed on location, the cinematography is splendid indeed,taking advantage of the magnificent landscapes of the island.It creates a grandiose atmosphere in which the hero ,-though his aunt notably lives here - is completely lost as the movie progresses.Even the boar hunters he is part of become threatening .
This is not really a thriller: oddly ,the scene of the murder might remind you of that of Clint Eastwood 's "true crime" (1998);and the hero,who witnesses the whole scene , flees ;there the comparison with the American movie ends; the young man ,cannot bring himself to go to the police station .
The code of silence has always been a golden rule in Corsica ,as such writers as Guy De Maupassant or Prosper Mérimée have shown in the nineteenth century ; informing, betraying are unthinkable.Even in the twenty-first century ,his friendly hunt mates tell him so .Even the aunt remembers stories of long ago. And towards the end, his pals' friendly faces might be enemies ,seeking for revenge.
Disturbing scenes increase tenfold the hero's feeling of guilty : the little chuch devoted to a saint whose eyes were scratched out because she did not want to renege on Jesus in Roman times ; the bleeding chunks of wild boar meat .
I'd tone my praise down a bit for the hero's fantasies filmed in black and white which do not bring anything to a haunting movie which does not need them at all.
Silence is the keynote :the movie begins and ends in silence ;if you are going for a thriller (the poster may fool you) ,you will be disappointed .If you are looking something different ,off the beaten track, you will be rewarded.
Although the action takes place in Corsica ,viewing this film will provide you with a complete change of scene here,even for a French.Filmed on location, the cinematography is splendid indeed,taking advantage of the magnificent landscapes of the island.It creates a grandiose atmosphere in which the hero ,-though his aunt notably lives here - is completely lost as the movie progresses.Even the boar hunters he is part of become threatening .
This is not really a thriller: oddly ,the scene of the murder might remind you of that of Clint Eastwood 's "true crime" (1998);and the hero,who witnesses the whole scene , flees ;there the comparison with the American movie ends; the young man ,cannot bring himself to go to the police station .
The code of silence has always been a golden rule in Corsica ,as such writers as Guy De Maupassant or Prosper Mérimée have shown in the nineteenth century ; informing, betraying are unthinkable.Even in the twenty-first century ,his friendly hunt mates tell him so .Even the aunt remembers stories of long ago. And towards the end, his pals' friendly faces might be enemies ,seeking for revenge.
Disturbing scenes increase tenfold the hero's feeling of guilty : the little chuch devoted to a saint whose eyes were scratched out because she did not want to renege on Jesus in Roman times ; the bleeding chunks of wild boar meat .
I'd tone my praise down a bit for the hero's fantasies filmed in black and white which do not bring anything to a haunting movie which does not need them at all.
Silence is the keynote :the movie begins and ends in silence ;if you are going for a thriller (the poster may fool you) ,you will be disappointed .If you are looking something different ,off the beaten track, you will be rewarded.
Intense, uncomfortable and real
maple-28 July 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Oliver (Demy) and Marianne (Régnier), his pregnant French fiancée have come to vacation in Corsica, where she swims while he joins his cousin Vincent (de Peretti) and other locals in the daily boar hunts. Though Oliver grew up on the Island, he is returning to Corsica from Paris, and is accepted in the hunting party only because he is with Vincent. Many of the older women in the village know his mother or grandmother, but they are skeptical of his Parisian girl friend. His vacation is turned upside down when he stops to get air for his tire at the local convenience store and witnesses a murder of the cashier by one of the more volatile men of the hunting party. But he does not go to the police right away, trying to figure out weather to tell anyone. And of course, his aunt tells him that in Corsica that people cannot get hurt if they mind their own business. But his silence takes its toll, straining his relationship with his fiancée and making him even more quiet on the hunt and with Vincent. Well developed realistic hunting scenes and subtle male female dynamics. This is intense, uncomfortable and real with a constant low level tension developed by the tight music and effective black and white dream sequences.
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