Open Season - hunting season

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Movie
German title Open Season - hunting season
Original title Los Cazadores
Country of production Spain , United States
original language English
Publishing year 1974
length 99 minutes
Age rating FSK 18
Rod
Director Peter Collinson
script Dave D. Osborn
Liz Charles-Williams
production Jose S. Vicuna
music Ruggero Cini
camera Fernando Arribas
cut Alan Pattillo
occupation

Open Season is a literary adaptation of the novel Jagdzeit by David D. Osborn . Peter Collinson shot the film in 1973. The plot differs in some details from the novel.

action

At the beginning, before the opening credits, you see a prosecutor talking to a couple of parents and their daughter, who was apparently raped by three respected college students. The public prosecutor made it clear to the parents, however, that the chances of being charged or convicted of the three perpetrators were extremely slim, as nobody would believe the victim. After the opening credits, you can see how the three friends Ken Frazer, Greg Anderson and Art Wallace - meanwhile well-off middle-class family fathers - go on a hunting trip like every year. The three have known each other since school and were together in the Vietnam War . During the trip they indulge in various memories. In Vietnam they raped a woman and then left her as booty to an entire tank battalion. On the way, they have sex with prostitutes and a waitress in a motel. On the way to the hunting lodge, they finally kidnap the lovers Nancy and Martin, who they kidnap to their hunting lodge in a huge forest area. While Nancy believes she can get the kidnappers on her side through sex, Martin tries to rebel again and again without really having a chance. Out of desperation, Martin offers the kidnappers money, which they mockingly refuse.

On the first day, the kidnappers go hunting with Nancy; in the evening they enjoy themselves with lots of alcohol and all three have sex with her. The following day, Martin observes Nancy voluntarily trying to kiss Ken, which arouses contempt and hatred for Nancy in him. Shortly afterwards, the three hunters reveal their cruel game to the hostages: They give the two a half hour head start, then Nancy and Martin are the hunted "game". Nancy pleads for her life on her knees, but Ken drives her out of the hut in scorn. Martin and Nancy flee in a rubber dinghy, and when Nancy accidentally falls into the water, Martin leaves her there. The dialogues between the hunters show that every year they kidnap a couple and murder them while hunting people. Martin manages to get possession of a rifle, but he is murdered by one of the hunters. When the three wanted to kill Nancy too, Greg was suddenly shot - apparently by an unknown sniper. From then on, he also hunts Ken and Art, but they still manage to murder Nancy. Shortly afterwards, the mysterious shooter kills Art. The last thing he shoots is Ken, to whom he previously revealed that he is the father of the woman who was raped by the three in college. She later committed suicide after being traumatized. As a result, the father changed his name and crept into the circle of acquaintances of the three men so that he could study them better. The film ends after Ken is killed and the father emerges from his hiding place.

Difference from the novel

The film contains small changes to the novel. In the novel, one of the kidnappers considers running away with the kidnapped woman and starting a new life; this level does not appear in the film. In the novel, the avenger is the husband of the former college rape victim; in the film, it is her father.

Different cuts

In the American version of the film there is an additional scene at the beginning and at the end: At the beginning there is an exuberant children's party in Ken's house on the evening before the hunting trip. At the end of it, an elderly gentleman lets an apparently mentally disabled boy babysit with Ken's family because he has to go on a business trip lasting several days. Later this gentleman turns out to be the avenging father. In the end, after killing the three friends, he picks up the little boy from Ken's unsuspecting family.

There is also a very rare Scandinavian version in which the "avenger" turns himself in to the police after picking up the boy. He puts the child in the care of a police officer who is apparently a friend of his.

In both versions, it becomes clear that the disabled boy was conceived in college gang rape, and most likely Ken was the (unsuspecting) father.

Reviews

  • "The striking staging delights in the fear and wretchedness of the victims, but the perpetrators do not appear as guilty, but rather as victims of diffuse circumstances."

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Open Season - hunting season. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used