''The Hunt'' (in Spanish ''La Caza'') is a 1966
Spanish film directed by
Carlos Saura
Carlos Saura Atarés (born 4 January 1932) is a Spanish film director, photographer and writer. Along with Luis Buñuel and Pedro Almodóvar, he is considered to be one of Spain’s most renowned filmmakers. He has a long and prolific career t ...
. The film is a psychological thriller about three veterans of the Spanish Civil War who meet to go
rabbit hunting
Rabbiting (also rabbit hunting and cottontail hunting) is the sport of hunting rabbits. It often involves using ferrets or dogs to track or chase the prey. There are various methods used in capturing the rabbit, including trapping and shooting. ...
. It was Saura's first international success, winning the
Silver Bear for Best Director
The Silver Bear for Best Director (german: Silberner Bär/Bester Regie) is an award presented annually at the Berlin International Film Festival since 1956. It is given for the best achievement in directing and is chosen by the International Jury ...
at the
16th Berlin International Film Festival. It is considered a classic of
Spanish Cinema
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
, and
Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic '' The Wild Bunch'' received an Academy Award nomination and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Institut ...
has said that it was a major influence upon him.
Plot
José, Paco and Luis, three middle-aged men, veteran
Falangists, 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 niece Carmen to aid them in the hunt, 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 asks Paco for a loan; it will cement their relationship, he says. Paco, who has grudgingly been expecting this, refuses, but instead offers José a job.
![La caza 1966](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/La_caza_1966.jpg)
During the hunt, the men kill several rabbits and eventually lunch on them. Their relationships become more estranged as they fret over the past and rebuke each other in several ways. Luis becomes deranged and turns to practice-shooting with a mannequin; he also starts a fire that grows too large and has to be put out. Near the end, 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 manages to survive long enough to shoot at the escaping José and kill him before going down himself. Enrique, unhurt, is left alone in the midst of this carnage, trying to fathom the inexplicable behavior of the three wartime comrades. The movie ends in a freeze-frame as he runs away from the carnage.
Cast
*
Ismael Merlo as José
*
Alfredo Mayo
Alfredo Fernández Martínez (17 May 1911 in Barcelona – 19 May 1985 in Palma de Mallorca) better known as Alfredo Mayo was a Spanish actor.
Biography
After studying medicine, in 1929 Mayo made his debut in the theatre with the company of ...
as Paco
*
José María Prada
José María Prada Oterino (31 March 1925 – 13 August 1978) was a Spanish film and television actor. He appeared in more than 80 films and television shows between 1954 and 1978.
Partial filmography
* ''Comedians'' (1954) - Decorador
* ...
as Luis
*
Emilio Gutiérrez Caba
Emilio Gutiérrez Caba (born 26 September 1942) is a Spanish film and television actor.
Personal
Caba is the son of actors and Irene Caba Alba and brother of and Julia, both dedicated to acting too. From his mother side, he is the grandson of ...
as Enrique (credited as Emilio G. Caba)
*
Fernando Sánchez Polack
Fernando Sánchez Polack (11 August 1920 – 24 January 1982) was a Spanish actor. He appeared in more than 110 films and television shows between 1959 and 1982, mostly of them as a supporting character in Spaghetti Western films. He starred ...
as Juan
*
Violeta García as Carmen
*
María Sánchez Aroca as La Madre de Juan
Reception
The film was shot in a valley that once witnessed a
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
battle similar to the one described in the dialogue. Saura won the
Silver Bear for Best Director
The Silver Bear for Best Director (german: Silberner Bär/Bester Regie) is an award presented annually at the Berlin International Film Festival since 1956. It is given for the best achievement in directing and is chosen by the International Jury ...
at the
16th Berlin International Film Festival in 1966.
References
Notes
*D'Lugo, Marvin, ''The Films of Carlos Saura'', Princeton University Press, 1991,
* Schwartz, Ronald, ''The Great Spanish Films: 1950- 1990'',Scarecrow Press, London, 1991,
External links
*
''La caza'', Carlos Saura y el nuevo cine español''Suite101'' (Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caza, La
1966 films
1960s Spanish-language films
1966 drama films
Spanish black-and-white films
Spain in fiction
Films directed by Carlos Saura