The Naked Prey - Criterion Collection

Buy This Item The Naked Prey - Criterion Collection by Criterion Collection  Available from Amazon  $32.99  on 11-25-2008     Glamorous leading man turned idiosyncratic auteur Cornel Wilde created a handful of gritty, violent explorations of the nature of man in the sixties and seventies, none more memorable than The Naked Prey. In the late nineteenth century, after an ivory-hunting safari offends an African tribe, the colonialists are captured and hideously tortured. Only Wilde s marksman is released, without clothes or weapons, to be hunted for sport, and he embarks on a harrowing journey through savanna and jungle and back to a primitive state. Distinguished by widescreen camerawork and unflinching savagery, The Naked Prey is both a propulsive, stripped-to-the-bone narrative and a meditation on the notion of civilization.<p> SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:<p> <p> New, restored high-definition digital transfer <p> Audio commentary by film scholar Stephen Prince <p> John Colter s Escape, a 1913 written record of the trapper s flight from Blackfoot Indians which was the inspiration for The Naked Prey read by actor Paul Giamatti <p> Original soundtrack cues created by director Cornel Wilde and ethnomusicologist Andrew Tracey, along with a written statement by Tracey on the score <p> Theatrical trailer <p> PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by film critic Michael Atkinson and a 1970 interview with Wilde Reader Reviews This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film. The Naked Prey is a US/South Africa co-production of the 1960's. A hit of it's time, today it is politically incorrect. The film is inspired by a true story about a white man escaping from Blackfoot Native Americans in the early 19th century. The film is about some British on a hunting safari in late 19th or early 20th century southern Africa. They meet up with a local African tribe and the leader wants a gift. When the party refuses, the tribe butchers them save one man who they strip naked and make him run. He is now a human prey being hunted by the tribe. Can he flee to safety? This film was made in Apartheid era South Africa and portrays Africans as savages comparable to the way Native Americans have been portrayed. Not exactly accurate or politically correct for today. One could even call the film racist as it was made at a time where racism was rampant in both of the countries it was made in. Though the film is politically incorrect by today's standards, it still has good cinematography and very little dialogue which makes it unique. The DVD has some excellent special features including a reading of a record of the actual event that inspired the film, The film's soundtrack of native African music is also included in an audio only format with separate tracks, a theatrical trailer and audio commentary by Stephen Prince.

The Naked Prey - Criterion Collection Available from Amazon Price: $32.99 Updated on 11-25-2008.

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