The Hunted
(released March 14, 2003) Tom Brown Jr. served as Technical
Advisor for this movie.
For lots more info on The Hunted, visit the
Tracker
Trail website.
Thunderheart
This movie is about a part-native FBI agent who discovers his native
roots. Actor Graham Greene plays a Native police officer who is skilled in
pressure-releases.
Walkabout
An independent film made in Australia. Basically it is about 2
British youngsters who somehow get lost in the outback of Australia, wander freely through
the desert and somehow find an oasis. At this oasis they drink all the water they
need and eat the fruit off the trees. After about three days they decide they have
to leave and then all of a sudden an Aboriginie is comes over the dune chasing a lizard
with a spear. So the rest of the movie goes on about how they wander the landscape
and the young warrior hunts, collects plants, medicinal plants and so forth. In the
end the two British youngsters go back to civilization but they dream aboutthe freedom
they received from wandering. An excellent movie.
The Great Dance: A Hunter's Story
A "MUST SEE" film for all Tracker types! This film depicts the day-to-day life of a group of
bushmen hunters in Africa's Kalahari. A thrilling documentary of how
tracking & hunting are inseparably weaved into their lives. It
shows
how the hunters identify, age, and interpret the tracks they find, and
you are taken along as they track - often while walking, sometimes even
while running. For stealth, especially when spread out and tracking a
herd of animals, they use sign language to "talk" to each other
regarding the size & gender of the animals, when they were there, where
they were going, their emotional state, and how they may have been
interacting with other animals. Need motivation for getting in some
Dirt Time? Have difficulty explaining the mystery & magic of tracking
to family or friends? This will do the trick. You are taken on numerous
hunting foray adventures over the course of a year. The wildlife
footage and cinematic effects are amazing - you are actually taken on
the hunt, not just shown footage of the hunter with a carcass after the
fact.
A trailer for the film reads: "The !Xo San of the central Kalahari have been a part of this vast
desert landscape since ancient times. !Nqate is their leader.
Together with his friends Karoha and Xlhose, they hunt as their
ancestors have for thousands of years. 'We are San bushmen, sons and
daughters of the first people,' he explains. 'We know hunting.
This
is what we were born to do.' Through their eyes we are shown a world
invisible to outsiders. The subtlest sign are imperceptible to the
untrained eye, but they are enough to lead !Nqate to his prey. Tracks
in the sand are only the beginning - the skills of the San hunter are
virtually a sixth sense, a complex bond between man and animal. The
ultimate expression of this relationship is the "chasing hunt" - a
run
to the death. This incredible feat of skill, tenacity and endurance is
rarely practiced and has never before been filmed. We join Karoha as
he alone runs down his prey, tracking at high speed over difficult
terrain and in 120 degree F heat, until man or animal must collapse
from sheer exhaustion."
The New York Times says:
"In a very real way, 'The Great Dance' constitutes an act of
preservation and a requiem. A 30,000-year history addressed with immense
visual beauty, compassion and a sense of adventure."
The film's title refers to how the hunters consider tracking to be like
dancing, both of which are how they communicate with their God. In the
film is plenty of footage of weapon preparation, stalking, skinning &
primitive cooking, as well as extensive reflection on religion/philosophy, much of which matches Grandfather's philosophy exactly.
[There is not much shown in the film regarding skills like plant
gathering, fire, water, shelter, traps & snares, cordage, weaving or
basketry, and very little is shown of the lives of the women & children
of the tribe.]
[The footage of the hunting & skinning is quite graphic - if you
were
to take a "non-Tracker" or non-hunter friend along to the film, I
would
recommend prepping them for witnessing animal deaths & blood. Also
be
prepared for a very sad ending to the film, as the tribe has recently
been stripped of their hunting licenses.]
The film's website is:
www.senseafrica.com
Reviewed by
Brian Booth
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Excerpts from The Great Dance....
"You think how hard Kudu is working. You feel it in
your own body. You see it in the footprints. She is with you and your
legs are not so heavy. When you feel Kudu is with you, you are now
controlling its mind. Its eyes are no longer wild. You have taken Kudu
into your mind. As it tires you become strong. You take its energy. Your
legs become free. You run fast like yesterday."
"Tracking is like dancing, because your body is happy.
It is telling you the hunting will be good. You feel it in the dance. It
tells you. When you are tracking, and dancing, you are talking with
God."
"In the old days we could speak to the rain, and ask
the sky to send soft rain. The sky used to listen to us, but now
lightning is very dangerous. It brings no rain, it kills because our
ways are being changed." "We know tracking. This
is what we are born to do. We talk silently with our hands. And we read
the animal's stories." "We see where cheetah
passed. We put on cheetah's mind." When you track an
animal you must become the animal. You feel a tingling in your armpits
when the animal is close. Then you know -- the hunt will be good." |
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