The Hunting Party

September 14, 2007. Written and directed by Richard Shepard, who also directed OXYGEN (about a masochistic cop) and THE MATADOR (about a hit man and a businessman who experience a crisis of conscious). I love movies that are based on fact and so when the movie starts with "Only the most ridiculous parts of this story are true" my expectations are peaked. In terms of stylistic elements I enjoyed the "As for me" in neon above our protagonists head as he utters the words. The close up of a very pregnant woman who has been shot in the belly five times was quite disturbing, especially as one remembers that this is based on a war where atrocities were commonplace. Some of the lines that I love are "ethnically cleansed for your protection, nice vibe right?" and "being that close to death and alive is completely addictive". The use of what one assumes is indigenous music is masterful. The addition of actual footage from actual war correspondents to underscore points is well done and not abused. Especially poignant was showing the war torn Olympics symbols. I like the contrast between "The Fox" they are hunting and the actual fox hunt. However, the scene where "The Fox" is caught is highly improbable, if morally satisfying. The fact versus fiction sequence at the end did not disappoint. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455782/