FILM-FORWARD.COMReviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
THE TRACKER
With characters simply called the Tracker, the Fanatic, the Follower, and the Veteran, this
action-oriented morality tale is gripping, even if it is more than a tad pedantic. Set in 1922, the
film follows the Aboriginal Tracker (Gulpilil, who played a similar character in Rabbit-Proof
Fence), as he leads three white men through the mountainous Australian outback on a hunt
for an Aborigine accused of murdering a white woman. Having vowed not "to let the black
bastard get away from me," the Fanatic senses that the Tracker may be intentionally allowing the
accused to run free. He threatens the Tracker, "If I don't catch him, it will be your ears I take back
with me." Repeatedly, the Tracker obsequiously answers, "Yes, Boss. Okay Boss." Yet, in a close-up, he is
amused as the men fruitlessly fire away at unseen assailants. Eventually, to ensure that the
Tracker doesn't flee in the night before the men can catch their quarry, the Fanatic chains him
with a collar. Gary Sweet's subtle performance (the Fanatic) shows how the terror of a man
who is out of his element fuels his pomposity and anger. The entire cast is equally strong. And in a departure from period films, a middle-of-the road rock soundtrack,
with such lyrics as "Now we are no longer free, we're dispossessed," is sung by Archie Roach, an
Aboriginal singer with a voice like Elvis Costello's. Although the characters are clichéd
and largely symbolic, their path takes surprising turns. Interspersed with moments of great
suspense, the tragic cat-and-mouse survival adventure overshadows the heavy-handed
didacticism. Kent Turner
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