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THE NAKED PREY is very similar in many ways to Cornel Wilde`s later movie NO BLADE OF GRASS in that it deals with the theme of survival , is rather violent and features real life stock footage mixed in with the location footage , and while neither film is all that well directed they both have very thought provoking plots of which THE NAKED PREY is more subtle . Yeah NO BLADE OF GRASS is shockingly thought provoking but that`s entirely down to the John Christopher source novel rather than the adapted screenplay or Cornel Wilde`s sledge hammer direction telling us what a terrible thing ( yawn ) pollution is
The premise of THE NAKED PREY is white man getting chased through African bush by black natives but the movie never becomes racist or reactionary and even more refreshingly is devoid of any patronising liberal right on attitudes . Wilde`s hero called simply " The Man " is an innocent victim who happened to have the misfortune of being a safari guide to a bunch of philistines , but hey everyone has to make a living . The natives who while not exactly being painted in the most sympathetic light do have a motive for their amoral stance - One of moral relativism . It should also be pointed out that the natives do weep tears for their dead kinsmen and are capable of respect too . The screenplay never talks down to its audience by having tribal chiefs suddenly speak pidgen English when it suits the narrative nor are we shown subtitles but it`s easy to tell what`s going on . The fact that Clint Johnston`s and Don Peters screenplay was Oscar nominated says a lot about its quality
A good film mainly down to the fact that it treats the audience with some respect and doesn`t degenerate into a slightly obvious MCGUYVER type plot . Having said that I did mention earlier that it`s not all that well directed with obvious stock footage used . It`s also obvious in the early chase scenes that Wilde`s character is wearing flesh coloured briefs when he`s supposed to be naked and I wished I could have seen a few more of those cruel and inventive executions which probably says a lot about me . Maybe some day we will see a remake set in the Brazilian rain forest with a guide escorting a bunch of environmentalist do gooders stomping through the jungle telling indiginous tribes how to live their lives and being confused as to why the natives want to impale them on a pole . Everything is down to respect
score 7/10
Theo Robertson 11 December 2003
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0094646/ |
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23-2-2021 18:07:12