Stockholm Film Festival

Erik has worked as a policeman in Stockholm for many years when he returns to his childhood home in Norrland, in northern Sweden, and his brother Leif for his father's funeral. ln Stockholm Erik has been involved in a gunshot drama where he killed a robber and was himself injured, and upon returning home he is treated like a hero by his old pals. Erik has decided to move back to Norrland and has therefore applied for a job with the local police force, which he gets. The police have been aware for some time that a gang of poachers have been operating in the area. They have come across carcasses of shot and butchered reindeer. This has been hushed up so far, but Erik starts to look at the case. He immediately suspects a gang of stubborn hunters from the village, also old friends of his. His zealous police procedures are not appreciated by the villagers and Erik begins to realize that much has changed in the years that he has been away. The deeper he digs into the case, the more they distance themselves from him. From having previously been a hero, he is now seen as a threat: a threat to the security of a community previously ruled by unwritten laws. Suddenly, brutal and unrestrained forces are unleashed and his closest friends appear as key figures in the drama. Erik finds himself dangerously close to the violence's epicentre. The Hunters penetrates the complex problems, and reveals the forces, which underlie conceptions like group pressure and loyalty. When Erik suddenly rushes into this community where group solidarity is much stronger and more important than confidence in written laws, he upsets the apparent balance and harmony and reveals a much darker and disturbing reality. At the same time, he places himself and those around him in a moral dilemma: how far can you stretch your loyalty? When does loyalty become a straight jacket? With a number of very powerful performances and based on a well written script, which believably paves the way for spiraling violence which follows and which eventually starts to spin, we see here a by Swedish standards, exceptionally compact and gruesome thriller. And everything is framed by a rapturously beautiful countryside which is in striking contrast to the story's brutal reality, like a false promise of idyllic harmony. cO 

Medverkande

Rolf Lassgård, Lennart Jähkel, Jarmo Mäkinen

Producent

Joakim Hansson & Björn Carlström

Manus

Kjell Sundvall & Björn Carlström

Foto

Kjell Lageroos

Musik

Björn J:son Lindh

Talat språk

Swedish

 

Andra filmer från sektionen Northern Lights

Se alla festivalfilmer från 1996