3 November 2007
One
of that rare breed of actor who also demonstrated
skills behind the camera, Cornel Wilde had already
directed four films and acted in forty-two when he
did both in the 1966 film The Naked Prey,
possibly the nest of the gritty and violent explorations
of the nature of man with which he made his name as
as a director in the sixties and seventies.
In
the early nineteenth century, after an ivory-hunting
safari offends an African tribe, the colonialists
are captured and hideously tortured. Only Wilde's
marksman is released, without clothes or weapons,
to be hunted for sport, and he embarks on a harrowing
journey through savanna and jungle, back to a primitive
state. Distinguished by vivid widescreen camera work
and the unflinching depiction of savagery, The
Naked Prey is both a propulsive, stripped-to-the-bone
narrative and a meditation on the notion of civilization.
Previously
unavailable on DVD in the US, the film has been announced
for a January release as part of the Criterion Collection.
The following features have been confirmed:
- New,
restored high-definition 2.35:1 anamorphic digital
transfer and Dolby Digital mono 1,0 sound;
- Audio
commentary by film scholar Stephen Prince;
- "John
Colter’s Escape," a 1913 written record
of the trapper's flight from Blackfoot Indians -
which was the inspiration for The Naked Prey - read by actor Paul Giamatti;
- Original
soundtrack cues created by director Cornel Wilde
and ethnomusicologist Andrew Tracey, along with
a written statement by Tracey on the score;
- Theatrical
trailer;
- A
booklet featuring a new essay by film critic Michael
Atkinson and a 1970 interview with Wilde.
Release
date is set for 15th January 2008 at the SRP of $39.95. |
