The Naked Prey [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Cornel Wilde, Sven Persson Cornel Wilde

Overview

In the bush country of South Africa in the late 19th century, chauvinistic hunter Gert vanDen Bergh calculatedly offends a local tribal chief. Given several opportunities, he refuses to apologize. As consequence, vanDen Bergh and the rest of his hunting party are captured by the tribesmen and grotesquely tortured to death. The only white man spared is safari-guide Cornel Wilde, whom the natives respect and vice versa. The tribesmen offer Wilde a chance to survive; stripping him naked and giving him a knife to defend himself, they set Wilde free in the jungle, in preparation of hunting him down like a lion. Given a head start equal to the distance one of the tribesman can fire an arrow, Wilde is pursued by the tribe's six most accomplished warriors. The rest of this thrill-a-minute film follows Wilde into the underbrush in his desperate, resourceful flight for life. Cornel Wilde's The Naked Prey was filmed entirely on location under circumstances nearly as dangerous as the plight of its protagonist.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/02/2018
UPC:	0715515222013
Original Release:	1966
Rating:	R
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Language:	English
Time:	1:35:00
Sales rank:	10,894

Special Features

Restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompresssed monaural soundtrack; Audio Commentary from 2007 by film scholar Stephen Prince; "John Colter's Escape," a 1913 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 ethomusicologist; Andrew Tracey, along with a written statement by Tracey; Trailer; Plus: An essay by film critic Michael Atkinson and a 1970 interview with Wilde

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Cornel Wilde	The Man
Ken Gampu	Lead of the Warriors,Tribal Chief
Gert Van den Bergh	Man No. 2
Patrick Mynhardt	Safari Overseer
Bella Randels	Little Girl
Jose Sithole	Warrior
Richard Mashiya	Warrior
Eric Sabela	Warrior
Joe Diaminl	Warrior
Frank Mdhluli	Warrior
Sandy Nkomo	Warrior
Fusi Zazayokwe	Warrior
John Marcus	Warrior
Horace Gilman	Warrior
Frank Mdhiuli	Warriors
Joe Diamini	Actor
Gert Van Der Bergh	Actor

Technical Credits

Clint Johnson

Don Peters

Cornel Wilde	Director,Producer
Clint Johnson	Screenwriter
Don Peters	Screenwriter
Sven Persson	Director

Editorial Reviews

African warriors track human prey, and the chase doesn't end until the final moment of this taut 1966 motion picture. After the first 15 minutes of the film, there is almost no dialogue -- just running, dodging, chasing, and stalking. Cornel Wilde is the quarry. He portrays a 19th century hunter leading a safari that insults local natives. In retaliation, the natives torture and kill all the safari members except one (Wilde). He must run for his life in a kind of game in which spear-toting tribesmen give him a one-minute head start. While fleeing, he retrieves the thrown spear of a pursuer, kills him, then escapes into the thick of the African bush. There, he lives off the land, trying to stay a safe distance ahead of the hunters. Wilde, who also directed the film, paces the action brilliantly, keeping viewers squirming as the hunters and the hunted attempt to outwit and outrun one another. However, though the film is very good, it has an annoying flaw: the frequent depiction of animals killing animals, a "survival of the fittest" metaphor that shows up again and again, ad nauseam. Although character development suffers in a film of this type -- it's the chase that matters and little else -- credit must be given to Wilde for investing the black African hunters with humanity. They stop and mourn their dead comrades, exhibiting deep emotion, thus showing other filmmakers of the '60s that black Africans are people too. Overall, The Naked Prey is a nice little tour-de-force film that deserves a place on the list of "best chase films."

All Movie Guide - Mike Cummings