The Hunt

The Hunt (La caza), directed by Carlos Saura, is a Spanish film about three middle-aged Spanish Civil War veterans and a younger fourth companion who set out on a scorching day for a rabbit hunt, during which old resentments and the regime's oppressive weight build into mounting paranoia and violence. To pass Franco's strict censorship, the film's original title, La caza del conejo, was changed to the more neutral La caza (the original carried a slang sexual connotation), and explicit references to the Civil War were avoided; but it was decisive that the Falangist censor reviewing the film happened to be a film buff himself, which helped it slip through. The rabbit hunt is read as an allegory for the Civil War; the editing of the hunting scenes links the shots of the hunters to each other rather than to their prey, tying them into a symbolic human crossfire. Saura won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin Film Festival for the film. Who it's for: anyone curious about a Berlin award-winning Spanish classic that slipped past Franco's censors disguised as a simple hunting story while carrying a deep allegory underneath. Who it's not for: those wanting a direct, explicit war narrative, since the film buries its message under layers of symbol and metaphor.