Huntsman | capturing the authentic twists and turns of a chase

The hunting horn cuts through you like a lie at the start of Huntsman, the new short from Ralph Hutchins. This is less about the tally ho and more about the twists and turns of the chase in a burgeoning relationship, further complicated by being in a rural community that is tied together with proximity and pastimes.

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Each hue and breath

It’s a landscape that writer director Ralph and cinematographer Jake Langley capture with scope and depth, from the stables, to the room filled with memorabilia, to the open field – especially the open field. There’s energy and movement. The hunting scene itself is both noisy and still, with each hue and breath captured.

Reluctant quarry

By the hunting scene, we mean the horses in the field. During their conversation, Sophie (Bella Salmons) is most definitely the quarry of Harry’s (Tomas Baines) subtle charms. Baines is more sultry spider than baying pack. And Salmons sits reluctantly in the crosshairs. If this is a game nobody told her. But then nobody told the stag, fox, badger, etc, either.

An animal prowl

When Harry arrives at the stables for the New Year’s Day hunt, the camera follows him with a rolling reportage feel, as he moves with an animal prowl. Sophie retreats as the conversations of the previous evening’s – New Year’s Eve – revelries and encounters play out. It rumbles with a veneer of innocence and affection. But there’s a rising urgent wariness throughout, Sophie is alert to dangers and ready to be spooked.

Tomas Baines as Harry and Bella Salmons as Sophie in Huntsman

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For a film that is a two hander, a whole world has been conjured up with the script, the lush location and the rich warmth of the camera. The room next to the stables is homely, yet has the feel of outside. It’s just part of the feeling of being wrong-footed.

The team report some trouble during the making of Huntsman due to the contention of the perceived subject matter. The issue of hunting divides communities. And it’s an unease that tingles in the beats of the short. But what of the contention of fickle relationships?

In his writing, Ralph not only captures the closeness and distance that rural environments provide, but he also offers an insight into the male psyche. Scrutiny of Friendship was filled with authentic tensions of a close male relationship. Huntsman pries at the complicated emotional dance that is negotiated as romance.

It may not be about hunting but Huntsman convincingly captures a lothario.