Universal to change its rifle of shoulder. After the controversy surrounding the film The Hunt in the wake of the killings of Dayton and El Paso, the distribution company has decided to cancel the release of its social satire ultraviolente scheduled for September. The decision was taken in the aftermath of an attack by Donald Trump against a full-length film from Craig Zobel, social satire depicting United States dystopian where the American organize of hunting with hounds with human beings for game.
» READ ALSO – Mathieu Bock-Côté: «the roots of violence in the United States»
Saturday, Universal has issued a press release stating that this was «not the right time to release this film». The message remains however quite vague as to suggest that cinema could deliver The Hunt at a later date.
Friday, on Twitter, Donald Trump has criticised a work made, according to him, to «spread the chaos» without mentioning the title of the film. He also denounced the «racism of liberal Hollywood». The first images of the film, revealed at the end of July, had set fire to the social networks after the massacres committed by white supremacist in Dayton and El Paso. The advertising campaign of this film, produced by the specialist of horror Jason Blum not recommended for children under 17 years of age had then been interrupted.
» SEE ALSO – After the shootings, Trump says the internet has radicalized the «diseased minds»
After the shootings, Trump says the internet has radicalized the «diseased minds» – to Look on Figaro Live
A political weapon
According to the synopsis, available on the Internet Movie Database The Hunt tells the story of the «twelve people waking up in a clearing not knowing where they are or how they are up there, ignoring that they have been selected to serve as a game»… The film is produced by Blumhouse Productions, the company at the origin of American Nightmare satire in which America has managed to reduce its unemployment rate by allowing the murder one night in the year.
«in the wake of The killings of El Paso and Dayton, any film offering the spectacle of Americans engaged in a rite of opening fire on other Americans, seems to be less of a provocation as a shameful act of insensitivity,» said a columnist for Variety .
On the specialized site Slashfilm , journalist Ethan Anderson regrets that The Hunt is used as «a political weapon». According to him, the film is exploited in order to «show that the liberals want to force the conservatives». As the suggests the first information and the trailer, the people hunted (supposed conservatives) rebattent quickly the cards and take their turn in hunting their trackers (supposedly liberal). According to the american media, the character played by Betty Gilpin, one of the twelve people serving game, «knows the game of hunting better than the hunters and reverse the trend, disposing one by one of his enemies, jostling their way towards the mysterious woman at the controls,» played by actress oscar winner Hilary Swank.
Asked about the president’s remarks at the Locarno film Festival, where it received a Leopard of honor, the actress said that it was important to «celebrate our differences». «My desire to tell stories has always been the same, no matter who was president, she explained to Variety. My choices determine the person that I am, and this is not likely to change… I’m still doing stories about the underdogs, and you know, I always put on the side of human rights.»
● Watch the trailer-in original version of The Hunt :