Hunting Ground Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Hunting Ground Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 10, 2022

Jorge Grau's "Hunting Ground" (1983) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mondo Macabro. The only bonus feature on the release is an archival program featuring a long conversation with the director. In Spanish or English, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

You must see Jorge Grau’s Hunting Ground in Spanish. There are two audio tracks on Mondo Macabro’s Blu-ray release, Spanish and English, and on its menu, the latter is placed above the former, creating the impression that it is the obvious one to use. The English track is a very wild dub that effectively transforms Hunting Ground into a typical exploitation film of the kind that Italian directors loved to shoot during the ‘70s and ‘80s. If you choose to view Hunting Ground with the English track, you will quickly conclude that Grau wanted to impress the same crowd Vittorio Salerno was targeting with The Savage Three (Fango Bolente). Grau’s intention was different, and the original Spanish track makes it very easy to understand. There are very different expressions on it and the tone of the actors’ voices shape the drama in an entirely different way.

The main protagonist in Hunting Ground is a very liberal attorney (Asumpta Serna) in her thirties who routinely represents some of the most vicious criminals that the authorities in the Spanish capital detain. Her job is as important to her as her family, perhaps even more, because she genuinely believes that society is the real villain that needs to be reformed while her clients are simply victims of a cruel system that has made them what they are. Each time she triumphs in court and a criminal is released back on the streets, her conviction that she is slowly making the country a better, more just place grows stronger.

But the attorney’s seemingly perfect world begins to unravel when a couple of young thugs steal her car and later, together with a few more, agree to rob the posh chalet where she plans to spend a quiet weekend with her husband, two children, and visiting mother-in-law. Initially, the missing car only complicates her very busy schedule, but when the thugs break into the chalet her husband is shot dead. The loss rattles the attorney but not her conviction that she is once again dealing with young victims. She even contemplates representing the arrested mentally ill brother of her husband’s killer after their mother visits her office and begs that she helps the former regain his freedom. Meanwhile, the killer and his accomplices, who are still out in the open, become even more unhinged.

The only area of Hunting Ground where the credibility of Grau’s messaging suffers is the one where the attorney is seen trying to reset her life and convince her former mentor and senior judge that the mentally ill thug should be freed. While he is forced into the drama by his brother, it is hard to see how a rational attorney would want to be involved with him and at the same time try to move on from the murder case for personal reasons. For this commitment to appear legit, there must be new developments that validate the attorney’s decision, and this writer cannot think of any that would have made sense.

Grau’s remaining observations about crime and punishment make perfect sense. For example, Grau does not recognize the connection between social injustice and crime that the attorney repeatedly describes because it does not exist in the context of the story. On the contrary, it is the attorney’s political philosophy of life that enables the thugs to repeatedly commit their hideous acts. (There are multiple murders in the film and as odd as it may sound the attorney becomes responsible for two more that easily could have been prevented). In the end, Grau also correctly determines that it is the attorney’s detachment from reality that permanently scars her children, which she has been using as a litmus test to rationalize her decisions.

The directness and graphic brutality of Hunting Ground have made it easy to speculate that it is a simple exploitation thriller that does not belong amongst the great films that defined the Spanish New Wave. While not a masterpiece of the Spanish New Wave, Hunting Ground is a very close relative of the various influential films Bigas Luna, Vicente Aranda, and Eloy de la Iglesia directed.

Hunting Ground Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Hunting Ground arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mondo Macabro.

The Blu-ray release is sourced from a very solid recent 4K master. I have an old R2 Spanish DVD release that does not even offer an anamorphic presentation of the film, so the upgrade in quality that I saw on my system was pretty dramatic. There are only two areas that could have been handled better. First, during the opening credits, there is a bit of shakiness that should have been addressed. Second, the release should have been done with a double-layer disc so that the main feature is optimized as best as possible. The current encode isn't very convincing. On my system, I could easily see that in different areas grain exposure simply wasn't as stable and even as it could have been. The master is not to blame because it is very healthy and with all-around solid organic qualities. The encode simply suppresses the grain a bit and in select areas makes it appear somewhat mushy. I still think that the film looks quite good, but it could have looked magnificent. Color balance is excellent. There are no distracting large debris, cuts, damage marks, warped or torn frames to report. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Hunting Ground Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the Spanish track. However, if you decide to turn them off, you will have to use your remote control. There is no option to do it via the disc's menu.

I viewed the entire film with the original Spanish track. It is a good, stable track, but its dynamic amplitude is very modest. This is how the soundtrack was mixed, so do not think that there is substantial room for remastering improvements. I tested the English track and it is pretty awful. The dubbing is pretty wild and flat, in various areas quite uneven as well. Also, in the upper register there is light hiss that seems to be sneaking in and out.

Hunting Ground Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Jorge Grau - in this archival program, director Jorge Grau discusses his career and the evolution of his work as well as the socio-cultural climate in Spain over the years he was active. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles. (50 min).

Hunting Ground Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I was going to write here that it is sad to see the drama from Jorge Grau's Hunting Ground reappearing in our news cycle seemingly on a daily basis, but I changed my mind. It isn't sad, it is logical because it is made possible for the exact same reasons Grau highlights. While not a masterpiece of the Spanish New Wave, Hunting Ground is a very close relative of the various influential films Bigas Luna, Vicente Aranda, and Eloy de la Iglesia directed. If you do not have it in your library, consider picking it up. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.