Talking about terrorism is a difficult thing regardless of the media. With the release of "Hunt for Boston", we were entitled to fear a work either tasteless or unnecessarily violent and explicit. However, it is clear that the reconstruction of the attacks committed during the Boston Marathon is an astonishing success despite the delicate subject. The film traces not only the Boston bombings, but also the relentless manhunt carried out by law enforcement in the days that followed.
An extremely realistic and violent film:
The horribly realistic staging is probably the film's greatest strength. With a massive use of the camera on the shoulder and a deliberately chopped editing, the immersion in the heart of the attacks is concrete and particularly poignant. The film turns up the pressure from minute to minute, focusing on the urgency and horror of such a situation. The state of shock is discernible both among citizens and among police forces and other firefighters, who do not know where to turn but who seek to help their fellow citizens as best as possible.
The human approach of law enforcement is a very good way to make palpable an attack situation, a type of situation that generally seems unclear to the general public.Here, policemen, firefighters and other administrative agents are not shown as state machines without conscience, but as human beings ready to do anything to help their fellow human beings. No good or bad bureaucrats, only people with differing opinions, but working towards a common goal: the arrest of the terrorists who committed these atrocities. This way of breaking Manichaeism is more than welcome in a work that is so realistic.
The violence of this film takes to the guts in a particular way. Indeed, it is not the corpses or the wounded that shock the most, but the human misery that follows such a cataclysm. The attack is portrayed not as an attack on life, but as an attack on the human condition and the joie de vivre of the world's citizens. Sensitive souls, pass your turn, because if the film is a real success, the violence that is shown is not bearable by all…
The five-star cast slightly behind:
Mark Wahlberg, J.K Simmons, John Goodman, Kevin Bacon, Michelle Monaghan… A luxury cast that remains in the background of this true story. And that's not a bad thing… These talented actors offer the charisma needed for the roles they are supposed to hold and they do it brilliantly. But they remain behind because what is important here is not the cast, but the story.The purpose of this film was to retrace the Boston attacks in the most realistic and humane way possible.
Thus, each actor takes his place among many real characters and does not do more than necessary. It should be noted, however, that the main character played by Mark Wahlberg was invented for the needs of the film (character interpreted brilliantly by the way…). This character is above all the representation of the police and their hard work that allowed them to get their hands on the instigators of the attacks.
Hunt in Boston is a pleasant surprise and a particularly successful immersion in the urgency of the Boston Attacks (and in the urgency of the attacks in general). Her realistic staging is perfectly suited to the story she depicts and the message of humanism reminds us how love and justice are universal themes. It is strongly recommended to look at this kind of small unpretentious films because it is through these works that we apprehend certain facets of society totally differently.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPkubu-jROY
