The Naked Prey (1966) - #415

There are three basic takeaways that viewers of The Naked Prey are most likely to settle on after watching this (literally) stripped-down survivalist adventure of a lone man running for his life in a hostile, unforgiving wilderness:

One is that it's essentially a lurid, preposterous and utterly implausible fantasy of what a single rugged individualist can achieve against all odds if his muscular endurance, quick-witted intelligence and sheer unconquerable determination are strong enough to meet the challenge of fending off a tribe of tenacious warriors intent on killing him for sport (and to avenge their offended native honor.) All this, while also overcoming the harsh, merciless conditions of a blazing African summer and the assorted perils of potentially lethal animals, insects and even plants that surround him. Roger Ebert, God rest his soul, sharply articulated this perspective in his 1967 review of the film, written in the full heat of that decade's cultural and political upheavals.

It's hard for me to completely put out of mind the then-current turmoil surrounding the Civil Rights Movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. as it entered the phase of enacting significant changes in American life and politics in the mid-1960s, as well as the growing awareness of the essential injustice of the apartheid regimes that ruled the governments of South Africa (which funded the film) and Rhodesia (where the movie was actually filmed) at this time. A natural segue into...

... a second impression most likely to be made by The Naked Prey, involving the film's highly problematic assumptions and assertions in regard to racial concerns, in that we're watching (and inherently urged to root for) a Great White Hunter figure, carrying all of the colonialist baggage that was either invisible or regarded as his God-given right by many in its original intended audience, striving to outwit and, when necessary, slaughter his dark-skinned pursuers in a desperate life-or-death struggle. This disturbing implication is further exacerbated by director and lead actor Cornel Wilde's insistence on naming our protagonist "Man," a decision that unfortunately elevates him to a quasi-mythological status as a representative of "all of us" while simultaneously reducing his pursuers to be seen as merely disposable "extras" whose lives must inevitably be squandered in humiliation so that "Man" can emerge triumphant and ennobled at the conclusion of this trial by fire. Sad to say, but even this troublesome carry-over from an earlier era of unquestioned, imperialistic patriarchy is not yet blatant enough to dissuade the apologists of the right-wing from endorsing the film's white supremacist subtext, despite Wilde's obvious (and somewhat patronizing) efforts to right the balance by an overt display of humanitarian concern for black orphan children in the latter third of the film. This obtuse and excruciatingly pedantic review serves as proof that the movie still generates a conservative and white supremacist fan base for all the wrong reasons. As a balancing antidote, I also offer this link, from the "black film" perspective.

The third verdict most likely to be drawn from all this, and the one that's clearly led to the enduring positive reputation attached to The Naked Prey, is that the film simply functions as a solid, effectively engaging action film of the purest sort. (Here's a link to the Criterion Cast discussion of this film, which basically lands on this outcome.) With a marvelous blend of exotic locations, primal footage of animal-on-animal violence, kinetic editing and pacing techniques and a pulsating, rhythmically exhilarating soundtrack, there's plenty to invite us in to just sit back and enjoy the ride. No distracting subplots, contrived love interests, overwrought dialogue or forced levity to distract us. This is a film of singular purpose and practically flawless execution, a production that proves to be equally proficient at holding our attention from the first minute to the last due to its brisk economy but also able to welcome us in at almost any given moment over the course of its duration on account of its simple and immediately accessible set-up. Even if we miss the first twenty minutes or so of exposition that puts our hero's dilemma in context, we're instantly aware of his desperate circumstances and are thus able to place ourselves in his improvised moccasins, so to speak, as we join his struggle to survive his hideous ordeal.

These assessments are not mutually exclusive by any means, but based on temperament and life experience, some will gravitate more strongly to one or another of the three. I think it's possible to hold them all in a dynamic tension that recognizes the inherent truths encoded in each perspective, but I won't fault anyone who watches this film and finds it either too absurd or too sociologically anachronistic to just get along with, all complicit and complacently. In its seemingly endless reruns after entering the secondary syndication market in North America, The Naked Prey provided great fodder for the kind of Saturday afternoon TV watching that offered an alternative to college football or other diversions in that blighted wasteland of network programming. As a DVD release, I can easily understand Criterion's interest in the property, since the film is clearly regarded as a classic of its kind. For my part, I've never failed to find plenty to enjoy in watching the film, though it's always incumbent upon me to engage in some rapid-fire decontextualization in order to rationalize some of those obstacles and offenses I've pointed out in the paragraphs above. I'd be open to a Blu-ray upgrade at some point along the way, though the DVD as it stands provides a suitably visceral experience already.

Next: The Sword of Doom