When the lead actor of the Iranian thriller “The Hunter’’ showed up six hours late on the first day of shooting, director-writer Rafi Pitts gave him the boot and cast himself in the role. It was a good decision: Pitts gives a striking performance as Ali, an ex-con battling the bureaucracy of Iran’s repressive society.
At first, Ali’s bothered by minor problems, like getting stuck on the night shift at the factory where he’s a security guard. But soon matters take a more serious turn: When his wife and 6-year-old daughter don’t come home one afternoon, Ali’s subjected to humiliating treatment by the police before he learns they were killed in a shootout between cops and “insurgents.” You can understand why the taciturn Ali lashes out in an unexpected way.
Cinematographer Mohammad Davudi’s nighttime shots of jammed Tehran highways help convey the society’s dehumanization. Scenes of a vast forest outside the city, where Ali releases tension by hunting, are powerful in their own, sparse way. “The Hunter’’ could do with more of a back story. Why, for example, was Ali in prison? And was his wife a protester or just a woman who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time? But these are minor questions in light of the film’s overall potency.
“The Hunter’’ would make a fine fit in a double-feature with the Iranian movie “A Separation,’’ which opened here last week and explores similar issues.