12/11/2024 - The Greek director shares his approach to the visuals, music and subject of his pensive character study, which tells the story of a man driven to the edge

(© Aris Rammos)

Christos Pitharas’s Hunt [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christos Pitharas
film profile] world-premiered in Thessaloniki’s Meet the Neighbours+ competition, striking in its quiet yet effective portrayal of an emotionally embattled Greek craftsman and hunter. Cineuropa sat down with the writer-director to speak about different elements of his cinematic process for this impressive micro-budget feature.

Cineuropa: The opening scene really sets the tone for the movie, even when it’s so different to the rest of the film: it’s grainy, it’s shaky and it’s got fast cutting. Why did you decide to open Hunt this way?
Christos Pitharas: It was done deliberately with a different camera in order for it to be much rawer and more handheld. Through the visual and sound design of this first scene, the intention was for the audience to dive into the psychology of the character – not so much to portray him going hunting. Actually, I shot it myself, with Yannis going on a real hunt. I followed him three different times going on a real hunt, just me and him. I decided that I didn't want to go with a full crew and have Yannis using a real gun.

At the same time, we talked a lot with DoP Thanos Liberopoulos about what the proper aspect ratio would be in order to portray this sensation [of imprisonment] that the character has. We felt like the 4:3 aspect ratio would be the right one to create a sense of solitude. Then we shot it, actually, with quite high-end cameras and lenses. While colouring the film, we talked with the DoP again and also the colourist, Manthos G Sardis. We decided to put quite a lot of grain in it, to make it feel somewhat like a 16 mm film, [even though] it was shot on digital. We wanted to try to emulate the analogue feeling, but at the same time, Manthos’s suggestion was that while we could take this approach, we shouldn’t try to make it feel 100% like doing a 16 mm film, because then it would be a bit generic.

The movie is actually extremely low-budget: it was done with no more than €60,000. We managed to make this happen thanks to the great atmosphere and collaboration among all of the people involved in the production.

Were there other overlaps and similarities between Yannis the actor and Yannis the character, which he plays?
The script was actually based on Yannis’s specific characteristics. Yannis is not an actor; he works as a craftsman in real life. He’s a hunter, he’s into hunting birds, and he also makes jewellery in his house. [The film] also takes a somewhat more fictional turn in its plot, and the actual person, Yannis himself, is not as introverted as the main character in the movie. He's much more outgoing, very humorous and self-confident, but there came a time quite early on in our rehearsals when he really got a feeling for what I was looking for. Once he’d digested that, then almost all of my work with him was done, in a way. After a certain point, the only thing I had to do was just orchestrate the tone of his acting.

Did the character come first, and then you found Yannis and moulded the characteristics around him? Or was it the other way around?
He’s the husband of one of my very good friends, and I've known him for eight or nine years, but I hadn't really got to know him well. I always found him very interesting as a character, in his physique and his attitudes. [One day], for some reason, I was just struck by him, and I was observing him constantly. So, once I’d left their house, I went back to my house, and within two-and-a-half days, I had written the entire script with him in mind. Once I’d finished it, I just sent him the script right away. He said, “Yeah, I like it,” just like that. And I asked him, “If I find some financing, are you up for filming it?” And he said, “Why not? Let’s try.” It was as easy as that, and it just flowed afterwards. Because many times it doesn’t – it has happened to me in the past. But with Yannis and the rest of the crew and the actors, and how all of the different stages developed, it was very enjoyable, from start to finish.

The music changes styles throughout the film and has a bit of an experimental touch. Could you talk about how you worked with your composers to craft the score?
Dinos Tselis is the composer who wrote the music with Anna Komianou, and it was the first time we had worked with her. Dino has been a permanent collaborator with me throughout the projects I’ve done – we actually have a band together. What I love about Dinos is that he’s very open to ideas and new suggestions and experimenting. We tried out a few different things that, when we heard them, we liked as melodies, but when we heard them along with the image, they didn’t quite match. After some discussions, we decided that we should try to find more minimalistic melodies. There are a couple of different sequences when the music becomes a bit more aggressive, in a way. At one point, the character is bursting out from inside.