The Night of the Hunter

My story with this film is accidental. I have known about it for ages, ever since I was way younger and more impressionable than now. Back then, I learned about its existence in a comic I used to read, where a detailed prompt of its plot was given. From that moment on, a contradictory halo between fascination and repulse covered the image of this movie in my eyes, and I could never fully decide, or even venture, to watch it. I most honestly do not even know exactly why. Perhaps I dreaded to get fearful by the content.

But today, after a month and a half without watching anything, I knew the moment had come and this pending debt was about to be settled, now that I am an adult with more or less life experience. Which does not cease to be ironic, considering that this movie revolves about the fears of children in a cruel and ruthless world -which accurately corresponds to the description its director made of the original material: a nightmarish Mother Goose story, where two children are chased by a wolf-.

Cinema giant Robert Mitchum plays Harry Powell, a sociopath and mysoginist who believes that has been touched by God to fulfil some wicked mission in this world. Labeling himself as a preacher, he deludes common people with passionate talks about hate and love, and actively pursues rich widows to kill them -thus erasing the most disgusting creature of God in his eyes from the world-, thus “getting funds” for his crazy goal, which we will never know. I honestly found the initial feature of the film, where this character is presented “talking with God”, an absolute pearl of character introduction. We are very clear from the beginning on who he is, on a very tasteful way.

During his knife-chopping through life he stumbles into Ben Harper, a man condemned to death for having stolen a bank to get money for his family, who has hidden his loot in a place only his two children know about. Taking advantage of this situation, Powell manages to talk-seduce Harper’s widow in order to get close to the money, deceiving everybody in his way. Except for John, her son, who stays loyal to his oath to his deceased father.

From that moment on, Powell won’t accept any obstacle between him and the money, and the movie starts to show an active stalking that still gives chills after finishing the watch. The Night of the Hunter is verily a true testament of the view and deeds of such wolves as sociopaths, serial killers, violent abusers and delusional egoists; and also the trail of destruction they leave behind them.

This movie is also extremely interesting in the artistic sense since it features visual resources that come from 40 years prior, during the time of expressionist silent cinema. Impossible, metaphorical scenarios, shapes, suggestive shadows, visual allegories are fantastically employed to verily convey a childish fear towards a stalker and abuser in the audience. Quotating again Charles Laughton’s words, he wanted to restore the power of silent films to talkies. “When I first went to the movies, they sat in their seats straight and leaned forward. Now they slump down, with their heads back, and eat candy and popcorn. I want them to sit up straight again.” Because of this, The Night of the Hunter was an absolute flop back then, but as it always happens, its recovery decades after has catapulted it to the summit of cinema history.

The movie finishes with the words of Lillian Gish’s character -appropriately, a former silent star-, after the happy resolution of the story: “Children are the most fragile creatures, but also the most resilient. No adult would had completely endured what this boy has”. It is definitely a fact -and an internet meme- that children’s fears are more fantastic and irreal compared to adult’s. Perhaps because of that, even if The Night of the Hunter marvelously puts children’s and adult’s fears on the same level, a rational reason to feel fear is unable to break a kid’s mind. As adults, wolves seem less menacing than abusers, but an abuser would never have the aura of atavic horror the child-eating wolf of fairytales has.

Unless it’s Robert Mitchum.