Free Game - Released for Shooting - DVD

Film: Despite all protests from hunting advocates, the British parliament debated a ban on fox hunting in 2004, which came into force in February 2005. The police, however, did not see the implementation of the ban as a priority, which is why the controversial drive hunt was allowed to continue. Lucas Bell (Neil McDermott) became the poster boy for hunting advocates and thus the declared bogeyman of all animal rights activists. In October 2005, a particularly radical group of animal rights activists carried out a very extreme action against illegal drive hunts and against Lucas Bell. Four months later, they posted the video of that action on the Internet. The victims of the action - Bell`s girlfriend Liz, his brother Charlie and his brother`s girlfriend Eve, and Lucas` best mate Ben - explain in interviews what took place on the remote Scottish island of Mull...

Free Game - Open for the Taking tells its story in a rather original way. Instead of using the currently so popular found footage method, a fake documentary with (fake) game scenes was staged. Thus, all roles were cast twice. One of the actors acts as the real characters who recount the experience in interviews or who can be seen in alleged archive footage. The other actors then take on their roles in the play scenes that were re-shot for the documentary. The advantage of this variant is clearly that for the most part the sometimes very disturbing shaky-cam effect, which can be found again and again in so-called mockumentaries and found footage films, could be dispensed with. Instead, the fascinating landscape of the Scottish island of Mull was captured in truly beautiful images, from which the film can clearly benefit.

As good as the initial idea of the story is and as original as the realization may have turned out, it is always noticeable that the film is a feature debut made on a low budget. Director Edward Boase has approached his first feature-length film with obvious passion and high ambitions. However, both in terms of dramaturgy and in the realization of the actual moments of suspense, a certain inexperience is still noticeable. The whole thing just seems too superficial and too bumpy to create the big thrill. Although the good initial idea of the story shines through again and again, it is only used to a limited extent.

Boase reveals a lot of potential here, which makes the film well worth seeing, especially for those viewers who are interested in the work of up-and-coming directors. Various aspects of the story and the staging could also please other fans of the thriller genre, which is why in the end, despite the rather obvious weak points, there is still a recommendable.

Picture + Sound: With the supposedly real video and archive footage, there are of course quite a few intentional weaknesses. The inherently good picture quality, on the other hand, can be made out in the interview and game scenes. Especially in the sweeping landscape shots, the visuals are pleasing with a high level of detail. The somewhat reduced colour scheme supports the gloomy atmosphere of the action and lends the rugged landscape an additional fascination. The sound is largely restrained, dominated by dialogue and isolated ambient noises. The surround channels don't get much to do in this regard. Good!

Extras: Besides an interesting audio commentary by director Edward Boase, actor and producer Nick Ashton, writer James Walker and cinematographer Kate Reid, the DVD also has a making of (approx. 14 min), a few additional interview sequences (approx. 8 min) and a short film by Boase (approx. 3 min) to offer. Unfortunately, all these extras are only available in the original English version without optional subtitles. There is also the trailer for the film, as well as other programming tips from the provider. Good!

Conclusion: Frewild - Zum Abschuss freigegeben is a cleverly constructed thriller in semi-documentary style, which only partially lives up to its good initial idea and original implementation. Not quite a big hit, but a project well worth seeing, which was technically coherent implemented on the DVD and also has good bonus material to offer, where only the lack of optional subtitles negatively noticeable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp