hunt's open

fifth draft available (in French)
French or American (co)-producer sought

SYNOPSIS :

Capvern is no ordinary town. It’s hunting season, but to the disbelieve and anger of the villagers the mayor forbids any hunting on big game. Tensions between the agent for the environment, Bob, and the hunters run high.

While Bob sets of on a survival expedition with some tourists, one of the hunters, Josse, murders his own wife Cindy. Josse reports his wife missing, and leaves with a group of hunters for the mountains to plot against the government, and especially Bob.

Meanwhile Barakas, from Northafrican origin, escapes from the town-prison, and with a woman missing everybody knows who to blame. The police and the hunters organize a man-hunt for Barakas, in an effort to find the black man who “certainly“ must have gotten his hands on poor Josse’s wife.

As Bob and his survival expedition, the police, the hunters and Barakas arrive at the woods surrounding the abandoned mine of Vielle Aure a bloody confrontation is unavoidable…

‘Hunt’s Open’ is an action thriller set in the mountains of the south of France, but to be shot in the north of Spain, where the people can be just as dangerous as the environment… Another option is to shoot the film in English in Nevada or Utah)

TREATMENT :

n a small hunting town in the mountains, in the middle of nowhere, Jago, Head of Police, watches an Arab in a car, driving way too fast. He goes after him, notices it is a stolen car and arrests the Arab, Barakas. The village is that small that there is not even a proper jail. To lock prisoners up, they use an improvised hangar with an old man with only one eye, Albert, as the guard. Jago treats Barakas with disrespect and throws him in jail. He will have to stay in jail and work to repair the damage to the police car. In this town, there is no judge, Jago basically decides how the land lies. Barakas is astounded of all this racism. He is not even allowed to call a lawyer. He can only make one local call. The money Barakas has on him, will be partially used for the repair of the police car.

Luke, the trainee of the police department, is giving a hand to Bob, the environmental agent. Luke tells Bob that Jago told him that he is not allowed to help Bob any longer.

Jesse, the mechanic of the village, picks up the damaged car of Barakas and puts it with a bunch of car wrecks. Jesse calls the police office to see if he can take parts of the car. Jack, the police officer, says to wait until the expert of the insurance company has seen the car. Jesse agrees but goes ahead anyway and takes the car apart. The back of the mechanic shop looks out unto the schoolyard, where Victoria is teaching the girls gym lessons. Watching Victoria, Jesse gets a hard-on. Victoria notices that Jesse is spying on her. She scowls at him. He backs off. Johnny picks Jesse up. He says they could maybe come to an arrangement with Bob. Jesse says that the shit will hit the fan. Johnny warns Jesse.

All the hunters of the village gather in the Town hall, where the Mayor, assisted by Jago, announces the hunters the bad news. There is only one village chosen where the hunt is open and it is not their village. The hunters are mad. Bob throws in the remark that the regulations are made up for the sake of the environment. A hunter reacts that they would be better off without an environmental agent. Jesse even threatens Bob. The only woman in the meeting is Victoria. She asks how much balls it takes to kill an animal with a rifle. If at least they would give the animal an equal chance to win the battle, and hunt like she does- with two arrows only. She says the law won't stop her from doing what needs to be done. The Mayor warns everyone again that the hunt is closed. He finishes the meeting by offering free whiskey. While the hunters start to drink heavily, Bob has a chat with Victoria. We find out they have had an affair, twenty years ago, when they were kids. She still seems to be in love with him, but he won't go for it. Jesse watches them, frustrated and jealous. He drinks another double whiskey.

Bob picks up the people that have gathered for the big hiking trip, to spend five days in the mountains walking a hundred kilometer. There is Mary, she has way too much luggage in her backpack. We find out Mary has joined the trekking to come clean with her past and digest a divorce.

Barakas asks to see Jago. He accepts to work for five euro an hour to pay off his debt.

Johnny brings Jesse home. He is totally drunk. He tries to do some work but he is wasted. He hears Victoria and the girls in the schoolyard working out, rehearsing their majorette act. It turns him on. He rushes home, searches like a maniac, until he finds the majorette outfit his wife Cindy used to wear. He forces her to undress and take it on. He wants to make love. She refuses. He rapes her and then shoves the baton up her vagina.

Bob picks up the rest of the hikers. Fred, the sportsman. Sean, the student. Biff, the commercial guy with a nice tan. Bob brings them to his office. He explains the trajectory and the rules they will follow to respect the environment. He examines the luggage and throws out what is redundant. Biff sees that Bob takes a radio transmitter with him. He thought it was going to be a though hike good and proper, not a stroll in the park. Bob says mobiles don't work in the mountains. In case they are in trouble, they will be glad they have a radio transmitter. Biff keeps on complaining. He makes fun of the document Bob distributes where the participants sign they agree that the environmental agency declines responsibility in case of an accident. Bob brings the forms to Jago who complains that Bob gives nothing in return. Bob on the other hand reproaches the hunters to destroy the roads with their bulldozers and not respect any of the laws. Jago says he has no storage room for the forms and no personnel to help him out with anything whatsoever.

In the evening, Bob and the hikers hit the road. Marine greets Jago and Jack. They don't return the greeting.

Cindy regains consciousness. She feels the baton between her legs, forces herself to resist the pain to pull it out. Blood starts pouring out of her.

The hikers take a break to watch the sunset. Sean is already exhausted. They continue the hike. After a while Bob notices Sean no longer follows. Bob takes his torch and goes looking for him. Sean is frightened, doesn't dare to go on. He is scared of snakes. Bob finds out that Sean's father forced him to join the hike, against his will. A bit later, Sean falls on the ground. Bob takes his luggage, he now carries two backpacks. Sean is stumbling. They arrive at the spot where they will spend the night. Bob makes a fire and distributes food.

Jesse, still drunk, try to has some work done. He faces complaints of an angry customer. Jesse joins the hunters. John gives a speech, he is fed up with the hunting restrictions. He suggests to ignore the regulations and to go hunt anyway. Like Victoria also does, he points out. And what about Bob? He has got everyone against him anyway. Jesse goes to the bar for a couple more whiskeys. When he goes home, he wonders why the light is on. It seems like he has completely forgotten what happened, what he did. Cindy is dead. Jesse gets really scared, drinks a whiskey to calm down.

Barakas is at work, his feet chained, while Albert keeps an eye on him. He goes to bed and wakes up in the middle of the night because the sound of a car. He notices that the gate is wide open. He walks out, almost trips over what turns out to be the corpse of Albert. Barakas panics, looks for the key to unlock the chains around his ankles. He finds a map and a knife. He runs off into the mountains.

Jack, the police officer, is asleep when he gets a call from Jesse who says his wife is gone. He asked her to go to Albert to go get spark plugs. Jesse says he doesn't want to call himself because he hates Albert. Jack calls Albert, no one answers. Jack goes over to Albert's to take a look.

Jago gets a call from Jack who informs him that Albert is dead and Barakas has disappeared. Jago examines the corpse. His head has been smashed. Next to the body, they find a wrench with blood all over. Jago wakes all the hunters. They wanted to hunt so badly? Hunt's open now.

Jago pays a visit to Jesse, notices the terrible mess everywhere. Jago informs Jesse that Barakas is gone and that they are going to chase him to find out what happened. Jesse wants to join. Jago asks if it wouldn't be better if he waited for Cindy to show up. Well, if Barakas knows something, Jesse would rather be there when they find out.

The hunters are ready, their rifles at hand. Jago asks everyone of them to take oath that they volunteer to temporarily act as police recruits. A hunter asks if they are allowed to pull the trigger. When in danger, yes, they can. Jesse shows up, in full combat outfit. They go get Johnny and his dog Joker, sniffing the ground he leads them in the mountains.

Asleep, Mary is tempted to nestle herself against Bob's body. It seems like she likes Bob more and more. Bob wakes everyone up, makes a fire and prepares coffee. Biff wants to take off full blast. Bob tells him to calm down, they have a heavy day of walking waiting. They need to drink enough water. He explains that after 15% of dehydradation, one is certain to die.

Barakas is on the run, at night, in panic. He tries to find his way by watching the stars. He sees a sign 'Bonanza' and follows it.

The hunters proceed with difficulty. Jago asks Jesse's opinion what to do. Jesse says they are too many of them, they should split up. Jago should go back, take his car and go take a look at the Mine, Bonanza, maybe it is where Barakas is heading. Jago and Trevor return to the village. Jesse, Gary, Bernie and Johnny continue the hunt. The four hunters split up again in groups of two. Gary and Bernie will climb to the top of the mountain to see if they can spot Barakas with the binoculars. Joker has smelled something. Johnny asks what if they find Barakas. Jesse says he will be well served. Like in a real hunt. All of a sudden they bump into Victoria, holding her bow. Johnny informs her what happened. Victoria is suspicious, she wonders why Cindy would have left for no reason. Jesse tries to talk himself out of the situation.

Gary spots Barakas. With Bernie he goes after him. Bernie cannot follow. He stumbles and falls, unable to continue. He begs Gary not to leave him alone. Gary says he has no choice. He will be back.

Luke watches on when the coroner and Jago inspect the corpse of Albert. The coroner wonders how it all happened. He is not so sure Barakas was the one who killed Albert. What if it was someone else? Jago wonders if it was maybe Cindy. They will have to either find Cindy or Barakas to know the answer. Jago goes back to Jesse's place. In the dumpster, he finds the baton that killed Cindy and throws it back in.

Barakas is lost, looks at the map to try to locate where he is. Gary catches him, tells him he is stupid, no doubt because he is an Arab. When Barakas says he didn't kill Albert, Gary kicks him in the stomach, repeatedly. Barakas finally says he did kill Albert so that Gary would stop kicking him. Barakas wants to drink. When they will be at the mine, he will be allowed to drink.

The hikers take a lunch break. Fred explains about the tv-show The Gladiators he is a part of. Last year he lost, but this year he will make sure he wins. There are a thousand participants. He will have to lose six kilo's. If he gets through the 28 shows and wins, he gets 150.000 euro. Biff cannot get it, how someone can be that stupid to torture himself a whole year for peanuts. Bob says they approach the mine where Shanto lives, an Indian who takes care of the place, making sure every one respects the environment.

With his rifle aimed at Barakas, Gary exposes his theories why it is scientifically proved that Arabs are inferior to the white race and why they have small little skulls. Barakas wants to drink. Gary nags on until Barakas falls down. Gary lets him drink. When Barakas gives him back the bottle he deliberately lets it slip out of his hands. The water gulps out. Gary tries to catch it. Barakas throws himself unto Gary, puts his knife on his throat and takes his rifle. He starts naming plenty of Arabs, asking Gary if he knows who they are. They are all politicians who made it into the high ranks of society. He kicks Gary repeatedly in the stomach, telling him they made it big time because they are inferior to the white race and because the have small little skulls. He keeps kicking until Gary faints. Barakas takes his vest, his boots, and the contents of his bag, also the expensive sunglasses. He holds the rifle right next to each of Gary's ears and he pulls the trigger. Gary loses his hearing. Bernie, left behind, hears the gunshots, wonders what Gary is doing.

The coroner makes an autopsy of Albert. Luke throws up. Luke is motivated to unravel the case, he goes through the file again. He explains to Jack that they could check the phone bill to see if Barakas called anyone before he took off. Jack says Jago already did that.

The hikers arrive at the mine. Jago, Jack and Jesse are there, waiting for them. Jago says Bob needs to go back home. They are hunting a fugitive. Bob asks all kind of nosy questions which gets on Jago's nerves. Jesse warns Bob that if he hangs around in the mountains, anything can happen. Bob decides to stay. The hikers install themselves in the shack. Jago worries that Gary and Bernie have not yet arrived. Jesse suggests that he and Johnny go back to find them, without the dog, of no use any longer. Jesse tells Jago to go back to the village, with the dog. Each hour they will get in touch over the radio.

Mary wakes in the middle of the night, she goes for a pee, she startles when she sees someone spying on her. Bob calms her, he introduces her to Shonto. Shonto complains there are too many people in the mountains. He heard two gunshots. A guy has taken the boots of one of the hunters. He has also seen Victoria who is after the wild goats.

Bernie wakes up at night, frightened. A coyote is frisking his feet. Bernie hugs his rifle. The coyote starts whining, followed by more and more coyotes whining. The coyote snatches the bag and devours the sandwich. Many coyotes gather. Bernie has only two shells. The coyotes approach. Bernie hits one with his rifle. A coyote bites his leg. He kills the coyote. The others devour the dead coyote. Then they go for Bernie. When he is bitten in the feet, in the high, in the stomach, he puts the rifle under his chin and pulls the trigger.

Jesse and Johnny hear the shot. The coyotes howl. Jesse speeds up. They find Gary, without shoes, his feet covered with blood as Gary tried to proceed barefooted. Jesse leaves Johnny with Gary. He says Johnny not to warn Jago that Gary is wounded. Johnny seems not convinced. Jesse insists.

Jesse finds the coyotes, kills a bunch of them, notices the corpse, without a head. Gary and Johnny also join him. Johnny wants to warn Jago now. He takes the radio out of his bag. Jesse orders him to leave it out. They first need to finish their business. He forces Gary to take the boots of the corpse so they can proceed. They cover the corpse with stones and continue the hunt.

At dawn, Victoria notices a rabbit, kills it with a single arrow, takes off its skin and eats it, raw. She sees something glitter in the sun, the fugitive wearing the sunglasses. She goes after him.

Barakas runs out of water. He lies down, has a delusion, shoots at it. He has another delusion, of someone giving him water. It is Victoria, she takes the shells out of the rifle as she doesn't want to end up like Albert. Barakas says he wasn’t the one who killed Albert. She says they have to go back so Bob will protect Barakas against the hunters.

Jesse catches a snake and puts it in his backpack. He says it is a time bomb, a nasty little surprise for Bobby.

Police officers Donnelly and Garrick, who have been sent out to watch the road, stumble upon Laurie, a prostitute receiving her clients in a camper. They decide they could use a break. Donnelly says it is too filthy inside the camper, he prefers to do it in the open air. He shags her, while standing, leaning against the camper. While being taken from behind, through the window of the camper, Lucie sees the corpse of Cindy.

Victoria and Barakas arrive at the source. Victoria makes a whole in the ground. Water wells up. Victoria leaves Barakas to await Bob. She heads on to track down the wild goats. Barakas notices: Victoria runs after the goats, the hunters run after him, he runs to save his hide, while the world keeps running like a merry go round. Victoria hands Barakas some shells, in case the hunters pop up.

Laurie, Donnelly and Garrick, Jago, Jack and Luke are in the camper with the coroner, inspecting the corpse of Cindy. In his office, Jago tries to get in touch with the hunters, in vain. Luke keeps asking questions. He still doubts that Barakas would have killed Albert.

The hikers arrive at the next stop. Someone has burned down the shack. All the food cans have exploded, and the jerry cans with water have melted. Bob is in extreme anger, he says it is a sign from Jesse. He takes his radio, ready to call Jago. He notices there is no battery. Biff says he threw the battery away. He signed up for a hike in extreme conditions. Sean finds a backpack, he wonders if there would be any food inside. Bob tells him not to open it. Too late, the snake jumps out and bites Biff in the leg. Bob prepares an antidote while he asks Mary to suck the poison out of the wound. They make a stretcher and take off again. There is no more water for the hikers, except for the victim.

The hunters arrive at the source. Jesse reads the tracks. He lets himself fall on the ground. He notices Barakas, hiding himself. Jesse shouts at him. Barakas says not to approach or he will shoot. Gary wants to arrest Barakas. Jesse says it is going to end in legitimate self defense. He orders Gary and Johnny to encircle Barakas. Jesse is teasing Barakas with silly talk. Barakas runs off. He jumps and breaks his leg, he is paralyzed. Gary tries to shoot Barakas but misses, while Jesse shoots Johnny pretending it was Barakas who did it. Jesse throws himself on Barakas. Johnny has a wound in his stomach. Jesse points the rifle at Barakas’ head, asks what direction Victoria took. Jesse tells Gary to take down Barakas' pants. Johnny crawls towards Gary, tells him to call Jago. Jesse shouts at Gary to do as he says and take down Barakas’ pants. Gary obeys and Jesse shoots Barakas up his ass. Barakas dies. Gary throws up. Johnny begs him to call Jago. Gary suggests that it would be an idea to call Jago now so he can come in and help. Why would they need any help? They will bury Barakas and pretend he shot Johnny. The story won't hold, Gary says. What about Victoria? Jesse points out, the hunt is not over yet.

Gary puts Johnny on his back to bring him to the source. Jesse asks him the radio back, to be sure he won't call Jago. Johnny tells Gary to shoot Jesse. He is a nut head, when he was a kid he used to blow up chickens with sticks of dynamite in their asses. Johnny warns Gary that he will be next. He asks him to put stones unto him so he can pretend he is dead. Gary finally gives in and puts stones unto Johnny. Jesse shows up, a rifle in each hand. He says to drop it, they got to go, they will explain the whole story to Jago tomorrow. Jesse takes a leak in the source, before they leave.

At night, the hikers approach the source. Bob will go first to inspect the area. Bob notices Jesse pissed in the source. Under the pile of stones, Johnny asks for help, he tells Bob to call Jago. Bob pretends he talks to Luke over the radio. Johnny doesn't buy this. Jago would never leave the radio with Luke. Bob admits he has got no more battery and that they have a victim. Johnny tells him to go save the victim, he is about to die anyway.

When Bob comes back with the hikers, Johnny is dead. He is now buried for the second time. Bob suspects the source might be poisoned. He digs another hole. They take off again, in the hope to reach the final destination in time before Biff dies.

Gary is rambling on, inventing theories how they could explain what happened if they call Jago. He notices Jesse is no longer following him. Jesse is flat on the ground, watching Gary is his visor. He shoots him in the knee. Just one more accident.

Luke, in his bed, is thinking how he could solve the case. In the office he goes over the file again. He has an idea, takes a car, goes over to Albert's hangar. He sees the wrench missing in Albert's series, the same as the piece in the bag. Back in the office, the coroner is there, he says Cindy died from loosing a lot of blood from the vagina, after something enormous must have been shoved inside of her. Luke says Jack that the wrench that killed Albert doesn't belong to the series of Albert. The tools of Albert are all clean. The one that killed him is extremely dirty. Jack wonders whose wrench it would be. Maybe Jesse's, Luke assumes. Jack says he should better watch out rambling out theories without any proof.

Jesse wakes up because he hears voices coming out of the radio. Jago is calling Jack, tells him he goes to look for Bob. Jesse is not pleased to hear this.

Victoria watches through the binoculars, sees no goats and keeps on climbing, finds excrements, undresses, covers her entire body with the excrements of the female goats so that it will attract the male goats and entice them to come towards her. She looks like an aboriginal, puts on her boots, takes her bow and sets off again.

The hikers proceed slowly. Biff has a delirium. Bob gives him the last shot he has got left. Biff begs for water. There is no more. Sean has no more energy left. Bob won't stop, not even when Mary threatens she will stay behind as well. May is very angry at Bob. She forces Sean to walk on. Fred lets the stretcher drop. Bob digs four trenches. It is a hide-out. Everyone will stay. He will go on by himself, the only way he will be able to reach the final destination in time to call for help. Bob covers the trenches with a carpet of earth. He makes a white cross on the ground. He promises he will be back with his jeep.

Luke inspects Jesse's place, opens the door with a knife. He gathers the entire series of wrenches. There is one missing, the one which is in the plastic bag. Luke sees the girls in the schoolyard, working out their majorette act, rehearsing with the batons. Luke finds the wrench of Albert hidden in a drawer.

Jago finds the burned down shack, he wonders what happened. He finds empty vials of the antidote. So they have a victim.

Bob is almost running. He arrives at the shack where his jeep is parked. He drinks, takes the radio, calls the village. Luke answers. Bob says he needs help, says Gary and Johnny are dead and Jesse has killed Barakas after burning the shack and planting the bag with the snake. Luke says he thinks Jesse killed Albert. Bob tells Luke to go get the hikers with a helicopter, he explains him where they are. Luke says where Bob is heading. Bob says Jesse is after Victoria. He cannot let her down. Jesse is listening to the radio, he has heard the full conversation. Luke asks where Bob is located. Bob says he has got to go now.

Jesse moves on, hides in the ruins of the mine where Bob will pass by. He has the jeep in his visor. The jeep stops. Bob watches through his binoculars, notices nothing abnormal. Jesse aims at the chest of Bob. The jeep drives backwards. Jesse shoots. The windshield shatters. Bob dives, takes his rifle. Jesse is furious. Bob notices him, jumps out and hides behind the jeep. Bob runs to a hill. Jesse shoots but misses twice. Jesse runs inside a tunnel, after Bob. Jesse is glad, he has an infrared visor. Bob finds tracks and a wagon he is able to put back on the tracks. Bob pushes the wagon, running behind, safe for the bullets that Jesse is firing at him. Bob lets the wagon go. Jesse notices and just in time he jumps aside. He goes back to the jeep and destroys it. He hears Luke in the radio, to announce the helicopter is on its way. Jesse is furious, he shoots at the radio until it shuts up. He starts climbing the mountain. He looks through Bob's binoculars and sees Victoria, notices she is naked, he shakes, drawls like a dog in heat.

Victoria is after seven goats. She approaches them, they cannot smell her, the wind is blowing from the opposite direction. She takes her only two arrows. The old goat, the leader of the group, scrutinizes the area. She shoots the goat in its side. It falls down. The other animals run off. She kneels at the side of the wounded goat. While it licks the excrements of Victoria's body, she pulls the arrow out, puts her hand in the wound and makes lines with the blood on her body. She is in a trance. She startles. Jesse is calling her, telling how beautiful it is. He says they will play hide and seek, like they used to do when they were kids. She takes an arrow and puts it on the bow. Jesse knows she has two arrows only. Jesse says he will count to fifty and then he goes after her.

Biff is almost dead. The helicopter arrives. Someone jumps off the ladder, it is Luke. Mary asks where Bob is. Luke says he is after a girl in the mountains, in the hope he can save her from the animal who caused this entire tragedy. Mary asks about this girl. Luke says they used to be lovers a long time ago. Mary is shattered to hear this.

Jesse waits. Victoria throws a stone, in the hope Jesse gets confused. She shoots an arrow but misses. He moves towards her. She shoots her last arrow, hits him in the side. He howls and falls down. The arrow sticks out his back. He pulls it out, suffering a lot. He stands up and walks towards her with effort. She runs off. He howls in pain while pursuing her. He shoots, misses. He aims again and she gets a bullet in her thigh.

The mine collapses. Bob fears for his life. There is no air. He searches through the tunnel, feels a gust of air, and digs himself a way up, until he sees the stars.

Jesse jumps onto Victoria, puts his rifle on her throat. He notices she is covered with mud. He gets the picture. She wants an animal, a real one, like him. He takes his belt off. She hits him in the back with a stone. She bites him in the shoulder. He bleeds and likes it. Then he freezes. Victoria notices one of her arrows sticking in his back, piercing his body. Shonto pops up, throws her clothes at her. She now understands why she never was able to up catch with the goats earlier. He deliberately chased them to save them. He takes off.

Bob hears a noise. Someone shoots at him. It is Victoria. He wants to hug her. She is repulsed, pushes him off. He hears the helicopter, signals with his torch so they can see and rescue them. From the helicopter, Bob watches the goats. It seems like he sees someone chasing the goats. Victoria says he must be dreaming.

Bob is in his office. He calls Mary, he wants to see her again. She is not sure this is such a good idea. He asks her if he of the sort who never come back. Bob clears his office, says goodbye to Luke, tells him he is going to pay a visit to someone he really is longing to hook up with.

THE END   top


DROIT DE TRAQUE
TREATMENT - FRENCH

Un tout petit village perdu dans les Pyrénées.

Un homme d’origine arabe, Abdes, au volant d’une voiture volée, s’approche du village en roulant beaucoup trop vite. De très loin, le commissaire Felacci le repère immédiatement, le coince et l’enferme à titre “préventif” dans ce qui représente la prison du village: la grange de Bert, un bâtiment sommaire transformé en geôle. Pour y séjourner, le jeune beur apprend qu’il sera obligé de travailler, pour couvrir les frais que son hébergement et celui de sa voiture impliquent.

Une quinzaine de chasseurs attendent l’arrivée de l’agent Boyd. Il doit venir annoncer si cette année-ci la chasse sera ouverte oui ou non, car ce droit dépend d’un tirage au sort. Les chasseurs sont à bout de nerfs. L’année précédente, le tirage n’avait déjà pas été favorable et c’est l’interdiction qui avait prévalu. Il est grand temps que cela change! Boyd ose à peine divulguer les résultats de la lotterie officielle. Un village est tiré du lot, et il ne s’agit pas du leur. Quand ils apprennent cette mauvaise nouvelle, les chasseurs éclatent. Surtout Cadmus qui semble particulièrement hystérique. Parmi les chasseurs il n’y a qu’une seule femme: Sigrid, qui se manifeste soudain avec force. Quoiqu’ils décident, quoiqu’il arrive, elle annonce qu’elle partira pour la chasse au mouflon. Car pour elle qui chasse à l’arc, c’est une nécessité écologique qui participe du bon équilibre naturel.

L’agent Boyd et le commissaire Felacci ne s’entendent pas du tout. Boyd (dans la trentaine) insiste constamment sur la bonne application des nouvelles règles et lois en vigueur. Felacci par contre (dans la cinquantaine) se croit être la personnification de la loi. Il se voit plutôt comme un shérif de village, façon western télévisé.

Boyd s’apprête pour une sorte d’expédition qu’il met sur pied chaque année. Depuis sept ans, chaque été, cinq jours de marche effrénée. 150 kilomètres à faire dans les montagnes avec juste assez d’eau pour y arriver. C’est une vraie lutte contre la nature, une expédition extrême qui n’est pas sans danger. Le jour c’est la lutte contre la fatigue et la soif, la nuit c’est la vigilance: il faut faire attention aux reptiles, aux loups parfois affamés.

Après la fameuse réunion, Cadmus, le mécanicien du village, rentre à son garage. Par un interstice du mur mitoyen, il voit les majorettes qui viennent s’entraîner dans la cour de l’école. Le pauvre personnage s’excite tellement de ce tableau, qu’il rentre tout de suite chez lui pour ordonner à sa femme de faire l’amour, exigeant de son épouse qu’elle retrouve et enfile le costume de majorette de son adolescence. Lorsqu’il l’entend expliquer qu’elle n’a pas fort envie, que décidément elle n’aime plus ses attitudes, etc… il devient absolument enragé et la force violemment, suite à quoi il la moleste sans pitié.

Au milieu de la nuit, le sherif reçoit un coup de téléphone. C’est Cadmus qui lui annonce que sa femme, Molly, a disparu. Il lui a demandé d’aller chercher des bougies chez Bert et depuis lors, plus de nouvelles. Le sherif va inspecter les lieux et y trouve le cadavre de Bert. La porte de la grange est grande ouverte… le jeune beur s’est sauvé dans la montagne. Le shérif convoque tous les chasseurs du village et lance une battue aux trousses du fugitif. La chasse est ouverte… mais c’est une chasse à l’homme.

Boyd a plein de problèmes dans son expédition. Un obstiné venu pour atteindre ses limites de la souffrance fait tout pour rendre la randonnée la plus difficile possible. Boyd doit constamment veiller que la complicité des participants ne s’émousse pas.

Dans le village, un jeune flic Jim (21 ans) à peine sorti de l’école, doit gérer la permanence. Petit à petit il se met à investiguer et finit par conclure que c’est Cadmus lui-même qui a probablement tué sa fiancée. Au fur et à mesure, plusieurs chasseurs commencent aussi à le soupçonner. Cadmus comprend qu’il doit réagir vite. Il divise donc le groupe. A chaque fois que quelqu’un de plus est persuadé que c’est lui l’assassin, Cadmus l’élimine. L’ un après l’autre.

Un chasseur rattrape le jeune beur. Il l’oblige à marcher et le traite comme un animal, refusant même de lui donner de l’eau à boire. Pendant tout le trajet il lui fait un long monologue d’un racisme extrêmement violent. Mais le jeune beur prend le dessus par surprise, et les rôles maintenant renversés, il en profite pour lui faire une leçon sur le racisme d’une force équivalente.

Les chasseurs traquent Abdes. Sigrid, elle, traque les mouflons. Cadmus enfin, traque Sigrid. C’est elle qui sauve le jeune beur. Elle l’emmène au camp, tout en lui conseillant de se rendre à Boyd plutôt que de tomber entre les mains du sherif et de ses copains chasseurs.

Cadmus, lui, devenant toujours plus dément, est arrivé au but: traquer Sigrid dans le but de l’éliminer, car entretemps elle a acquis la preuve formelle que c’est lui le meurtrier. Il faut donc qu’il l’empêche de parler. Quand il la trouve, il n’en croit pas ses yeux. Sigrid chasse totalement dénudée. Elle s’est recouverte des excréments de femelle de mouflon pour attirer le mâle. Elle chasse l’animal montagnard avec patience. Et Cadmus la chasse elle avec une application identique.

Cadmus en profite pour également se venger de Boyd qui est attendu dans le camp. Le fou y a caché une surprise mortelle dans un sac. C’est le randonneur obstiné qui ouvre le sac à dos d’où surgit un serpent venimeux qui le mord instantanément. Il faut le porter dans une civière. Il est allergique au sérum. Sa situation s’aggrave.

Boyd les quitte pour aller chercher de l’aide seul. Il atteint le camp et fait envoyer un hélicoptère pendant qu’il continue sa tâche. Il prend une jeep pour traquer Cadmus mais tombe dans les mains de celui-ci. Cadmus fait exploser un couloir d’une mine, croyant avoir enfermé Boyd dedans, ce qui n’est pas le cas. Il trouve une sortie et se remet à la poursuite.

Au moment où Sigrid repère Cadmus, il est déjà trop tard. Blessée par une balle, elle fuit dans les montagnes. Elle n’a plus que deux flêches. Elle rate son premier tir, Cadmus est atteint mais pas mort. Au moment qu’il croit pouvoir achever Sigrid, il est abattu d’une deuxième flêche. Boyd est arrivé à temps.

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