THE HUNT aka Jagten (2012) is a Danish Drama. Prime Video 1hr 50min 15 Cert
Cast:
Mads Mikkelsen ~ Lucas
Thomas Bo Larsen ~ Theo
Anniker Wedderkopp ~ Klara
Lasse Fogelstrøm ~ Marcus
Susse Wold ~ Grethe
Anne Louise Hassing ~ Agnes
Lars Ranthe ~ Bruun
Alexandra Rapaport ~ Nadja
Hunden Rosa ~ Fanny (the dog)
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Cinematographer: Charlotte Bruus Christensen
Writers: Tobias Lindholm & Thomas Vinterberg
Premise:
Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen), a 40-year-old divorcee, is finally getting his life under control. But he works in a kindergarten and things soon start to unravel. The Hunt is a disturbing depiction of how one little lie (“a foolishness”) can quickly become “truth”, a modern story of a witch-hunt injustice, guilt and ultimately, forgiveness… perhaps.
Review:
The Hunt is a film that is excruciatingly painful to watch at times. There is physical violence, incredibly high levels of anxiety and ferocious anger. Parts had me almost crying out at the sheer injustice of it all. There are parts which are extremely upsetting. These are not however let to rest bleakly on their own as there are also some lovely, touching and beautiful moments.
Mads Mikkelsen is outstanding in the role of poor Lucas, what an incredibly versatile actor he is. He won Best Actor at Cannes for this role. The whole cast is excellent (there will be familiar faces to some).
The Hunt shows that scratching the surface of a seemingly civilised society reveals levels of barbarism. That many of these acts are carried out by people with the best of intentions but not a clue as to how to tackle things is disturbing. That other reactions are from “friends” makes it even worse. You can see how easily a witch-hunt can come about and that the results are enduring. On the flip side you also see loyalty and courage.
This movie has some nudity, there is violence and animal cruelty.
The cinematography is another strong point with this film. It is easy to overuse shaky cam (it’s not called queasy cam for nothing) but here it is used perfectly. There is a directness and gritty realism to what we see on screen.
Awards:
The Hunt won 7 Robert Awards and was nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA etc. In total it won 38 Awards plus 68 other nominations. It was also selected for the Cannes Film Festival.
Trailer:
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I watched this film several years ago and was gripped by the story… up to a point.
I understand that to NOT vehemently protest one’s innocence loudly and continuously, and instead take a calm and rational approach to discover how such a situation could happen might be the seem a logical course to take, but why did Lucas not once, not a single time, claim his absolute innocence? (Which we the audience know to be the case.)
It bewildered me to the end of the film.
Maybe I’ve revealed too many spoilers. Perhaps I missed something or remember events incorrectly, so I don’t mind this comment not being published.
Derek
I don’t think this comment reveals too much. I too wondered the same, and wondered if it was a Danish stoicism at work…