In 1998, director Thomas Vinterberg reached Cannes superstardom with his groundbreaking, Jury-prize winning drama Festen. The first Dogme 95 picture – a turning point in Danish cinema – it was the deeply distressing tale of a paedophilic father whose molested sons spill the beans on his abusive activities at his swanky 60th birthday party. Racism, assault, incest, suicide: a real Danish barnstormer!
The Hunt is not nearly as harrowing but will still make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.
When five year-old Klara (Annika Wedderkopp) falsely claims her pre-school teacher Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen) showed her his genitals, the rest of the school kids follow suit with unfounded accusations of sexual abuse. Unfortunately for Lucas, the school staff and the rest of the village accept these poisonous lies as fact and decide to ostracize him. Unlucky.
At first glance, The Hunt may appear stylistically different to the rugged, rule-driven Dogme 95 approach (no special lighting, no superficial action, no external props allowed) in that it is a visually polished, narrative-driven drama. However, this does not conceal the brutality of the storyline but instead exposes and intensifies it: for example, the jerky handheld camerawork and the harsh lighting of the piece subject us to a slice of the savagery Lucas is exposed to. We genuinely feel the violence, loss and persecution he suffers from almost every individual he faces.
He is no method actor, but I like to think of Mikkelsen as a Danish Daniel Day Lewis: accomplished, acclaimed and a real actor’s actor. One of European cinema’s finest contemporary performers, Mikkelsen bagged Best Actor at Cannes last year for Vinterberg’s feature. As the erroneously victimized lead, one cannot help but sympathize with his character’s plight. Mikkelsen portrays his already taciturn character with the utmost understatedness; as the picture progresses we begin to feel as helpless as Lucas. When he punches a grocery worker he has just been beaten up by, we do not disapprove of his hostility but in fact, root for him. It is a complex role but one that Mikkelsen pulls off with sheer ease and for this he must be commended.
The picture appears to resolve itself, with the exception of a startling incident in the final scene: a reminder that Lucas will have to live with these allegations his entire life.
A splendid eighth film from Vinterberg – one to be watched immediately.
Stars - ★★★★
By Rehan Mudannayake
The Hunt (2012)
Drama
A teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son's custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Writers: Tobias Lindholm, Thomas Vinterberg
Stars: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Annika Wedderkopp
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