Review of The Hunt (2013) by Mandy L — 14 Mar 2014

The Hunt is a Danish film that tells the story of Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen), a kindergarten teacher wrongly accused of molesting a young girl named Klara (Annika Wedderkopp). Klara's innocent lie quickly surges out of control as Lucas's community viciously ostracizes him. The attacks against Lucas are so relentless that the film becomes heartbreakingly difficult to watch.

Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, The Hunt was directed and co-written by Thomas Vinterberg, who cofounded the Dogme 95 movement. Since creating the first Dogme film in 1998, Vinterberg's direction has moved towards slightly more stylization. In this film, he opts for special lighting and benign autumn colors, but continues his use of handheld camera work. The script begins with a seemingly innocuous story, with scenes of Lucas playing with the kindergarteners in the schoolyard. However, it takes on a slow and steady build to overwhelm the audience, becoming more and more devastating as the actions of the community become increasingly violent and visceral. The score is very sparse, instead relying on silence for intensity.

Unanimous praise has surrounded Mikkelsen's superb performance, for which he won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival. He creates an incredibly vulnerable and sympathetic character, further proving his place as one of the most talented actors working today. It's important to note that we feel this sympathy not through Lucas asking for it or feeling sorry for himself, but through his strength in taking both physical and mental beatings. While the story and its ending are somewhat ambiguous, the ideological implications of the film are not. The message conveying that whether innocent or not, a lie like this will destroy a man's life, is very clear. The stain on Lucas's reputation is a permanent one, and applying this to reality is what evokes the film's disturbing and maddening vitality.