The Hunt
Directed by Thomas Vinterberg
Written by Thomas Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm
with Mads Mikkelson, Thomas Bo Larson, Susse Wold
2012
Following the closure of the school at which he taught, Lucas (Mads Mikkelson) is working at the local primary school in the small town he grew up in. A quiet, unassuming sort, he is a popular member of the community and clearly beloved by the children he works with. His ability with kids has unforeseen consequences, though: he finds himself accused of sexual abuse after Klara, a confused little girl who has developed a fascination with him, unassumingly tells a lie she doesn’t really understand. After that, despite having known him his whole life and having few or no consistent details to go on, the entire community is steadily turned against him through panic and paranoia. There is no proof that he committed the crime, but by the same token there’s no proof that he didn’t; the unfortunate truth is that people will automatically believe the child over the adult, and Lucas has to watch himself become a bogeyman to his colleagues and friends.
The Hunt is a slickly made drama, powerful and timely. The notion of suppressing the director figure in a film was perhaps Dogme 95’s most shaky, and is again revealed as ironic as Thomas Vinterberg’s abandonment of it means his direction here never gives the same striking impression of spontaneous creativity as it did in Festen. But its gentle unobtrusiveness works for this quiet, menacing story, and Vinterberg’s sneaky love for a beautiful shot emphasises the small scale and closeness of the community through its lingering on the rural surroundings of the town. Mads Mikkelson is shockingly good, the story is engrossing and uncomfortably, infuriatingly convincing, and it’s satisfying to be manipulated into anger at something real and at hand, and that really deserves it. Best of all, if you stop watching a couple of minutes before the end it makes quite a good Christmas film.
Tom
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