Susan Granger’s review of “The Hunt” (Magnolia Pictures)
This bleak, profoundly disturbing psychological drama delineates the devastating effects of a false accusation of child abuse on the life of an innocent man.
Co-written by Tobias Lindholm and director Thomas Vinterberg (who previously collaborated on “Submarino”), it revolves around a recently divorced kindergarten teacher, Lucas (Mads Mikkkelsen). When one of his pupils, Klara (Annika Wedderkopp), the daughter of his deer-hunting buddy/best friend (Thomas Bo Larsen), asks him to take her home from school, she holds his hand as they walk down the street. The next day, Klara, who has developed an innocent crush on Lucas, makes him a little heart and kisses him on the lips. When he gently reprimands her for such an intimate gesture, she impulsively tells a lie about their encounter. A subsequent interrogation by the children’s center indignant supervisor, Grethe (Susse Wold), makes Klara insecure and defensive. Soon the gossip mill circulates the rumor that Lucas exposed himself and Klara touched his penis. Not only do the townspeople ruthlessly turn on Lucas but they also stigmatize his teenage son, Marcus (Lasse Fogelstrom), who lives with his mother, and alienate Lucas’s new girl-friend (Alexandra Rapaport). Even when confused Klara admits that she made the story up, her mother (Anne Louise Hassling) refuses to believe the truth, reflecting adults’ instinctive belief in the innocence of children.
Perhaps best known in the United States as the villain in “Casino Royale” and the hero of “The Royal Affair,” actor Mads Mikkelsen is an amiable, compassionate protagonist who is quite bewildered by the alleged accusation and its attendant drama, which unfolds from his point-of-view. From the getgo, Thomas Vinterberg makes it abundantly clear that Lucas is completely blameless.
Vinterberg’s previously acclaimed “The Celebration” also dealt with child-abuse, and he is part of the Danish ideological movement known as Dogme 95.
In Danish with English subtitles, on the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Hunt” is an engrossing 8 – with a devastating conclusion.
