Innocence and doubt are two key themes explored in Thomas Vinterberg’s superb Danish drama The Hunt, starring the ever fascinating Mads Mikkelsen. It centres on Lucas (Mikkelsen), a nursery school teacher who is devoted to his job and trying his hardest to be the best dad he can to his teenage son despite his wife having majority custody. His world is shattered one day when he begins to be suspected of abusing the children and finds himself the victim of a modern-day witch hunt.
The film starts off normal, everyday, even humdrum. But as the dreaded doubt is brought into play about Lucas’ guilt things turn tense before becoming full-on unnerving. Lucas is chastised, loses his job and forced to live on the fringes of his previous life with only a few people believing him while most of the townsfolk range from judgemental to full-on hating him. Potentially clichéd scenes of Lucas getting attacked or having a brick thrown through his window are infused with a sense of weight and purpose. This isn’t exactly a new story but it presents it very well.
The film is always leaning on the shoulders of Mikkelsen – probably still best known as Bond villain Le Chiffre in Casino Royale – and he carries the austere (but crucially never depressing) drama with great aplomb. Deserving of his Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival earlier in the year, Mikkelsen is utterly fantastic in a very difficult role. We have to put our trust in his character and stay on his side of innocence rather than lump ourselves in with the judging pack and it’s down to Mikkelsen that we truly care about him being stuck in this impossible dilemma.
The Hunt covers a wide range of emotions throughout its two hour runtime, from its small humanistic touches of humour to rage-inducing moral injustices towards an innocent man condemned for who he his and the sincere love of his job, perpetuated by the stupidity of the mob mentality. The film explores innocence not only in regards to Lucas not having done anything wrong (though that fact is certainly open for debate) but of the little girl who inadvertently kicks off the storm. It hits a real note of truth by showing how one little white lie can be blown all out of proportion, even by a child who for all the world just wants an adult’s affection and doesn’t understand what she’s done. It’s also genuinely riveting stuff when it needs to be, adding a welcome dose of thriller to an otherwise methodical, emotional drama.
The inconclusive ending will be a problem for some people but I found its lack of full closure to be hugely satisfying, leaving things brilliantly open to interpretation while still making perfect sense in the context of what’s come before. Vinterberg, who also co-wrote the script with Tobias Lindholm, could have wrapped everything up safely but ultimately the film is all the braver for its ambiguity.
There’s always a danger with films that explore this sort of topic that they will be tasteless and exploitative. But Vinterberg’s sure-handed direction, navigating his way through an emotionally complex plot, results in an impressive drama that tackles a difficult subject with both conviction and tact.
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