Oh my. I think I've opened a part of my brain that I wish never to see again. I feel awful. I think this is going to be a very different kind of review as I feel there is more to discuss about the topic and my response rather than the film as a whole. Don't worry, I have points about the film but there are just some things that I need to address due to...not exactly personal (the plot of the film has never happened to me) but just a topic that hits home hard for me.
A nursery teacher named Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen) lives a lonely life as he tries to win custordy rights to his son, Marcus (Lasse Fogelstrøm). When a small situation occurs one day a nursery (and I mean small... minuscule, in fact), one of the students, Klara (Annika Wedderkopp), tells the headmistress a lie about Lucas. The lie slowly grows and grows until Lucas becomes a pariah, shunned by the town. Things get worse when it begins to affect his family. Now Lucas must face up against the town and wait for the truth to be revealed.
From the disclaimer and introduction, you probably think I despise this film. No. Actually, I but those down because of my response to this film. Injustice makes me truly sick to stomach (Game of Thrones certainly reinforced this) and having a whole film focused on this can only turn me into a cold, heartless monster. The characters that are created and how they respond to the situation disgusts me. It tells me that I dispise ignorant, bias parents who believe that children are Gods among us who will have no one dissrespect them. This kind of ignorance angers me and had me screaming at the film (okay, maybe less than screaming) due do the thoughts these people had. They are completely irrational and blinded by their children. I may spoil a bit but when Klara tells her mother that she made it up, she tells her that Klara just wants to block out the memories! THAT'S THE ONE TIME I WANTED THEM TO LISTEN TO HER! The spread of the lie is, frankly, disgusting and they don't even try to get the other side of the argument. I won't spoil this, but there was a single instance where I just had to stop and say "that's it. My faith in these people is all gone". It makes me hate ignorant or irrational people, children, parents, hypocrites and only leaves my small level of sympathy for people who are wrong accused. (I'm so sorry for that last part, it's not literal but you get my point). For me, injustice is a hot button issue as is people defending their children with no thought on the other side of the story. Ignorance is out there, people. Be very, very afraid.
*deep sigh*. All right. That's out of my system. I'm sorry. So what about the actual film? Well, Mads Mikkelsen does an excellent job as Lucas as be gains my sympathy and trust. It's hard for a character in this situation to do this but Mads does this perfectly. Another great actor is Thomas Bo Larsen who plays Lucas' best friend Theo. Klara is his daughter so seeing him mentally fight between defending his family or friend is excellently done. The writing is also well done but the occasional scene where the language switches from Danish to English is really jarring and didn't really need to be done. Aw well.
The Hunt, while not a perfect film, is definitely one that everyone needs to see. The amount of social commentary is scarily relevant and the thought of this happening may teach you to be unbias in a situation like this. The moral of this review is be rational with this sort of thing and think things through logically rather than what the majority of ignorant people think. I'm sorry for this very deep review but there was a lot that spoke to me in this film. I jumped the shark but I'll be back to my cheery old self for my next review (which will either be Argo, Iron Man 3 or The Mask). See you next time.
Verdict:
8/10
A deep film with a message that hits hard. The acting is excellent but some moments small moments are a bit unnecessary.
(Yes, I am aware I said "Injustice" and "Gods among us" in the same review. Purely a coincidence, I can assure you)
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