The Hunt (2012)

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Movie
German title The hunt
Original title Hunted
Country of production Denmark
original language Danish
Publishing year 2012
length 111 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Thomas Vinterberg
script Thomas Vinterberg,
Tobias Lindholm
production Thomas Vinterberg,
Morten Kaufmann ,
Sisse Graum Jørgensen
music Nikolaj Egelund
camera Charlotte Bruus Christensen
cut Janus Billeskov Jansen ,
Anne Østerud
occupation

The hunt (original title: Jagten ; international festival title: The Hunt ) is a Danish feature film by Thomas Vinterberg from 2012.

action

Lucas, who recently divorced, is an educator in his Danish home village, where he looks after children, some of whose parents he knows from the hunting club or from his youth. His most important concern is his relationship with his fourteen-year-old son, Marcus, who lives with his mother, who has avoided all contact with Lucas since the divorce. In kindergarten, where he begins a relationship with the foreign cook Nadja, he takes special care of five-year-old Klara, daughter of his best friend Theo. To Klara's regret, in his marriage there are often arguments and scheduling problems. Since Klara adores Lucas, one day she gives him a kiss on the mouth and gives him a heart she made herself. Lucas counteracts this and rejects Klara in a friendly but clear manner. The girl's disappointment can be clearly seen, but she vehemently denies that the gift was from her. When Klara - still visibly disappointed - sees the kindergarten director Grethe, she spontaneously tells her that she hates Lucas. Probably in memory of a pornographic picture that a friend of her older brother's showed her a few days earlier just for fun, Klara says, among other things, that Lucas has "such a dick". In response to Grethe's request, she adds that Lucas is pointing “up into the air” and “standing up”, “like a tail”.

The kindergarten director is insecure and explains to Lucas that a child claims to not like him and to have seen his "genitals". Lucas is confused and asks her which child it is, but she doesn't tell him. Grethe, still unsure, enlists the help of a teacher friend. When he was questioned, Klara hardly commented, but among other things nodded at the suggestive question whether Lucas "showed her his penis" in kindergarten. Grethe now seems pretty sure about Lucas' guilt and sends him home. She informs Klara's parents about the suspicions, but without going into details. On the parents' evening that immediately followed, Grethe made public that in the kindergarten there, “it is very likely that […] an adult […] has misused one of the children” and that several such cases are possible. She asked parents to look out for possible symptoms of child abuse in their children, such as headaches and nightmares. She also informs Lucas' ex-wife, who immediately forbids their son Marcus to have any contact with his father.

Marcus, who would prefer to move in with Lucas anyway, doesn't stick to it and calls him. Lucas is stunned that Grethe has informed his ex-wife, goes to kindergarten and tries to confront Grethe. In the meantime, some parents have reported there who want to have found “clues” in their children. The horrified Grethe flees from the storming Lucas. At least Lucas now learns that Klara is the said child and immediately sets off to see Theo and his wife, who, however, believe their daughter. When Theo finally gets violent, Lucas escapes from her house. Meanwhile, the assembled kindergarten staff explains Lucas 'friend Nadja that they no longer have any serious doubts about Lucas' act. When Lucas meets Nadja, who is now waiting there, at home, she cannot hide her growing distrust, whereupon Lucas throws her out of the apartment. A short time later, Marcus is at the door. He continues to stand by his father, who is soon arrested by the police.

Marcus visits Klara's parents, who are also visited by other parents. At first they talk to each other sensibly, but when Marcus sees Klara, she accuses her of lying and spits in her face, the angry adults chase him out of the house, where Marcus and one of the fathers fight, until Theo intervenes. Marcus, who no longer comes to his father's apartment, is given shelter with his godfather. There the news of the examining magistrate's judgment arrives the next morning: No criminal proceedings will be initiated against Lucas. Klara apparently did not make any incriminating statements in front of the judge, and the statements of the other children questioned turned out to be verifiably incorrect, because they all described Lucas' alleged cellar in detail, which however does not exist at all.

But people in the village still believe that the children's statements are true and that Lucas must have acted on them. He is hostile, sometimes physically attacked and is banned from the local supermarket. Although he is becoming more and more desperate and only keeps his close relatives to him, he continues to live in the village even after a heavy field stone almost hits him through his kitchen window and he finds his dog, strangled to death, in a plastic bag in front of the door. When he is not served by the employees in the supermarket, thrown out and is seriously injured, he is defiant. Barely able to move, he pulls himself up from the floor, enters the supermarket again, breaks the nose of one of the employees who have become violent towards him and finishes his shopping. Later, he demonstratively attends Christmas mass in the church on Christmas Eve, still heavily drawn. He tries to make eye contact with Theo several times. He suddenly no longer seems certain of Lucas' guilt. When the kindergarten choir, including Klara, begins to sing, Lucas loses his composure, attacks Theo and tells him to look into his eyes: he won't see anything there because he has done nothing. Theo only looks more certain about his assumption.

In the evening Theo hears his daughter talking about Lucas, half asleep. When she wakes up, they talk to each other and again she says that she said “something stupid” back then and that Lucas “did nothing”. Theo then visits Lucas on the spot, and the two friends reach a silent understanding.

Next autumn, when Marcus is officially accepted into the village's hunting club, everything is superficially back to normal. The proud father Lucas remains quite quiet, but the others are very open towards him and he is generally accepted again. During the subsequent hunt, in which Lucas is stalking alone through the forest, a shot is suddenly fired, which strikes near him. Lucas ducks. When he looks up, he sees the shooter, who cannot be identified in the backlight, aiming at him, but who disappears without firing another shot.

Awards

Reviews

“[...] Thomas Vinterberg shows a perfidious dialectic as a result of group madness. His masterpiece is supported by great performance. "

- Süddeutsche.de

"The film vividly shows how difficult it is to protect victims from attacks and at the same time to react with a sense of proportion. [...] A cinematic masterpiece, closely told and superbly played."

- femundo.de

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Vinder af Nordisk Råds filmpris 2013 on the Nordic Council website , accessed on January 14, 2014 (Danish)
  2. ↑ Paul Katzenberger: Your enemy, the community . Süddeutsche.de
  3. ↑ A rumor destroys a human life . femundo.de