Star rating 8/10
This
is a bleak but utterly compelling story of how a man's life is decimated by a
false accusation of sexual abuse by a young girl at the nursery school where he
teaches in rural Denmark. And the beautiful autumn and winter scenery are used
to full and stunning effect.
Mads
Mikkelsen is
spellbinding as Lucas whose solitary life unravels bit by bit as he is unjustly
accused, then hounded by his friends and close knit community. To make the
situation worse the girl who is his accuser is the daughter of his best friend.
His newly developing relationship with another teacher at the school is also an
inevitable casualty of the developing hysteria. And his already strained
relationship with his ex partner and son is severely put to the test.
The
hounding and harassment to which Lucas is subjected is very reminiscent of that
described so chillingly by Arthur Miller in his stunning play about the Salem
witch trials The Crucible. The
society Lucas inhabits is a red blooded macho world of deer hunting and
drinking, but inevitably it is Lucas himself who is the most hunted animal of
all. The Hunt is certainly a tough
watch, and I'm not sure it merits the loose ends being tied up quite so neatly as
they are to some extent here. But nevertheless it's a brave subject, confidently
handled by director Thomas Vinterberg, and another superb performance from Mikkelsen,
following on from the excellent A Royal
Affair last year.
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