The Hunt (2012 film)

The Hunt
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Thomas Vinterberg
Produced by	Morten Kaufmann Sisse Graum Jørgensen Thomas Vinterberg
Written by	Tobias Lindholm Thomas Vinterberg
Starring	Mads Mikkelsen Alexandra Rapaport Thomas Bo Larsen Annika Wedderkopp
Music by	Nikolaj Egelund
Cinematography	Charlotte Bruus Christensen
Edited by	Anne Østerud Janus Billeskov Jansen
Production company	Zentropa
Distributed by	Nordisk Film
Release dates	20 May 2012 (2012-05-20) (Cannes) 10 January 2013 (2013-01-10) (Denmark)
Running time	115 minutes[1]
Country	Denmark
Language	Danish English
Budget	$3.45 million[2]
Box office	$18.3 million[2]

The Hunt (Danish: Jagten) is a 2012 Danish drama film directed by Thomas Vinterberg and starring Mads Mikkelsen. The story is set in a small Danish village around Christmas, and follows a man who becomes the target of mass hysteria after being wrongly accused of sexually abusing a child in his kindergarten class.^[3][4]

The film was screened at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and competed at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival where Mikkelsen won the Best Actor Award for his role.^[5][6][7] It also won the 2013 Nordic Council Film Prize. The film was selected as the Danish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards,^[8][9] making the final nomination.^[10] It was nominated in the same category at the 2013 Golden Globe Awards.^[11]

Plot

Lucas is a member of a close-knit Danish community and works at a local kindergarten. Divorced, he struggles to maintain a relationship with his teenage son, who lives with his ex-wife, but enjoys wholesome interaction with the children at the kindergarten. His coworker Nadja makes advances towards him and eventually becomes his girlfriend.

One of the kindergarten pupils is Klara, the daughter of Lucas' best friend Theo. She has a crush on Lucas, and one day she puts a heart-shaped ornament into his coat pocket, then gives him a kiss on the lips. After Lucas rebuffs the kiss, Klara's feelings are hurt. Drawing on a memory of a pornographic picture her older brother showed her, she makes comments that lead the kindergarten director to believe Lucas indecently exposed himself to her. When interviewed with leading questions, Klara gives unclear testimony against Lucas. The adults in the community believe the director's story of abuse, dismissing Klara's later contradictions as denial.

Lucas is shunned by the community as a pedophile and sexual predator. His friendship with Theo is destroyed, the pressure causes him to break up with Nadja, and his son is publicly ostracised. The kindergarten staff ask leading questions of the other children at the kindergarten, who also say they were abused. However, the children's accounts mention details of Lucas' basement, which supports Lucas' innocence, as his house has no basement. After a hearing, he is released without charge.

The community is still suspicious of Lucas, however, and the ostracism turns to violence. His dog, Fanny, is killed, a stone is thrown through his window, and he is beaten by grocery store employees when he tries to buy food. On Christmas Eve, Lucas confronts Theo during a public church service. Later, Theo overhears Klara apologizing to Lucas as she drifts off to sleep. His doubts about Lucas' innocence are resolved, and he visits him on Christmas Day with food and alcohol as a peace offering.

A year later, tensions in the community have lessened. Lucas and Nadja are in a relationship again, and Lucas' son is accepted into the local hunting society as an adult. On a hunting expedition to commemorate the event, an unseen person apparently shoots at Lucas and misses him. Blinded by the setting sun, Lucas is unable to identify his attacker, who flees. A moment later the unknown shooter, real or metaphorical,^[12] is no longer there.

Cast

• Mads Mikkelsen as Lucas
• Alexandra Rapaport as Nadja, Lucas' love interest
• Thomas Bo Larsen as Theo, Lucas' best friend
• Susse Wold as Grethe
• Lars Ranthe as Bruun, Lucas' brother
• Anne Louise Hassing as Agnes, Theo's wife
• Bjarne Henriksen as Ole
• Annika Wedderkopp as Klara, Theo's daughter
• Lasse Fogelstrøm as Marcus, Lucas' son
• Ole Dupont as Godsejer / Advokat

Production

The film was produced by Zentropa for 20 million Danish kroner. It received co-production support from Sweden's Film i Väst and Zentropa International Sweden. Further support came from the Danish Film Institute, DR, Eurimages, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, the Swedish Film Institute, Sveriges Television and the MEDIA Programme.^[3]

Reception

Alexandra Rapaport and Thomas Vinterberg at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival

Box office

The Hunt premiered on 20 May 2012 at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, as the first Danish-language film in the main competition since 1998.^[3][13] Mads Mikkelsen won the Best Actor Award at Cannes.^[14] Given its estimated $3.8 million budget, the film was a financial success; in total, it earned more than $16 million including $7.9 million in Denmark. In the United States, it was shown in 47 theaters and earned $613,308.^[15][16]

Critical response

The film received universal acclaim. It has a "certified fresh" score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 124 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9 out of 10. The critical consensus states: "Anchored by Mads Mikkelsen's sympathetic performance, The Hunt asks difficult questions with the courage to pursue answers head on."^[17] The film also has a score of 76 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews".^[18]

Accolades

Home media

Nordisk Film released it in Denmark on 10 January 2013.^[3] The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 7 May 2013.

See also

• List of submissions to the 86th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Danish submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
• False allegation of child sexual abuse

References

External links

• Official website
• The Hunt at the Internet Movie Database
• The Hunt at Box Office Mojo
• The Hunt at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Hunt at Metacritic
• The Hunt (2012 film) in the Danish National Filmography