The Hunt (Jagten) Review

The Hunt (Jagten)

It has been a little while since my last review. I sort of hit a lull in terms of drive unfortunately. I suppose I was waiting for a movie I really wanted to scream about. Something that would make me get off my ass and write because I wanted everyone to know how stupendously awesome this movie was. I think I found that with The Hunt. A searing, uncompromising drama about a modern day witch hunt. I try to be as non-spoilery as possible, but some events of the film are revealed during the course of the review.

Lucas (Mads Mikkelson) works at a kindergarten school in a Danish Village. He is extremely popular with the kids at the school, playful roughhousing seeming to be a favorite activity for both the kids and Lucas. Through a series of complicated, subtle events, Lucas's best friends daughter Klara (Annika Wedderkopp) conveys to another teacher that something sexually explicit happened between her and Lucas. The situation spirals steadily out of control from this moment on. The rest of the film is an examination of how these accusations slowly destroy Lucas's life, and the innate level of paranoia and distrust that lies within all human beings.

This movie is not a mystery. It is not a thriller. Lucas did not do what he is being accused of. Period. I really liked that the movie destroyed all doubt, eliminating the suspense thriller aspect that other more conventional films take. This is an analysis of what happens to a wrongfully accused man and the film thrives on this focus.

That short introduction to the story is skipping over a lot of details. And really, that is what this movie is all about. The entire situation plays out with subtlety while foreshadowing a sense of absolute dread. Each of the events leading up to the accusation and later multiple accusations do not amount to much in and of themselves, but when combined in sequence and coupled with a crowd-sense of hysteria, blow the situation completely out of proportion. I would have to write pages and pages about the nuanced looks, dialog and physical interactions to even begin to convey how this situation came about. It is this subtlety and attention to detail that makes the whole situation alarmingly believable. There is nothing here that an audience can scoff at. These are real human beings in a real situation, and real situations are sticky, dirty and complicated. Because of this unnerving sense of reality, it is heartbreaking to witness the slowly worsening situation while Lucas feebly attempts to live his life, realizing he is completely powerless to stop it.

Which brings me to the linchpin of this entire film: Mads Mikkelson. His portrayal of Lucas is nothing short of brilliant. The character is not perfect. He has a marriage that seems to be broken beyond repair, and for reasons that are not really clear it seems he is working at the school as a way to sort of get his life back on track. But that's just it, Lucas is so identifiable. Mikkelson makes it so easy for audience members to put themselves in his position. And once you do that, this movie hits you like a ton of bricks. Mikkelson's understated performance is affecting in a way I can barely describe. This role could have easily been something more melodramatic. More yelling, crying, screaming and all the rest of the direct physical manifestations of the feelings of a man that is falsely accused of such a heinous crime. Instead, Mikkelson underplays it. He underplays it to the point where the audience wants him to lose his shit. Go nuts! Yell, scream, wave your hands in the air! Instead, Mikkelson sticks to the character. Quiet, introverted, and ultimately a man who puts up with way more than he should.

That is not to say that Lucas does not get a chance to cut loose a bit. A very satisfying moment in a grocery store comes to mind. But the scene that stood out for me was toward the end of the movie. It takes place in a church, where we watch Mikkelson and his best friend, the father of Klara, exchange deep, hair-raising glances that ultimately lead to one of the most emotional and intense confrontations in the film. The shots of Mikkelson looking over his shoulder were perfectly executed. Gave me goosebumps.

I want to take a moment to rave about Mikkelson (as if I haven't already). He has proven yet again that he is one of the worlds premier actors. This along with the Hannibal TV series and A Royal Affair (Thanks +Shaguna Khazanchi!) has solidified him as top talent. I would say "get this guy more work!" but, I enjoy the films he decides to take on today. I do not want to see an over saturation of him. I would prefer a few quality roles over many average roles. His projects seem to be a nice split between big pictures like (King Arthur, Clash of Titans, Casino Royale) and smaller personal films (Valhalla Rising, The Hunt, Pusher II). Keep an eye out for him, I believe he is the next big thing.

The depiction of the town and their reaction to the situation is handled with complete empathy. There are no villains in this story. Just points of view. The guilty conscience of Lucas's best friend Theo (Thomas Bo Larsen) is painfully on display each time he is on screen. He has known Lucas for years, but when it comes to your family, how can you afford to not take action? Can you truly afford to not be suspicious? Theo's journey in this movie is almost as tragic as Lucas's. The nagging doubt is physically present on his face and the audience can see that it is consuming him as the film progresses.

The ending of the movie is poignant without being schlocky, and delivers the films ultimate message: Lucas will never be fully accepted. He will never escape the accusations, no matter how much proof is presented in his favor.

It is this heartbreaking fact that leads me to consider some modern day parallels. I could not help thinking following as I watched this movie:

1) Salem witch trials
2) McCarthyism
3) Michael Jackson

There is a fundamental difference between the film and say, the Salem witch trials: Witchcraft was not something to truly fear. Sexual assault is. But my argument here would be that as much of a reality child molestation is, so was witchcraft to the population at its time. Communism was the same in the time of the Senator Mccarthy. And obviously the perception of MJ changed after the accusations of molestation were made.

It is only fair to highlight one of the other large differences here: Each of the 3 cases provide above involved ulterior motives. There was personal gain to be had in all three cases. Creating mass hysteria for personal gain is not a situation that this movie examines.

Having said that, each of the three situations do share one thing in common with the film: the destructive aftermath of the given accusation even when they were not proven to be true. Reputations were sullied, lives were destroyed and the ultimate price, death, was often the result.

In some cases it was death by their own hand, other times it was capital punishment. Regardless on the physical method of their demise, it is clear that the executioner of these poor wrongfully accused souls was in fact the accuser. The one that pointed the finger and made a false accusation was the judge, jury and executioner.

Michael Jackson is sort of the amalgamation of all of these situations into a single person. Much beloved by the world until accusations arose of alleged molestation charges. He was not convicted. The rest of his life was, to put it lightly, a mess. He was never seen the same way again. The media skewered his image, and on the eve of his return to the limelight, he died.

I am not going to pretend to know all the details surrounding his death, or the details of the molestation case (or cases it would seem) that changed his life, but it is a well established fact he was not convicted. Lucas was also not convicted. The Hunt is what I would call an ideal case study in that the audience knows that Lucas did not commit the crime. I realize there are divided opinions on how people feel regarding MJ. For the sake of leveling the playing field for comparison, I am sticking to the result of the court and defaulting to the judgement of the judicial system, not opinion.

It can be argued that the stress induced by the accusations led to, or were partly responsible for, MJ's premature death. I believe that the character of Lucas has a truly difficult life ahead of him, as do the people that care about him. It is conceivable that he may also suffer a similar fate later in his life. The ending of The Hunt certainly alludes to such an outcome. Given these parameters, Lucas and MJ are very much in the same boat: Accused, acquitted, but subsequently destroyed.

As you can probably tell, The Hunt has had a lingering affect on me. Technically, the film is very well put together. Acting, writing, and cinematography are top notch. The movie not only asks the tough questions, but is not afraid to charge head on into the potential answers. It is and uncomfortable yet satisfying viewing experience that will stick with you beyond the run time of the film. Most importantly, the movie is not a product of its time. Director Thomas Vinterberg has put something together that plays to the basic human condition. It is so real you can't help but get sucked in. As a direct result, this movie will play just as effectively now as it would in 30 or 300 years. Vinterberg has achieved timelessness by playing on our innate fears and prejudices.

I really believe this is a great film. Go see it.

And check out some other films starring Madds! He is awesome!

Melancholia

Melancholia


I first became interested in Melancholia after Lars Von Trier made some waves in the news when he spoke about relating to Nazis, and wanting to give Hitler a big old feel-good bear hug... Or something.

I caught a showing of it at the Angelika theater in New York, and after viewing it I feel surprisingly spry. For a movie called Melancholia, it left me in a rather good mood. But for all the wrong reasons. Let me try to explain.

The film opens with a lavish, flashy, all slow motion series of shots as the audience witnesses our world smashing into another (larger) world. While I wasn't completely enthralled with what I saw, I was not snoozing either, so all was well. The movie then begins the first half which revolves around Justine (Kirtsten Dunst) as she attempts to get married.

This entire first half is filled with incredible acting talent playing characters that are complete assholes. My primary problem with the entire movie in fact, is that everyone is so mind numbingly stupid, that I completely lost interest in the film halfway through "Justine's" chapter. This wedding is for Justine. As the movie progresses, it seems that it is no secret that Justine has a problem. Depression seems to wash over her, even in what should probably be her happiest moments. I remind you that this seems to be common knowledge, at least to the closest members of the family. Keeping that in mind, can someone explain to me why the hell everyone is so utterly disappointed in her actions during the wedding when they are all well aware of their condition? Did the husband-to-be, Justine's sister and her sisters husband contract some rare form of amnesia that kicked in while planning this ridiculously expensive, sumptuous event, for someone who they know will not act accordingly in that social situation thereby ruining the night for the rest of the dickheads they invited to the wedding? Justine's husband ends up leaving her. Surprised? As an audience member, I certainly was. He has been with this girl long enough to marry her, yet on her wedding night when her condition gets the best of her, he leaves her. Didn't see that one coming I guess? Well done!

Then we have Justine, who's depression is seeping through her fake smile, wandering around committing random acts of weirdness and debauchery. This whole "Adventures of Justine" section is a little more tolerable than the rest of wedding scenes. When Justine is alone is when the film is at its best. But even this section of the film is filled with acts so utterly random, I could not link them with any over-arching meaning. Maybe by the time I got to this portion of the film, I was so put off by the rest of the cast of characters that I was not trying hard enough.

It doesn't help that the cast is populated with actors I truly love:

John Hurt - Asshole

Stellan Skaarsgard - Asshole

Udo Kier - Wtf! Awesome! But still an asshole!

Part of what made the first half of the film watchable were these actors. At the same time, I think that seeing them play unintelligent characters with little to no motivation likely made the situation worse than seeing other actors that I was not as fond of playing the same roles. But in that case, the magnetism of these actors would be missing and I would probably would not have made it through the first half. Catch-a-22 beeyotch.

These acts of douche-baggery are completely unexplained, and kept me in a constant state of what-the-fuck-idness for the entire duration of the first part. Populating your world with unintelligent and generally unlikable people doesn't make you dread the end of the world, it makes you welcome it. That being said, films do not need to be populated with likable characters. Indeed, some of the most effective films and television series pride themselves on having distinctly unscrupulous lead characters. But the difference there is they humanize them to the point that the audience is always fascinated by them. Tony Soprano, and almost every character in Game of Thrones are clear examples of this. That connection between film and audience is completely missing here.

Immediately following the ridiculous first half of this film is the tale of Justine's sister and how she copes with the giant blue thing that is going to smash the little blue thing we live on. I feel that this half of the film could stand on its own. While it would still be mechanical in plot and delivery, it would have much less of an uphill battle to fight courtesy of the Part 1wedding segment ("Fuck you very much Part 1!" - Part 2). There are a few unintentional laughs to be found in the second part. Specifically  when Justine's sister cannot start any of the family's vehicles and dramatically goes off camera only to drive back into frame in a golf cart. There seemed to be some unintentional tension built while leading up to this specific moment that contributed to what I thought was a rather comedic punchline. I felt she could have easily came out on a skateboard or a unicycle, and the scene would not have lost any of it's comedic potency. Despite this, the second segment was effective, and the film's score and cinematography were outstanding. The end of the world has never looked or sounded more beautiful.

Melancholia tried my patience as a viewer. It seemed to try hard to make the audience not care. I nearly broke my two cardinal rules:

1) Walked out of the theater
2) Hate a movie

It takes a special type of film to even get me to approach breaking either of those two rules. I felt much like Justine, numb to the world established by the film. But who could blame her? Therein lies the potential genius of the film. Maybe the director intended to impose on the audience a feeling of complete... well... melancholy. For me at least, the film definitely succeeded.

When the big blue ball smashed our earth, others in the audience were sombre. I threw both hands in the air in celebration for one simple reason:

No. Sequel.