The Hunt (15)

Film

TheHunt_01.jpg

Time Out rating:

<strong>Rating: </strong>4/5

User ratings:

<strong>Rating: </strong>5/5
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Time Out says

Tue Nov 27 2012

What does it feel like to be wrongly accused of being a paedophile? ‘It gets into your bones… it gets into your soul,’ Lord McAlpine said recently. In this nerve-shredding drama from Denmark, a good man’s life is ripped apart by false allegations that he sexually abused a child. He didn’t do it. The little girl fibbed (in the same way she might tell the teacher her best friend gave her a Chinese burn). But her innocent lie spreads like a virus, killing trust and goodness in a close-knit small town.

Mads Mikkelsen is best known for playing baddies – he was the villain who weeped blood in ‘Casino Royale’. Here, he’s the accused, Lucas, a teacher working as an assistant at a nursery after his school shuts down. The little girl, a pupil, is also his best friend’s daughter. Lucas is none too worried at first – it’ll all be sorted by teatime, right? The police are called. Parents are warned to be on the look-out for telltale symptoms, like bedwetting and nightmares (in children!). Lucas is branded a serial paedophile. The town goes from civilisation to the Dark Ages in about 15 minutes.

This is lean, fast-paced storytelling from director and writer Thomas Vinterberg, who made ‘Festen’ in 1998 (about a paedophile father who raped his children). This has the same stripped back docu-drama style. Which focuses our attention on the acting – and it’s flawless. We watch the story play out in the reactions of everyone involved. As the only man working at the nursery, the kids adore Lucas. After hearing the allegations, a teacher watches him rough-play with some boys. We see the scene through her eyes. It looks suspicious. It really does.

These are all good people, and there’s a kind of moral puzzle here. We always have to listen to children. Always. But what if your best friend was accused? Would you believe him? At the other end of the scale, what kind of world is it when a man can’t hold hands with a child who isn’t his own – in case someone accuses him of being a paedo?

Mikkelsen is gripping. There’s a moment when it hits home that this is for real. You can see the change passing over his face: he will never see the world the same again. Nor will the world look at him the same, because, as we all know, there is no smoke without fire. What a knotty, frighteningly real drama ‘The Hunt’ is. And – in the light of the Jimmy Savile case and its fallout – what a very timely contribution to the issue it is.

Author: Cath Clarke

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Release details

Rated:

15

UK release:

Fri Nov 30, 2012

Duration:

115 mins

Cast and crew

Director:

Thomas Vinterberg

Screenwriter:

Thomas Vinterberg, Tobias Lindholm

Cast:

Mads Mikkelsen, Alexandra Rapaport, Thomas Bo Larsen

Cinemas showing The Hunt

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Comments & ratings

Rated as: 5/5 (14 ratings)

  • Once the seed of doubt is planted, people don't forget. That seed of doubt grows into all kinds of things. People's opinions get carried away, people's imaginations run wild. Things that may or may not have happened become the foreground of people's darkest imaginations. People always assume the worst.

    Neil About 10 days ago
    Rated as: 5/5
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  • The movie is excellent. Show just how fast society "labels" someone, without a shred of evidence, especially when it's about their kids - he was lucky he didn't go to prison... People have this imprint in their brains that children represent innocence personified, when in reality children lie all the time. Even when the little girls admitted it at first to her mom (that she told a folly), her mom wouldn't have it... "your mind just doesn't want to remember honey"... As a closing joke, I'll keep clear of little kids :))) Hell, in my country girls of over 18 threaten University professors that they'll lie to the press and police that they had sex with them, thus destroying their careers and families, just so they can get a passing grade... and there is NO solution, because once the press get's hold of such "news" they'll spin it till even they believe it...

    Jim Thu May 23
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  • Great review :)

    Bogdan Lazar Mon Apr 8
    Rated as: 5/5
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  • I also have the doubt about the shooter at the end. But I ti=hink is not possible to tell who shot. On the other hand maybe more important is why? Maybe the author wants to show that ppl do not forget, and haters and real bad ppl take advantage of the bad luck of others as an excuse to act like jerks?

    ptsnu Sat Mar 30
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  • can you anyone tell me who shoots at lucas in the end and why? I dont understand it.

    geronimo11 Thu Mar 28
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  • please can you someone tell me who shoots at Lucas in the end and why?I dont understand it.

    geronimo11 Thu Mar 28
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  • Simply one of the best drama/thrillers of recent times. Thought provoking, gripping, perfectly acted and excellently shot, The Hunt is of the best films of 2012 and a modern day classic. Mads Mikkleson gives a career best performance and, especially in light of recent cases, the story feels very relevant and packs a powerful, emotional punch.

    Daniel Fletcher Wed Mar 27
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  • I`ve just watched it, it is a totally gripping film, marvellously acted by everyone even the little girl who plays Klara. My heart was in my hands during the (nearly) final scene when the teacher, about whom she made the false allegations encounters her at a party. Highly recommended, wonderful film, wonderful filming of some beautiful countryside scenes and close up for real looks at people`s private lives.

    Helen Pitt Sun Mar 24
    Rated as: 5/5
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    many thanks for this qhvvrdbiya <a href="http://www.ggzwuvvtfbjf.com">click here</a> :|] lol what, Sun Mar 10
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  • Powerful, thoughtful, generous. In one word: outstanding!

    DoigtdePoisson Tue Jan 8
    Rated as: 5/5
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