The Hunt's redeeming features are that it for the most part knows the difference between drama and dramatic and Mads Mikkelsen. It is a good film, but in my opinion nowhere near as great as many claim it to be.

It tackles a very complex subject with grounded stoicism, deftly avoiding melodrama and manipulative storytelling. It does get off to a false start, however, and it falls into the same trap in the final act. What this film does superbly in the second act, it fails to do in the bookends. The centre of the story relies on the strength of the premise, allowing the situation to unfold naturally, causing it to be deeply disturbing, frustrating and heartbreaking.

What it…

Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt is undoubtedly a good film but I’m unconvinced that it is a great one. The sensationalist but sensitively handled plot centres on a male nursery teacher, Lucas, accused of sexually abusing one of his pupils. Despite the lack of evidence, lies spread throughout the small community as his life slowly unravels. It is a story that plays on modern social issues - the fear of sexual predators, baseless witch hunts and social prejudices - as a man’s life is ruined by the distortion of a child’s little lie.

Despite a potentially tabloid-bothering plot the film is a thoughtful and worryingly plausible examination of a community’s hysteria at hearing such an accusation. The little girl’s lie, made…

Part of Lise and Jonnie’s What A Wonderful World: May 30 days, 30 countries.

Film 10 – May 10 – Denmark

Oh man. What a 30 day festival this is turning out to be. Last Tuesday, L’Enfant, a film about a self obsessed young father who thinks and feels nothing about selling his newborn on the black market. Wednsday, Michael , the story of a man who kidnaps, holds prisoner, and sexually molests a child. And now today, The Hunt. Fortunately on Thursday we watched the wonderful Alamar , the sweet story of a father and child bonding during a summer visit. If it wasn’t for Alamar, I’d be a psychological and emotional wreck by now.

It’s interesting that this…

Easily the best the film I have seen this year so far. Vinterberg has done with The Hunt, what he did so masterfully with Festen; taken a difficult subject and made it compelling and not oppressive, with even some appropriate humour injected throughout, and avoids making it overwrought like some films on this subject end up being. The film is also gorgeous to look at, which belies Vinterberg's Dogme 95 lineage, or maybe he is just using certain elements of the aesthetic to enhance the look of his films; whatever it is, it works perfectly here.

Mads Mickelsen is magnificent as Lucas, the man accused of indecency with children at the local kindergarten where he works; conveying pain, confusion, stoicism,…

The Hunt's redeeming features are that it for the most part knows the difference between drama and dramatic and Mads Mikkelsen. It is a good film, but in my opinion nowhere near as great as many claim it to be.

It tackles a very complex subject with grounded stoicism, deftly avoiding melodrama and manipulative storytelling. It does get off to a false start, however, and it falls into the same trap in the final act. What this film does superbly in the second act, it fails to do in the bookends. The centre of the story relies on the strength of the premise, allowing the situation to unfold naturally, causing it to be deeply disturbing, frustrating and heartbreaking.

What it…

At the centre of 'The Hunt' is an idea about the sexuality of young children which, whilst not very palatable, is convincingly supported by existing research. Whilst most people tend to assume that young children have no sexual identity, their behaviour sometimes demonstrates that whether through the influence of parents, siblings, the popular culture or whatever else, they have some level of sexual identity - they are not the blank pages of complete innocence we would probably like them to be. In 'The Hunt', the assumption that a young child would never make up stories, particularly stories containing details of alleged sexual abuse, has devastating consequences. It makes for a very difficult couple of hours of viewing and its effectiveness…

An incredibly hard movie to sit through and watch as the subject matter is not exactly something that people want to pay attention to or think about, but this movie grabs a hold of you and never lets go. Mads Mikkelson doesn't make it easier for you either, as he delivers a gut wrenching performance as a kindergarden teacher accused of sexual abuse. It shows how one little lie, compounded by the stupidity of sexual abuse investigators, can turn this cheerful and beloved man, and just break him completely. It's made even worse as you the audience are the only ones that know the truth, but he never gives up and to his credit does not blame the little girl.…