Arrow Video The Hunt

Danish screenwriter and director Thomas Vinterberg`s eight feature film which he co-wrote with Danish screenwriter and director Tobias Lindholm and co-produced, premiered In competition at the 65th Cannes International Film Festival in 2012, was screened in the Special Presentations section at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival in 2012 and is a Danish production which was shot on location in Denmark and produced by Danish producer and screenwriter Morten Kaufmann and Danish producer Sisse Graum Jørgensen. It tells the story about Lucas, a recently divorced middle-aged man who just began working at a kindergarten and who wishes to spend more time with his teenage son Marcus who lives with his mother. After starting a romance with a foreign woman named Nadja things improve, but one day during a conversation with Grethe who runs the day-care center, he learns that a girl named Klara has told her an unsettling story about him. In a matter of days a spark is turned into a flame and a harmonic village into an irrational witch-hunt against one individual.Finely and acutely directed by Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg, this finely paced fictional tale which is narrated from multiple viewpoints though mostly from the main character`s point of view, draws an instantly involving and profoundly heartrending portrayal of a little girl who after being unintentionally hurt by a well-liked man whom she has a childhood crush on, unknowingly and with only a few words incriminates him by expressing her anger to the head of the kindergarten. While notable for its naturalistic rural milieu depictions, fine production design by Danish production designer Torben Stig Nielsen, cinematography by Danish cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen, editing by Danish film editors Janus Billeskov Jansen and Anne Østerud, use of sound and realism, this character-driven and narrative-driven psychological drama about family relations, friendship and irrevocable accusations which is set during a late winter in Denmark, depicts a refined study of character and contains a good score by Danish composer Nikolaj Egelund.This somewhat romantic, at times humorous, atmospheric and tangible intrigue which has been chosen as Denmark`s official submission to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards in 2014 and where a friendship is tested, a hunter becomes the hunted and the question of guilt transforms ordinary people into paranoid savages, is impelled and reinforced by its cogent narrative structure, subtle character development, mysterious characters, brilliant writing, the tailor-made though distinct and accomplished acting performance by Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, the understated acting performance by Danish actor Thomas Bo Larsen and the impressively authentic acting performance by child actress Annika Wedderkopp. A dramatic, poignant and rightfully provocative tale which gained, among other awards, the award for Best Actor Mads Mikkelsen and the Vulcain Prize of the Technical Artist Charlotte Bruus Christensen for outstanding cinematography at the 65th Cannes Film Festival in 2012.

This is another Nordic offering and is one that can only build on the reputation of our Northern cousins. It stars the excellent Mads Mikkelsen as Lucas you may remember him from `A Royal Affair' or `The Three Musketeers'. He is a kindergarten teacher where he does everything for the kids including bum wiping. He is in a battle with his ex wife over access to his teenage son, who wants to live with his father. Lucas has a best friend in Theo (Thomas Bo Larsen) and one of Lucas' charges is his young five year old daughter, Klara.One day Klara makes an accusation against her favourite teacher to the Head mistress and before you can say `J'accuse, the local authorities are involved including the most unprofessional child counsellor I have ever seen. He is at first sent home and then the old chestnut that children do not tell lies is pulled out of the hat and all of a sudden he is guilty as charged. Worse still half the school now claim to be victims, talk about the power of suggestion. What happens next is the spiral he is thrown into from being a revered and valued member of the community to social pariah over night where even his friends have judged him and found him wanting.Director Thomas Vinterberg has made a quietly, powerful film of emotional torture and the effects of being over trusting of kids. This is one of those films that just pull you in and make you actually live the on screen antics, even the dog is good. It is in Danish and some English with fairly good sub titles and runs for 115 minutes and I found it absolutely engrossing. To tackle such an emotive subject and get the balance just right is some feat and Mikkelsen puts in a sterling performance, but actually so do all of them Anika Wedderkopp playing the young Klara looks like having a career path already mapped out judging by her performance here. The reference to `the Hunt' I assume refers to the Witch Hunt that Lucas suffers but is nicely ambiguous as they are a hunting community, either way this film is truly exceptional and I can thoroughly recommend.

Truly wonderful film; the acting was superb from all (when does Mads Mikkelsen EVER put in a bad performance?) and it was a visually beautiful piece.One or two things seemed a little implausible (and I do have some experience of the issues that film deals with): it seemed odd that no one thought to question Klara's conspicuously adult language when she was describing what Lucas had apparently done to her. If they had managed to get a straight answer out of her (that she had heard the language from an older sibling) then they wouldn't have been so quick to completely believe her and then to put words in her mouth when she faltered in answering further questions. There would surely have been questions asked about her home life too.The weirdly naive headmistress rather stretched belief: she acknowledges that children, Klara especially, have an active imagination and then refuses to consider the possibility that the little girl might be lying when even Klara herself displays uncertainty and retracts her accusation. I understand that the headmistress is supposed to be mismanaging the situation for the sake of plot development, but that's all it felt like, an expediency for the sake of the plot. She's obviously more than an averagely intelligent, being a teacher, so her actions were a little difficult to believe.Truth to tell, I'm probably nit picking: I really loved this film and would heartily recommend it, though it isn't an easy watch. Lucas burying his dog in the rain is probably one of the saddest things I've ever seen in a movie. Mads Mikkelsen is heartbreaking.