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“The Hunt” is a movie from Denmark getting a lot of attention in the Foreign film category for 2013. It stars Mads Mikkelsen who (whom?) you might recognize from the summer NBC TV series “Hannibal,” or from the James Bond movie “Casino Royal” where he plays the villain.
Melanie and I watched “The Hunt” earlier this week via a Netflix rental, and we both loved it. It’s blisteringly effective (affective?) and makes you uncomfortable because you can believe this happening in real life. The story is of a kindergarten school teacher who gets accused of molesting his students.
One thing I love about this is how Mads Mikkelsen plays a likable guy. He has an angular face which gives him a harsh look, that’s why he plays a lot of villains, but here he’s allowed to stretch and show what he can do as a good actor. But because he has that slightly sinister appearance, you understand why people could suspect him of horrible behavior. I’ve only seen Mikkelsen in one other sympathetic or heroic role before, last year’s “A Royal Affair,” and he’s equally great in both movies.
The film has a final scene which I think is a little too obvious, a bit too preachy. I could understand how the director might have argued he made the movie to shoot that scene, but I think it’s a little out of place. See the movie and let me know if you agree.
This is such a good flick. It’s Kafka-esque in it’s horrifying absurdity, but you know life sometimes goes this way. It unfolds naturally with a strong sense of a real community. It’s about communities and what happens when suspicion is thrown on one of their own, and it’s horrifyingly relevant. See it, it’s a good one.
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