Foreign Film Friday: “The Hunt” – Denmark

“The Hunt” is a captivating Danish film that shows the impact that one innocent lie can do to a person’s reputation.

photo via The Young Folks

Mads Mikkelsen plays Lucas, a humble school teacher working at a kindergarten in a tight-knit Danish community. He has an estranged relationship with his wife and son, but is widely respected as both a person and educator.  He has a close relationship with his best friend Theo and a strong romantic interest in Nadja, his co-worker. Finally recovering from his divorce, Lucas is able to start over and start a new life. Once things finally start going his way again, his whole life changes when Theo’s young daughter, Klara,  accuses Lucas of sexually harassing her. Lucas is then ostracized as a sexual predator and his family is further by the community that is thrown into mass hysteria after he is accused. He faces violent attacks and is ostracized by the community that once loved and respected him, and has to fight alone for his reputation.

This film is moving and thought-provoking as the audience cheers for the protagonist and follows his painful journey to save not only his reputation, but his life. Brutual, gritty, and honest, the film is worth watching as it makes the audience think about what it means to be innocent.

Mikkelsen is known for his roles in Casino Royale, NBC’s Hannibal, and King Arthur. His role as Lucas in this film snagged this actor the presitgeous Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Award in 2012. Directed by Thomas Vinterberg, “The Hunt” has been nominated for the 2013 Nordic Council Film Prize and has been selected as the Danish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards.

Rotten Tomatoes gave The Hunt 95% and IMDB gave the film an 8.2 out of 10.

Will you watch “The Hunt”?