The Hunt (2012 film)
The Hunt | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Thomas Vinterberg |
Produced by |
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Written by |
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Starring | Mads Mikkelsen |
Music by | Nikolaj Egelund |
Cinematography | Charlotte Bruus Christensen |
Edited by |
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Production company | |
Distributed by | Nordisk Film |
Release date |
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Running time | 115 minutes[1] |
Country | Denmark |
Language |
Danish English |
Budget | $3.45 million[2] |
Box office | $18.3 million[2] |
The Hunt (Danish: Jagten) is a 2012 Danish mystery drama film directed by Thomas Vinterberg and starring Mads Mikkelsen. The story is set in a small Danish village around Christmas, and follows a man who becomes the target of mass hysteria after being wrongly accused of sexually abusing a child in his kindergarten class.[3][4]
The film was screened at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and competed at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival where Mikkelsen won the Best Actor Award for his role.[5][6][7] It also won the 2013 Nordic Council Film Prize. The film was selected as the Danish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards,[8][9] making the final nomination.[10] It was nominated in the same category at the 2013 Golden Globe Awards.[11]
Plot
After budget cuts cost him his job as a high school teacher, Lucas takes a job as a preschool teacher in a close-knit Danish community, where he is well-liked. Divorced, he struggles to maintain a relationship with his teenage son, Marcus, who lives with his ex-wife, but the boy eventually decides to live with him. Lucas' coworker Nadja, an emigrant from Russia, makes advances towards him and eventually becomes his girlfriend.
One of Lucas' students is a 5-year-old girl named Klara, the daughter of his best friend, Theo. She has a crush on Lucas, who is kind to her while her parents argue and lets her walk his Spaniel dog, Fanny. One day Klara puts a heart-shaped ornament into his coat pocket, then gives him a kiss on the lips. After Lucas comes to regret the kiss, Klara's feelings are hurt. Drawing on a memory of a pornographic photo her older teenage brother and his friend showed her, she makes comments describing an erect penis that lead the preschool director to believe Lucas indecently exposed himself to her. Klara is asked leading questions about what occurred and gives unclear responses about Lucas, alternately denying and confirming the abuse. Klara's later contradictions to her mother, Agnes, that nothing happened are dismissed by Agnes as Klara repressing painful memories of the abuse.
The preschool's director, who believes children would not lie about such a thing, informs the other parents that abuse likely occurred and asks them to look for signs of sexual abuse in their own children. The parents ask leading questions of their children, who also say they were abused, destroying any public doubt about Klara's story, and Lucas is fired and shunned by the community as a paedophile and sexual predator. His friendship with Theo, who insists his daughter never lies, is destroyed. His relationship with Nadja is likewise ruined when she asks if the accusations are true, causing him to angrily throw her out of the house. Marcus is forbidden from moving in with him and is publicly ostracised. Lucas survives only with the financial support of his close friend Bruun, whose father is extremely wealthy.
At Christmastime, Lucas is arrested on suspicion of sexual assault. However, the children's accounts all involve Lucas abusing them in his basement, which supports Lucas' innocence as his house has no basement. After a hearing, Lucas is released without charge, and he celebrates with Marcus and Bruun.
However, the community is still suspicious, and the ostracism turns to violence. Fanny is killed, and a large stone is thrown through his kitchen window. When he goes grocery shopping, the store employees attack him. On Christmas Eve, Lucas confronts Theo during a public church service. Later, Theo overhears Klara apologizing to Lucas as she drifts off to sleep, then she once again insists nothing happened. Theo believes her and realizes that Lucas is innocent after all, and he visits him with food and alcohol as a peace offering.
A year later, tensions in the community have lessened. Lucas and Nadja are in their relationship again, and Marcus is accepted into the local hunting society as an adult. On a hunting expedition to commemorate the event, an unseen person apparently shoots at Lucas and misses him. Blinded by the setting sun, Lucas is unable to identify his attacker, who flees. A moment later the unknown shooter, real or metaphorical,[12] is gone.
Cast
- Mads Mikkelsen as Lucas
- Alexandra Rapaport as Nadja, Lucas' girlfriend
- Thomas Bo Larsen as Theo, Lucas' best friend
- Lasse Fogelstrøm as Marcus, Lucas' son
- Susse Wold as Grethe
- Lars Ranthe as Bruun
- Anne Louise Hassing as Agnes, Theo's wife
- Bjarne Henriksen as Ole
- Annika Wedderkopp as Klara, Theo's daughter
- Ole Dupont as Landowner / Lawyer
Production
The film was produced by Zentropa for 20 million Danish kroner. It received co-production support from Sweden's Film i Väst and Zentropa International Sweden. Further support came from the Danish Film Institute, DR, Eurimages, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, the Swedish Film Institute, Sveriges Television and the MEDIA Programme.[3]
Reception
Box office
The Hunt premiered on 20 May 2012 at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, as the first Danish-language film in the main competition since 1998.[3][13] Mads Mikkelsen won the Best Actor Award at Cannes.[14] Given its estimated $3.8 million budget, the film was a financial success; in total, it earned more than $16 million including $7.9 million in Denmark. In the United States, it was shown in 47 theaters and earned $613,308.[15][16]
Critical response
The film received universal acclaim. It has an approval rating of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 129 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9 out of 10. The website's critical consensus states: "Anchored by Mads Mikkelsen's sympathetic performance, The Hunt asks difficult questions with the courage to pursue answers head on."[17] The film also has a score of 77 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews".[18]
Accolades
Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
Academy Awards | 2 March 2014 | Best Foreign Language Film | Nominated | |
Alliance of Women Film Journalists[19] | 19 December 2013 | Best Foreign Language Film | Thomas Vinterberg | Won |
British Academy Film Awards | 10 February 2013 | Best Film not in the English Language | Nominated | |
British Independent Film Awards | 9 December 2012 | Best Foreign Independent Film | Thomas Vinterberg | Won |
Bodil Awards[20] | 1 February 2014 | Best Danish Film | Won | |
Best Actor | Mads Mikkelsen | Won | ||
Best Supporting Actor | Thomas Bo Larsen | Nominated | ||
Lars Ranthe | Nominated | |||
Best Supporting Actress | Anne Louise Hassing | Nominated | ||
Susse Wold | Won | |||
Best Cinematography | Charlotte Bruus Christensen | Won | ||
Cannes Film Festival | 27 May 2012 | Best Actor | Mads Mikkelsen | Won |
Prize of the Ecumenical Jury | Thomas Vinterberg | Won | ||
Vulcan Award | Charlotte Bruus Christensen | Won | ||
Palme d'Or | Thomas Vinterberg | Nominated | ||
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | 16 December 2013 | Best Foreign Language Film | Nominated | |
Critics' Choice Awards | 16 January 2014 | Best Foreign Language Film | Nominated | |
Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association | 16 December 2013 | Best Foreign Language Film | Nominated | |
Satellite Awards | 23 February 2014 | Best Foreign Language Film | Nominated | |
European Film Awards | 1 December 2012 | Best Film | Thomas Vinterberg | Nominated |
Best Director | Thomas Vinterberg | Nominated | ||
Best Actor | Mads Mikkelsen | Nominated | ||
Best Screenwriter | Thomas Vinterberg, Tobias Lindholm | Won | ||
Best Editor | Janus Billeskov Jansen, Anne Østerud | Nominated | ||
Golden Globe Awards[11] | 12 January 2014 | Best Foreign Language Film | Nominated | |
Independent Spirit Awards | 1 March 2014 | Best Foreign Film | Nominated | |
International Online Film Critics' Poll | 26 January 2015 | Best Actor | Mads Mikkelsen | Nominated |
London Film Critics Circle Awards | 20 January 2013 | Actor of the Year | Mads Mikkelsen | Nominated |
National Board of Review Awards | 4 December 2013 | Top Foreign Films | Won | |
Nordic Council Film Prize | 30 October 2013 | Nordic Council Film Prize | Thomas Vinterberg | Won |
Online Film Critics Society Awards | 16 December 2013 | Best Actor | Mads Mikkelsen | Nominated |
Robert Award[21] | 27 January 2014 | Best Danish Film | Thomas Vinterberg | Won |
Best Director | Thomas Vinterberg | Won | ||
Best Screenplay | Thomas Vinterberg,Tobias Lindholm | Won | ||
Best Actor | Mads Mikkelsen | Won | ||
Best Supporting Actor | Thomas Bo Larsen | Nominated | ||
Best Supporting Actress | Susse Wold | Won | ||
Anne Louise Hassing | Nominated | |||
Best Cinematography | Charlotte Bruus Christensen | Nominated | ||
Best Editor | Anne Østerud, Janus Billeskov Jansen | Won | ||
Best Production Design | Torben Stig Nielsen | Nominated | ||
Best Costume Design | Manon Rasmussen | Nominated | ||
Best Make-Up | Bjørg Serup | Nominated | ||
Best Original Score | Nikolaj Egelund | Nominated | ||
Best Sound | Kristian Eidnes Andersen, Thomas Jæger | Nominated | ||
Audience Award - Best Drama | Thomas Vinterberg | Won | ||
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards | 16 December 2013 | Best Foreign Language Film | Nominated | |
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards[22] | 11 December 2013 | Best Foreign Language Film | Nominated | |
Toronto Film Critics Association[23] | 16 December 2013 | Best Foreign Language Film | Runner-up | |
Vancouver International Film Festival | 12 October 2012 | Rogers People’s Choice Award | Thomas Vinterberg | Won |
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards | 9 December 2013 | Best Foreign Language Film | Nominated | |
Home media
Nordisk Film released it in Denmark on 10 January 2013.[3] The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 7 May 2013.
See also
References
- ↑ "Jagten - The Hunt". British Board of Film Classification. 28 August 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
- 1 2 "Jagten (2012) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 Staff writer (19 April 2012). "Vinterberg til Cannes Festival". dfi.se (in Danish). Danish Film Institute. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
- ↑ "The Hunt, review". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
- ↑ "The Hunt". TIFF. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
- ↑ "2012 Official Selection". Cannes. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
- ↑ "Cannes Film Festival 2012 line-up announced". timeout. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
- ↑ "Denmark Selects 'The Hunt' As Foreign Language Oscar Candidate". Deadline. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
- ↑ "Oscars: Denmark Nominates 'The Hunt' for Best Foreign Language Category". Hollywood Report. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
- ↑ "Oscars: Main nominations 2014". BBC News. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
- 1 2 "Golden Globes Nominations: The Full List". Variety. 11 January 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
- ↑ "Mads Mikkaelsen interview". Collider.com. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ↑ "Screenings guide" (PDF). festival-cannes.fr. Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
- ↑ "Awards 2012". Cannes. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
- ↑ "The Hunt (2013) - Box Office Mojo". www.boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
- ↑ "The Hunt (2013) - International Box Office Results - Box Office Mojo". www.boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
- ↑ "The Hunt (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- ↑ "The Hunt Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
- ↑ "2013 EDA Award Nominess". Alliance of Women Film Journalists. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
- ↑ "2014 Bodil Awards Nominations". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
- ↑ "The Hunt sweeps Danish Robert awards". 27 January 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
- ↑ "San Diego Film Critics Select Top Films for 2013". Retrieved 19 December 2013.
- ↑ "TFCA Announces 2013 Awards". Toronto Film Critics Association. 16 December 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2013.