Jagten (2012)
AKA: The Hunt
Directed by: Thomas Vinterberg
Starring: Mads Mikkelsen (Lucas), Annika Wedderkopp (Klara), Thomas Bo Larsen (Theo), Lasse Fogelstrøm (Marcus), Alexandra Rapaport (Nadja), Anne Louise Hassing (Agnes), Susse Wold (Grethe)
Country: Denmark; Effed Up European Cinema
Language: Danish (Eng Subs); Effed Up Scandinavian Movies
Runtime: 01:55:24
Genres: Old-Young
Plot – Spoilers:
In a small Danish town, a little girl Klara often walks home with her father’s best friend, Lucas, who also works at her kindergarten. Lucas is particularly considerate to Klara’s OCD of not stepping on lines, and so walking with him and his dog, whom she loves, is something she looks forward to.
One day, Klara sees a porno image and is confused and upset by it. Soon after, she hears her parents bickering over who should take her to school. When Lucas offers to take her instead, she makes a gift for him out of gratitude and kisses him on the mouth. Awkward about what just happened, Lucas refuses her gift. Klara in turn feels rejected by all the adults closest to her and makes passing remarks to a teacher about how much she hates Lucas. She mixes this with the porno image she’d earlier seen and from here, Lucas’ fate is sealed, as all assume that he abused Klara and they even unwittingly plant false memories in her through leading questions.
Lucas was always doomed to be a kind of sitting target. A divorced man who works a job normally reserved for women. Someone who lives all alone and whom the community sort of pities and assumes is depressed. The harmless local loser who can be useful, helping with odd errands and jobs. Until he’s seen as a potential threat to their children.
Jagten uses the topic of pedophilia to make a bigger point about guilty until proven innocent. And in choosing pedophilia as the base, it is able to go deeper, because suspicion and paranoia are part of everything-goes when it comes to someone accused of molesting a child.
Klara is a fucking little shit.
A stellar script and Mads Mikkelsen’s best performance will make you tear your hair out.
Solid 8
correct translation is the cunt
An important movie that shows the dangers of conformity and sheeple mentality. To believe is a only a choice and even if proof suggests otherwise hard to adjust. Once again a moving and outstanding performance of Mads Mikkelsen and cast. Only in reality such stories rarely have a happy ending.
kids fucking suck
This is so new to me as a fan of horrors. The suspense hit me after the first 30 mins. It just irks me how Lucas never takes any effort to prove himself even though he shouldn’t be entitled to. This has to be more of a take on naivety and fanaticism in human nature than it is on faults of the justice system. I also had 2 edibles and almost cried for Lucas multiple times.. but guess he was written to be a generally unlikable person.
That’s why I don’t let child get close to me. This type of shits has happened a lot in my country and had ruined my men’s life. Good message
This is a really good film about how a 6 year old can see a picture shown to her by her teenage brother and blurt out something to a teacher and ruin someone’s life. The teacher had him tried and convicted in her mind from the start. There are 2 really good jump scares. The first one almost gave me a heart attack. The second one I saw coming but it was still good. This is a 5 star movie.
Another powerful movie starring kids … Gripping tale . If not a tad too long . . Actually got two really good jump !! Scenes in too . Not often we can safely say that anymore.
Good tense and truly believable film here
terrifying to see how easily one’s life can be destroyed by false allegations, great film!
A great one, along with Festen up there.
Mads is the man
This movie is not visually fucked up, but the theme is so unsettling that it can be easily called as a disturbing masterpiece!
I’d seen this film once before when looking at random films playing on TV. It’s not effed up in the normal way, with no blood or sex to gross or titillate but it asks important questions about the legal system and how we treat the accused. There is a good lesson here on how easily influenced children are during questioning.
This is the film that turned me into a Mads fan. Then I found Polar. It’s not exactly an EUM kinda movie but entertaining as hell. It shows the versatility and rage of the actor, I believe. Meek and mild school teacher who’s life is tossed into total disarray to “The Black Keiser”.