Released 2013

 ”Jagten” or ”The Hunt” is a Danish drama released in 2013 and directed by Thomas Vinterberg. It stars the talented cast of Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Alexandra Rapaport, Anne Louise Hassing, Annika Wedderkopp, Lasse FogelstrØm, Lars Ranthe and Suss Wold. It was written by Tobias Lindholm and Thomas Vinterberg. It is a film in Danish with some English and Polish spoken. This is a disturbing story of an innocent, lonely man slowly engulfed in a tragedy and becoming the victim of a horrible injustice. It is the tale of someone falsely accused. It is the story of a modern day witch-hunt and the evil that lies beneath the surface of a community. “Jagten” is a deeply disturbing drama with a fine script and subtle acting.

The story takes place in a tight knit Danish town. Lucas is trying to put his life back together after a divorce. He has a very good relationship with his son and he also works at a daycare school for little kids. He is a very positive and dynamic role model for the children and they love him. His co-worker Nadja pursues him and she eventually moves in with him.

Everything changes when a false allegation is levelled against him and his world falls apart. He is accused of being a sexual predator. The whole town turns against him and behaves with such ignorance and cruelty it´s sometimes hard to watch. His son is also mistreated, beaten and ostracized.

Before the rumor you felt sorry for Lucas because he was trying to see his son and his ex-wife was criticizing him for working with kids. He was the only man working in a group of women who probably didn´t feel he belonged there in the first place.

The rumor devastates his life. He is never given details of what happened and he is treated as if he were guilty without anyone listening to him. He loses his job and is not allowed in the local grocerie store. All of his friends abandon him and treat him terribly.

The town quickly turns from a quaint, friendly place to a vicious den of lynchers. The speed with which the situation degenerates is deeply disturbing. No other film rips away the veneer of civility of people so quickly as this one does and it´s shocking.

Stories of an innocent person being persecuted or lynched or someone fighting for a just cause are always the most heart wrenching. They often don´t end well and have a large group of people doing dirt. In this case it´s a small town in present day Denmark but it could easily have been a small town in Salem, Massachussetts in 1692.
“Jagten” is a very good film and is worth seeing and owning.

 (Commentary by www.ink2quill.com )
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