When he was a young child, director Alfred Hitchcock was sentto the police station with a note from his father. A desk sergeant read the note
and locked young Hitchcock in a cell for several minutes. He was eventually let
out and was told by the officer this is what happened to boys who did bad
things. This incident stayed with Hitchcock his entire life and provided a central
theme to his filmography- that of the “wrong man,” an innocent man out to prove
his innocence, which was the foundation for light escapist fare such as North by Northwest (1959), The 39 Steps (1935) and Saboteur (1942). Hitchcock treated this
theme most seriously in The Wrong Man
(1956), the only Hitchcock film based on a true story. The film tells of a New
York musician named Manny Balestrero (Henry Fonda), who was mistaken for
criminal.
Thomas Vinterberg’s The
Hunt can be seen as a companion film to Hitchcock’s overlooked thriller, as
well as an extension of Hitchcock’s favourite theme. The film concerns a
Kindergarten teacher named Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen) who, after a remark by Klara,
one of the Kindergarten children, is accused of molesting her. The small Danish
town in which Lucas lives then turns against him. The title can refer to the
hunting by Lucas that occurs in the woods but the deeper significance of the
title refers to how the story of the film becomes that of a modern day witch
hunt- a The Crucible for the 21st
Century.
While we understand the town’s disgust at the crime they
believe Lucas committed- child molestation is a despicable crime- but the film
shows how morality and outrage at horrible acts can slowly turn us in to
monsters ourselves. There is a turning point- albeit a highly manipulative one-
in the story where the town crosses a line and loses our sympathy. Even so the
film never forgets these are human beings. This is what makes the film so
unsettling. How far can seemingly sane people go when confronted with what they
view as one evil man?
The film also asks the question, as did The Wrong Man, of what an innocent man can do when he is accused of
something he didn’t do. It’s not as easy as saying “I’m innocent.” In the court
of public opinion, once the seed of distrust is planted, it grows until it
takes over the heart and mind. And why would Klara lie? I’m sure some will criticize
the film for showing a young girl to be untrustworthy regarding matters of
sexual abuse. But I don’t believe the film is suggesting we should never listen
to children when it pertains to this crime. Rather, the film is showing us one
remark can set off a chain reaction that can’t be stopped.
I like that before Lucas comes under fire we get a little of
his back-story- he’s a divorcee who wants his teenage son Marcus to live with
him and not his mother. This back-story adds some texture to Lucas’ character
and makes him more than a blank slate victim. The fact Klara is the daughter of
Lucas’ best friend Theo adds to the anguish of the film. How can Theo ever look
at his friend the same way? It’s devastating and the shows the depths of pain
Klara’s remark makes.
It’d be easy for the film to be played histrionically- and
there are several very heightened and intense moments- but the film knows how
to restrain itself- due to Vinterberg’s minimalist visual style as well as Mikkelsen’s
performance. There’s a scene in a church near the end where we’re allowed to
take in Lucas’s emotions- just through Mikkelsen’s wearied and broken down
face.
As The Hunt enters
its final scene we begin to think we’re in for a neat ending. But the final
moments and image suggests the shadow of the previous year will always be
there. There’s no turning back from the feelings we experience and the events
we go through. They’ll always be there- regardless of guilt or innocence.
