Review LXXII
Jagten (2012)
Ahhh, Mads Mikkelsen, you seem to follow me. Or, rather, I really enjoy your films, so if I'm looking for a good film, I'll look to your name. One of those films - which is also Denmark's entry for the Best Foreign Film at this year's Oscars - is Jagten, or The Hunt, as it is known to us English-speaking folks. It is directed by Thomas Vinterberg (who also directed Festen - that film was brutal) and stars, besides Mikkelsen himself, Thomas Bo Larsen and Alexandra Rapaport.
Lucas (Mikkelsen), a divorcé, lives in a small Danish community and works at a kindergarten, where he is very popular with the children. He enjoys hunting with his many friends, including Theo (Larsen), one of his childhood friends. He tries to convince his ex-wife to allow their son to live with him, and his efforts prove fruitful when his son agrees. He also becomes successful relationship-wise when a co-worker, Nadja (Rapaport), takes an interest to him. Lucas' life seems to have finally improved, but a small lie will prove to have a huge impact on his future.
I really, really enjoyed this film, and it wasn't just Mad Mikkelsen. I made sure not to ruin the film for myself, avoiding even finding out what the lie was, but if you've seen Festen, you can already guess Vinterberg will not shy away from the brutal details. Plus every trailer tells you, but I refuse to write it here! The film was original - I have yet to have seen a film that deals with such subject matter in this way. Off the bat, this was great. I'm sure there are other films that are very similar, but this is just from my experience. Even so, even if it's been done before, I doubt it's done this way often. Originality is not necessarily a bonus, but, in this case, it definitely was.
I'll dive straight into the acting. Guys, it was great. I have my bias toward Mikkelsen, but really, I thought this was probably his best acting job I've seen so far. His acting throughout the whole film was completely believable. I hope he continues to make films that test his acting as well as this one did because he can handle it fantastically. Rapaport was great - she spoke English, yay - but her screentime was limited, so I can't go ahead and bow down to it. Nonetheless, when she was there, it was good. Larsen was also great. I really bought into his character, and I thoroughly enjoyed his performance. Annika Wedderkopp was also very good in her role. I always feel better when you have a child who can act well in a film. She definitely did a great job.
I don't have that much else to say on the film, so I'll cut the review short. Honestly, I thought it was well done. I'm hoping it makes it as a nomination for Best Foreign film. I haven't seen the other entries, so I can't be sure, but I'm assuming it'll make it. Definitely check it out if you're looking to watch an interesting film! It's not a happy film, but it's very well done.
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