Beginning with a warning right away, please don’t opt for this movie if you just watch cinema only for your timely entertainment and don’t wish to do any serious thinking about our society, motivated by an alarming projection on the screen. Also don’t watch it if you are not used to witness such teasing movies, since this is certainly going to be one of the most disturbing psychological films you have ever seen till date due to its highly sensitive yet frightening issue brought forward for the very first time in the history of world cinema.
Shockingly talking about a hidden, burning truth of our visibly deteriorating social structure, THE HUNT / JAGTEN forces you to think weirdly and the very thought that this can happen with anybody around in our world too, truly blows your mind away in a seriously worrying manner like never before.
To clear the doubts further, the film has no bloodshed, no brutality or no heinous crimes being committed crossing the extreme limit. Yet it deals with a pretty scary, thought provoking subject, raising many relevant questions about our present common life styles involving the innocent kids. Without revealing its key plot, though it focuses on an extremely complex issue related with child abuse, still the director doesn’t step into the obvious zone of vulgarity ever, which is another noticeable merit of his insightful direction indeed. And believe me, whatever you might be having in your mind reading the word ‘child abuse’, is just not what the film is all about and its actually based on something completely inconceivable by a sane mind, not even in his or her dreams.
Now to get over the curiosity, you can immediately visit the films IMDB page and know everything about its scandalous theme reading the reviews there. But in case you wish to surprise yourself with a completely unexpected, horrifying, emotional ride executed beautifully then just go for the film without having any preset notions and witness one of the darkest films ever made, revolving around a literally unimaginable plotline to say the least.
To give you an idea, just try to visualize what can be the awful consequences if a child of just 6-7 years accidently sees some porn running on a tablet displaying the key figures very clearly. What will be the thoughts coming to his or her mind after seeing that and how they will interpret the same through their innocently, unprepared thought process? Here the scariest point to be noted is that this is nothing impossible we are talking about, as it can easily happen in any of our Wi-Fi enabled homes with computers, laptops & tablets being accessed by kids at their own will. And who knows what they all are watching in their closed rooms with the lights off and the sound muted.
The film deals with this haunting truth only with some superb performances, beautiful cinematography and sensible background score, draining you out emotionally and one honestly doesn’t feel like thinking about the same subject again for days, once it’s all over.
Bluntly putting, THE HUNT is surely not an easy watch at all, as it is both depressing as well as hard-hitting at the same time. In few sequences it simply makes you speechless and in few you just wish to jump into the screen telling them all the real fact, they are unaware of. Sympathetically expressed without dialogues in its crucial scenes, it tackles a very rare and difficult subject which is sure going to knock you off well, leaving in a stunned, sad & disturbing state for sure.
Admittedly many friends are also going to find it as an awfully avoidable film with an unexplainable, abrupt ending. But the truth is that any other, particular culmination of this script would have resulted in only a good film, unable to reach the incredible standards achieved by its present form. Moreover, it is this open ending only which puts many more unusual thoughts in your mind related with the father, the young brother and the son too facing the shameful humiliation due to the tragic event. So the film opens a whole new debate as it ends which in fact is another admirable aspect of this otherwise dreadfully shocking and upsetting venture, gracing the world cinema.
So do watch this exceptionally unusual film, not only as an extraordinary triumph by its talented writer-director & his entire team. But as a means to experience the bold psychological truth that a human mind can go to any extreme even at a tender age of just 7 years and there is no stopping to that really in the present vulnerable times fast progressing beyond our control.
Directed By Thomas Vinterberg
Written by Tobias Lindholm & Thomas Vinterberg
Starring : Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Annika Wedderkopp & more.
