The MoFo Top 100 of the 2010s Countdown

Not the best hint for The Hunt. Way too obvious. I would've referenced the "Look into my eyes" scene or the magazine which lead to all of it (censored of course). In fact, I would've just posted J Geils' song Centerfold.

The Hunt was brilliantly thrilling, but I had to force myself through it because I hate false accusations with a passion.

Seen 24/44

The final third of this film is the highlight for me. Watching Chastain's intensity ramp up as she gets closer and closer to her goal was immensely entertaining. When we are introduced to Seal Team Six the intensity steps up another notch as we know we are getting closer to our goal. There are also some nice lighthearted moments as Chastain's character interacts with the Seals. Finally we get our climactic scene and it is the best action that I have seen in a theater since I can remember. Our final shot is well earned, and the best ending to any movie in 2012. Bigelow once again has more than proven herself in a male dominated genre. I look forward to seeing whatever she may do next.

The character of Lucas is introduced as a good man who's down on his luck a little bit. He's a likable guy, and it's nice to see things start to turn around for him until his world gets rocked out of the blue. When Lucas first gets accused, I kind of wondered how realistic his reaction was. My thought was that he'd be flipping out right away. I also wondered about the reactions of everyone else. Yet, there's no playbook for this kind of delicate situation. If you're being accused of something you didn't do, I think the normal reaction would be to attack your accuser. I think that changes dramatically when the accuser is an innocent child. As for the other adults, you have to take a child's word seriously, because if you don't, and you're wrong, it makes a horrible situation worse. It's just such a truly awful situation for everyone involved, and the story was handled masterfully and is so engrossing. Even the last scene, when everything has supposedly gone back to normal, you can sense the residual effects. Lucas will never forget what he had to endure, and the other people will always know what they did to him. Beyond that, I think it would be human nature for some of them to always have some doubt. In fact, I had at least a tiny bit of doubt about his innocence myself. I'm not exactly sure what the very last part with the shooter was meant to signify, or if it was real or imagined.

The Hunt (Jagten) (Thomas Vinterberg, 2012)
(Rewatch)

Tonight was my third watch of this movie - I'd seen twice before when it was nominated for the 13th MoFo Hall of Fame in 2017 and again when it was nominated in the 21st MoFo Hall of Fame in 2020. On my first viewing, I was blown away by Mads Mikkelsen's performance, felt very intense sympathy for his character, and loved the movie overall. On second watch, my sympathy for Lucas was somewhat buffered by feeling more of an understanding with the reactions of the parents and the kindergarten staff - save of course for what happened to Fanny, which is absolutely inexcusable on any level - but I still loved the movie overall.

Unfortunately, my experience tonight was a bit different. There is one particular scene early in the film where a buck is shown being shot and killed. I don't know if in my previous viewings I just blissfully assumed that the scene was faked or if the overall quality of the film distracted me enough that I'd forgotten it by the time I went to write about the movie, but this time it was very much apparent to me that it was not fake. Not only was it not fake, but its inclusion was entirely unnecessary and it left me feeling sick. As a result, I was unable to feel what I had previously felt for this movie. I still think that the rest of the film is excellent and anyone who is not bothered by such things should probably watch it, but I will not be watching this movie a fourth time nor will it be on my ballot.

Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012)

The Hunt aka Jagten (Thomas Vinterberg, 2012) +

honey wanted me to say something about The Hunt. It's a slow-burning thriller about a situation getting way out of hand due to silence, assumptions and mass hysteria. Since it involves a teacher and inappropriate behavior, I could certainly relate to it. I took most of the film as really happening, but when it comes to the epilogue and especially the final scene, I have different thoughts, so those who like ambiguity may like the movie more because of it. I think it ended as well as it could have, and good movies from 50 years ago ended similarly but with even more depth. I disagreed with about 2/3 of those at IMDb about what it means, but there are some idiots over there. Anyway, I recommend it but it seems a tad overrated.