[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK9cO7QN8Ak[/youtube]

This is by far the most dramatic episode of “Kids Say the Darndest Things” ever.

Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen) is a lonesome kindergarten teacher whose luck appears to finally be looking up. A bitter custody battle ended with his son Marcus (Lasse Fogelstrom) deciding to live him with permanently, and a new romance has sparked with his co-worker Nadja (Alexandra Rapaport). Not to mention his remarkable rapport with his students, who derive great pleasure from ambushing him in the schoolyard.

But Lucas’ world is about to be turned inside out when one of the students, Klara (Annika Wedderkopp) falsely accuses him of sexual abuse. Klara, who doesn’t fully understand what she is saying or why she is saying it, unknowingly turns Lucas into public enemy number one. Now the once respected schoolteacher must convince everyone, including his best friend and Klara’s father Theo (Thomas Bo Larsen), that he is innocent, while his undeserved reputation spreads like wildfire.

The Hunt is a superb drama that explores the concept of thought as a virus. Writer-director Thomas Vinterberg (who co-wrote the film with Tobias Lindholm) wisely decided to make it clear from the beginning that Lucas was, in fact, innocent. This makes the behavior of his peers absolutely infuriating, as they refuse to listen to any of Lucas’ reasonings. Even when Klara takes back what she said, the adults cling to her initial lie as though it were irrefutable fact.The uncontrollable way that the lie spirals out of control is gut-wrenching to watch, as this kind-hearted man is made out to be a reviled deviant.

Nobody but a masochist would be able to “enjoy” The Hunt. You’re more likely to sit there seething with rage and contempt at the quick-to-condemn townspeople. But this sympathy towards Lucas is reliant on Vinterberg’s decision to establish him as innocent. If we found ourselves in this situation in real life, we would just as likely reach for the pitchforks before waiting to hear Lucas’ side of the story. This is where the idea of thought as a virus comes in. Thoughts can be a beautiful creative force, but they can also bring about destruction. A negative thought will lodge itself at the front of your mind and nag you to the point of insomnia. When that negative thought happens to be about the possible abuse of a child, we tend to assume guilt right away. When the one person harboring that thought decides to share it–in this case its the kindergarten principal Grethe (Susse Wold)–the idea spreads, and the more it spreads, the more people believe it. At some point, the truth stops mattering and the lie becomes accepted as common knowledge.

Vinterberg is the co-founder of the Dogme 95 movement, the cinematic “vow of chastity.” This means that he is dedicated to making movies that do not make use of expensive technology or big-budgets in order to tell a gripping story. The Hunt fits snugly into this description, filmed by natural light and without Hollywood conventions in the script. This isn’t a “court case” movie, as Lucas doesn’t defend his innocence in a court of law (not in front of us, at least). This is a film about personal relationships and how a man attempts to save his image by talking with those around him.

Mads Mikkelsen is remarkable as the tragic Lucas. When the first accusations are levied against him, he doesn’t respond with anger or vehement denial, but with shell-shocked incomprehension. He rarely loses his composure, even when doors are being slammed in his face when he’s trying to explain himself. At one point, Lucas does lash back, and it creates a swelling of pride in the audience. What does that say of us, that we feel joy when he uses violence as a counterpoint?

I don’t normally praise child actors, but Wedderkopp does truly inspired work as Klara, the little girl that started this whole mess. The whole film she appears entirely aware of the fact that she is the cause of Lucas’ torment, and her regret is heart-breaking. When she tries to explain herself to her parents, she is thwarted by their denial and thus she becomes confused and unsure of herself. Vinterberg says the young Wedderkopp prefers ping-pong to acting, so if this is her only performance, it’s definitely one to be proud of.

The Hunt is hard to recommend because I know that I’d basically be telling you to endure a severe amount of frustration. However, The Hunt is deserving of your attention at least for one viewing, just so you can see the ugliness that lies inside public witch hunts. This is cinema at its most thought-provoking, shocking, and emotionally affecting.