Out of all of the movies I've seen so far this summer, this is the first movie that I have to give five stars to. This movie has been getting rave reviews everywhere, and I can see why. This is the kind of movie that will stick to you for the rest of your life.
This Danish film stars Hannibal star Mads Mikkelsen. The story is about a man (a kindergarten teacher) wrongfully accused of abusing his best friend's five-year old daughter. As the child tells the lie, you see the story grow from being just one child to being multiple children...all telling the exact same story. You see how the story of the abuse is weaved into the minds of the children...by the adults. The kids become so confused, they don't remember if the abuse actually took place or if it was like the adults described it to them.
In the meantime, Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen) is ostracized from the village. His once close friends become complete strangers and enemies. He loses his job. He is denied access to his own son. He can't even shop in the local grocery store.
All the while, the little girl who made the false accusation is trying to tell the truth because she loves Lucas. She's known him her whole life. She kept saying she never meant for this to happen...she never meant to hurt him.
Everywhere Lucas turns, he finds that only one man (the godfather of his son) is the only one that believes him. Everyone else has turned their backs on him, humiliated him, and even went so far as to gang up on him, beating him up and killing his dog.
The only thing Lucas is guilty of...trying to correct a little 5 year old girl's crush. She tried to give him a gift of a heart she made. She ran up to him while he was being wrestled to the floor by the other boys in her class, and kissed him on the lips. He told her not to do that. She should only kiss her mom and dad on the lips. When he asked her about the heart she slipped into his pocket, he tried to tell her to give it to her mother or one of the other little boys in the class.
She didn't like this at all...and that's how the drama starts.
When she realizes what is going on after her accusation, it's already too late. No one will listen to her. They think she was traumatized, sympathizing with her abuser. The stories the adults tell her as far as what happened to her...she becomes so confused (as well as her classmates) that they start to believe those stories really happened.
Throughout this entire movie, the audience all responded the exact same way when each emotional trigger happened in the movie. From the start, you see the man's innocence, you hear the lie (and understand how she came to the accusation), you see how the adults react and begin to fill her head with things that she wasn't aware of, you watch as the lie grows from one child to all of the children, you watch as the child tries to tell the truth and the adults tell her that is not the truth anymore, you watch as an innocent man is seen as guilty from the start and loses everything. He has nothing...not even his trusty best friend (his dog).
Even when they are able to find a break in the case where the truth shows the children had to have been making up the story, he is still believed to be guilty by the entire village.
His saving grace all lies in his best friend. Sometimes when you've known someone your entire life, you feel like you can tell whether they're lying or telling the truth. At first, his friend was conflicted and didn't know if his best friend touched his daughter or not. As time moves on and the village sides against Lucas, he starts to believe the village.
But one look at his friend on Christmas Eve and he knows. Lucas is telling the truth.
As the events of the evening unravel, he realizes the truth when his daughter (half asleep) begins apologizing to Lucas for what happened. She doesn't realize it's her father she's talking to. When he tells her it's him, he finds out from her that she had made a mistake. She never meant to hurt Lucas.
This conversation is the saving grace because he's able to face the village and tell them it was a false accusation. Lucas and the village can go back to normal...
Truth is, like all small towns, even if you are absolved of a wrongful accusation, there are always people that will believe you really did do it. You will always be guilty, even when you are innocent and proven you were innocent.
This isn't just something you see in Denmark. It happens everywhere. Someone is wrongfully accused of child sexual abuse...even if innocent (and proven innocent)...there are people out there that will always look at you as a pedophile, even though it never happened. With that, you are never safe or innocent.
This film will probably stay with me for the rest of my life. It reminds me of my own hometown and how people reacted to things like this. Even if the person was innocent and the child made it up, people never forget. They will always call that person a pedophile. It's a black stain that can never be washed clean.
Mads Mikkelsen won best actor at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival for his role in this film. Is this an Oscar-worthy role? Hell, yes. It is. The film should also be considered for an Oscar. It was so thought-provoking and emotional. To hear the entire audience all have the same shock, sorrow, and disbelief echoed throughout the cinema, you know this is a powerful film.
The film has a very limited engagement in the United States (in NYC, only two theaters are showing the film). It grossed only $44,000 over the weekend, but that is due mainly to the film showing only in art cinemas (and extremely limited engagements). Critics and reviewers have ranked this film very high (4 stars and above). It is that good.
Take time to see this film...even if you wait until it comes out on video. Like I said, this movie will cling to me for the rest of my life. This is the kind of story you never forget.
Well done, Mr. Mikkelsen. Well done.
xxoo,
Michelle
P.S. Topic of conversation overheard as we were all walking out of the cinema? Thought-provoking discussions on Hannibal Lecter as a psychiatrist.
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