▲ While in the guise of hunting “evil,” the society itself becomes destructive to individuals outside its premises. Referred to the work of designer Lee Jae Suk, “What goes around, comes around.” Provided by bokrawba3do.com.
 
Korean society is characterized by a unique psychological term, jeong, which means a sense of attachment. However, when Koreans say “Jeong deulda,” it means more than saying “I feel bonded.” The literal interpretation of the phrase would be “Jeong has penetrated me.” Here people can note a sense of coercive force conveyed in the gravitational bonding of jeong. The movie Jagten (2012) further exposes this ominous shade within the community sentiment, as it vividly depicts the downfall of an individual overwhelmed by social pressure.
 
   
▲ Office poster of the film. Provided by. 3.bp.blogspot.com
Jagten (2012) is a Danish drama film that first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 2012. It was later released in Korea as The Hunt. The movie was directed by Thomas Vinterberg and starred internationally recognized character actor, Mads Mikkelsoen. Overall, the film received favorable responses from both the audiences and the critics, gaining financial success with an estimated 3.8 million dollar budget and winning the following accolades at Cannes: Best Actor Award, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, and Vulcan Award.

 
 
 
 
 
The basic plot of the movie is quite simple. The protagonist of the story, Lucas, lives in a little, somewhat isolated Danish town. Although divorced, he maintains good relationships with his friends and his son, and enjoys working at a daycare center with the children. Nonetheless, the seemingly optimistic, peaceful life shatters into pieces when Klara, one of the kindergarten pupils, tells an innocent lie that Lucas had sexually abused her. The community turns its back on Lucas and deems him as a pedophile predator; his friends leave him and turn into malicious crowds, silencing Lucas’ testimony of truth.
 
The most notable feature about the movie is that it does not use any dramatic effects. The location is limited to the town where Lucas lives, and there are no suspenseful or thrilling moments such as physical fights between Lucas and his friends. Also, unlike most movies which follow the plot from prologue to climax to denouement, Jagten (2012) simply divides the plot to before and after Klara’s lie. It feels like the movie cut out a chunk from a man’s life and is spreading it out before the audience.
 
This unique technique may seem tedious. Indeed, expressive use of style by tackling the various angles of the camera would have been better than just using hand-held cameras. Nevertheless, the absence of melodramatic factors gives more intense representation of reality. Cold stares and whispers behind the back are not as exciting to watch as fist fighting, but they are indeed closer to the actual description of how people react to social outcasts.
 
Furthermore, because there are no special effects to please the eye, the movie turns people’s attention to slightest changes in the behaviors and the tones of each character. For instance, at the beginning of the movie, Lucas and his town friends are all crowded in the basement, drinking beer and playing cards. Their passionate embrace, laughter, and chanting all fuse together and emit a vigorous warmth, but at the same time indicates a somewhat barbaric force in their association. 
 
This rough companionship later turns into a repulsive force against Lucas after the incident of Klara, and viewers immediately sense the abrupt changes from warm cordiality to cold disdain through spiteful gestures and hushed voices of the townspeople. As people directly feel and perceive the changes together with the protagonist, they become immersed in the tragic account of Lucas from a respected citizen to an outcast, making it easier to sympathize with his devastating pain from false charges.
 
The most memorable part of the movie is the church scene, which masterfully depicts the brutal force of society through sounds. The town gathers to listen to a children’s chorus celebrating Christmas. Lucas also joins in order to prove his innocence, but is faced with crowds murmuring in offended voices. Unable to control himself, Lucas walks up to his once dearest friend and screams, “Look into my eyes!” The movie reveals how a community can easily subdue an individual who is outside its premises. The neglecting eyes of Lucas’ friends and the displeasing whispers overlap with the ringing voices of the choir, and these voices overpower Lucas, drowning his screams and the truth itself.
 
Jagten (2012) is not just a story of an individual. People can easily find Lucas in Korean society, only in different forms: the homosexuals, the disabled, and foreign laborers. The current society is obsessed with labeling people, distinguishing who is and who is not sharing common values. Just as how Lucas was falsely charged as a pedophile, the ones with different sexual orientation, body features, and cultural backgrounds are promptly classified as dirty, uneducated, and barbaric, and social negligence falls on them like a justifiable penalty.
 
A friend of Lucas says, “The world is full of evil—but if we hold on to each other, it goes away.” This is only a glossy portrayal of the Korean jeong society, of the people who are safely within its boundary. It is time people perceive the truth; a close-knit society sometimes abuses its power to conquer individuals, failing to notice that the community itself is making mistakes. Thus, while in the guise of hunting the so called “evil,” the society itself becomes vicious and destructive.
 
It is indeed frightening to demolish the walls and to look out beyond the premises of society. Yet, when all the standards and the labels are all gone, that is when people discover the essence from the uncertainty—that the richness of maturity comes from admitting disparity.
 
   
▲ 1. The church scene in the movie. Provided by realtuthrs.com.2. The photo of Lucas suffering from fake charges. Provided by static.rogicrebet.com
 
 

 

 
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