La chasse

"Jakten" aka "The Hunters" (1959) has been voted by Norwegian film experts as the best film ever made in that country; I have not seen nearly enough Norwegian films to agree or disagree with such a claim, but it IS a very good movie in any case. The topic - a love triangle between a husband, a wife, and their best friend - is not strikingly original, but the writer-director Erik Løchen, who somehow only made two feature-length films in his career, uses revolutionary (especially for its time), unusual techniques, like the characters not only sharing their thoughts with the audience but also their thoughts interrupting each other's (!), as well as them often speaking directly to the camera. He also breaks the time-space continuum, making the present and the past feel as one. He shows himself to be a master of the medium. The film is ominous and foreboding, but it can be lyrical or even funny as well; it also boasts beautifully stark black & white cinematography, and is very well-acted. Only the very ending, although certainly unexpected, may disappoint some viewers. *** out of 4.