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The Hunting Ground is a startling documentary and a visceral confrontation with the paradox of higher education. It builds on the critique and methods of last year’s inferior Ivory Tower, which was as disturbing as it was flawed (significantly, in both cases). The enduring strength to Hunting Ground, however, is less rooted in its informational backbone -- intense and well-researched as it may be -- and more in its depth of feeling and empathy. In this account of the sexual assault epidemic that remains intrinsic to far too many American college campuses, victims and activists come to life with heartbreaking clarity.
The film is directed by Kirby Dick, and is framed around the ongoing efforts of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill students Annie E. Clark and Andrea Pino. Both Clark and Pino were sexually assaulted while on-campus, and struggled to re-integrate into the community after being attacked. They found activism, and being a source of support for other victims, as a way to come back from their own trauma. As Dick investigates the way collegiate athletics, administrative red tape and the question of “legitimacy” all jeopardize the acknowledgment and punishment of on-campus assault, we follow Clark and Pino listen to other people’s stories and begin to notice a trend in the way administrators and counselors actively undermine activists’ efforts. Yes, to make the college look good, and to avoid the suspension of star football players, and to make sure the money keeps flowing in, colleges actively suppress the voices of the victimized.
The conveyance of this idea is extremely effective. As the scope of the problem magnifies, just in terms of numbers and second-hand evidence, the stories and struggles of women like Clark and Pino mount. Unlike a far more-jumbled Ivory Tower, The Hunting Ground sets out a clear path, with several self-contained stories told within a progressing narrative (I'd rather not get too specific, seeing as the film's revelations are so directly connected to the viewing experience). In effect, the film -- perhaps inadvertently -- highlights a much larger and more troublingly-systemic problem in higher education. If the demands of money and the popularity of college sports are influential enough to derail the efforts of rape and assault victims to find justice, a horrifying underlying narrative emerges, ripe for extraction, about the state of higher education in America. And it's everywhere, from state institutions like UNC to Ivys like Harvard to liberal arts colleges like Swarthmore.
The movie hits its beats with an excellent sense of pace, keeping the focus on the victims and on the shocking, pervasive injustices they continue to face. The work of Mr. Dick is extremely personal and thus affecting, even as what these students have to say points to broader, even cataclysmic issues. It’s a testament to his structuring that even as these stories come in harder and faster, the documentary never feels repetitive, or as if it’s wallowing. Rather, solutions are presented. Meaning and fulfillment is achieved by activists. And the problems identified only build in severity. There’s depth to the cinematic evocation here, in the method in which issues are raised and solutions are presented. It’s made clear that this matters without any overwrought underlining.
We’re in an age where documentaries seem to be thriving in form and flexibility, from the work of Joshua Oppenheimer to HBO’s recent phenomenon The Jinx. And as something like Citizenfour can prove, documentary film can touch a nerve and really galvanize action and conversation. The Hunting Ground isn’t as cinematically-rigorous, nor does it opt for a more controversial approach. It is, simply, an account of a serious problem that demands recognition. But as a compelling, informative and moving watch in its own right, The Hunting Ground proves that docs need not be flashy to be effective.
Grade: A-