Hunting Scenes from Bavaria (German: Jagdszenen aus Niederbayern) is a 1969 West German drama film directed by Peter Fleischmann, based on the play of the same name by Martin Sperr and starring Sperr, Angela Winkler, Else Quecke, Michael Strixner, and Hanna Schygulla.
Set in a small village in Lower Bavaria, the film follows the struggles of a young man Abram (Sperr), who must deal with the issue of his sexuality and the negative reaction from his fellow villagers. He is not the only outsider, however, as also present are a foreign guest worker and the maidservant Hannelore (Winkler), who is unjustifiably regarded as the village harlot. Eventually, it all culminates in Abram stabbing Hannelore and the hysterical villagers attempting to hunt him down and kill him.
The film was chosen as West Germany's official submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1969 Academy Awards, but was ultimately not nominated.
Tropes from Bavaria:
- Ambiguously Bi: Abram is persecuted by both the villagers and society in general for being same-sex attracted, but also at some point was in a relationship with Hannelore, although whether or not he actually felt any attraction to her is a bit murky.
- Crapsaccharine World: Beneath its pastoral appearance, the town is a pretty unpleasant place to live, with its residents being hostile towards outsiders and anyone else not in line with the traditional ways.
- Downer Ending: Hannelore is killed while trying to prevent Abram from leaving the village, the villagers gang up on Abram and corner him in the nearby forest, and Abram is arrested and sent to prison as the villagers celebrate.
- False Rape Accusation: The local butcher catches Abram embracing Ernstl on the nearby Autobahn bridge, which leads to the villagers falsely accusing him of raping the disabled youth.
- From Bad to Worse: Once Abram is falsely accused of raping the disabled Ernstl, the villagers' resentment of him turns to outright hatred, and he is expelled from Maria's farm before finally deciding to leave the village entirely.
- Gayngst: Abram has every reason to be fearful given that homosexuality was still illegal in West Germany at the time and that he had previously served prison time for it. And even if that weren't the case, the homophobic villagers probably wouldn't accept his sexual orientation anyway.
- Genre Deconstruction: Of the Heimatfilm, a genre of films popular in German-speaking regions in the post-WW2 era celebrating small-town life and depicting such settlements as idyllic locations untouched by war or any other real-life drama. The film shows this kind of idyllic image to be merely a façade, with the town populated by backwards, intolerant people who look down on outsiders and anyone they regard as non-traditional.
- Get Back in the Closet: In-universe, Abram had previously spent time in prison for having an affair with another man, which at the time was illegal in West Germany under Paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code. Once the villagers learn of his past, he is labeled an outsider and effectively forced back into hiding, with his mother likewise being forced to distance herself from him so as to avoid the villagers' wrath.
- Gossipy Hens: The widow Maria, with whom Abrams lives on her farm, is the subject of village gossip because of her disabled son Ernstl and her relationship with her farmhand Volker.
- Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: The villagers regard their vigilante mob pursuit of Abram as a kind of "hunt," hence the film's title.
- Mama Bear: At the start of the film, Abram's mother Barbara is fiercely protective of her son's reputation as well as her own. However, later events force her to cut ties with him for their own safety.
- No Communities Were Harmed: The film was shot in the small village of Unholzing in Lower Bavaria, but the location in the film is never directly named and doesn't seem to be based on any specific community in the region.
- Pet Homosexual: Hannelore is the only person in the village who treats Abram with any sort of respect, albeit only because she hopes they will continue a previous relationship despite his clear lack of interest.
- Slut-Shaming: Hannelore, on no concrete evidence, is labeled by the others as the village harlot.
- Someone to Remember Him By: Hannelore becomes pregnant, and claims to the villagers that Abram is the father, making the already-resentful villagers hate him further. This eventually leads to a confrontation that ends with Abram fatally stabbing her in a fit of rage.
- Torches and Pitchforks: Towards the end of the film, the villagers form a vigilante mob and chase Abram into the nearby forest, where he is quickly surrounded and arrested for Hannelore's murder.
