The Modern Danish Cinema Thread: Mads Mikkelsen, Refn, Etc.

[Alison Jane Girl Boss Jane Find all posts View Profile Close Alison Jane]

He has no lines but he was the lead in Nicolas Wending Refn's Valhalla Rising. GREAT Viking/Art House horror film.

Ordered!

[CrumpsBrother Member Find all posts View Profile Close CrumpsBrother]

If you ever get the chance to see Men & Chicken, do it! Turns out Mads is as adept at comedy as drama. I knew nothing about it going in, other than Mads was in it, and it turned out to be brilliantly, subversively hilarious!

[Randy G Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Randy G]

Vahalla Rising is awesome, as if Werner Herzog directed a Conan film. After the Wedding, already mentioned by the Swede, is a very good Sirk-like melodrama too.

[Alison Jane Girl Boss Jane Find all posts View Profile Close Alison Jane]

If you ever get the chance to see Men & Chicken, do it! Turns out Mads is as adept at comedy as drama. I knew nothing about it going in, other than Mads was in it, and it turned out to be brilliantly, subversively hilarious!

Amazon lists only a German release with German subtitles. Do you know if it was released on DVD anywhere with English subtitles. I see it was shown at a Toronto film festival in 2015. Seems they wouldn't be showing it in German...

[CrumpsBrother Member Find all posts View Profile Close CrumpsBrother]

I saw it at Fantastic Fest. Drafthouse Films has the US rights but it doesn't look like they've released it yet. Must be coming this year.

[Alison Jane Girl Boss Jane Find all posts View Profile Close Alison Jane]

Watched The Hunt last night. Mads was fantastic in the role though I did have some problems with the storyline. Regardless, I was completely enthralled throughout and even stayed up past my bedtime to finish it (which doesn't happen often!) Good stuff... I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the films of his I got!

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

The Salvation was.... okay. Not amazing, but ok. The good? Pretty much all of the acting. Mads was good in it but so too was Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Eva Green in her silent role. Everyone in front of the camera was pretty convincing and while the idea of Danish cowboys struck me as a bit odd, they pulled it off. I also thought that the story, if pretty much completely predictable, was well paced and gritty enough to work.

The bad? The fucking CGI and the green screen work. It was terrible. I really disliked the entire look of this movie, and that kind of bugged me because the idea of the town quickly becoming little more than a collection of burnt out husks in place of buildings was a cool one and an idea that SHOULD have made for an awesome looking film. The digital work was just not at all convincing though, and that really took me out of the movie. I also felt that the high contrast cinematography was way over used.

Worth seeing once, but I can't see myself going back to this one. Which is a shame, as it had a lot of potential (and did at least partially live up to it).

[Andrew Monroe Pallid Hands Find all posts View Profile Close Andrew Monroe]

I really liked THE SALVATION. Yes, the story is certainly nothing new but it was done with enough style and violence to make it work, at least for me. I thought Eva Green was terrific, she pretty much stole the film. Morgan was good too though. I honestly didn't mind the stuff you mention (CGI/green screen), in fact I didn't really notice it.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

It stood out like a sore thumb for me and once I noticed it I couldn't un-notice it, it was everywhere!

I didn't really think Mads worked in the role at first, but both he and Mikael Persbrandt won me over before it was over and done with.

And it was cool seeing Mads and Eva together again after Casino Royale.

[Andrew Monroe Pallid Hands Find all posts View Profile Close Andrew Monroe]

Sorry you wasted your time!

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Nah, time wasn't wasted. Like I said, I liked the story and the acting quite a bit and I thought it was worth seeing once. Just let down by the visuals. It happens! I'm getting old and this new fangled technology gets in the way of my movies.

GET OFF MY LAWN! ;)

[Alison Jane Girl Boss Jane Find all posts View Profile Close Alison Jane]

The Salvation was decent. I agree with a lot of what Ian said about the CGI. It wasn't even used just for landscapes but pieces of "scenery" that I think could easily have been built for a much better effect. It wasn't nearly as violent as I expected it to be with the R!S!P! violence seal of approval. My mom would've thought it was crazy violent, sure. Some of the kills were original, but were ruined by the use of CGI. It had a good story and I think Mads is great in general. The supporting actors made it enjoyable as well.

Valhalla Rising and After the Wedding showed up today in the mail!

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

PUSHER is awesome. Love it.

[Alison Jane Girl Boss Jane Find all posts View Profile Close Alison Jane]

Yep, looking forward to seeing those. Luckily we had them already!

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

There was one kill in The Salvation that really freaked me out. I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it (and it is worth seeing, even if I am ragging on the CGI) but it looked really, really painful. I also appreciated some of the subtle nods to older westerns. The opening reminded me of Once Upon A Time In The West without screaming at you HEY LOOK, DOESN'T THIS REMIND YOU OF ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST?

I think the director has a lot of skill and would love to see him do another western, but with a bigger budget, thus eliminating the need for the green screen/cgi stuff that bugged me. The pacing was good and even if the story was derivitive, it held my attention. I liked that it had a bit of a deliberate, slow burn thing going on too.