Director: Kristian Levring.
Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Eva Green, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Mikael Persbrandt, Eric Cantona, Douglas Henshall, Jonathan Pryce.
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 92 minutes
Synopsis: After the murder of his wife and child, Jon (Mikkelsen) enacts revenge, only to find the brother and widow of his family’s murderer now too want their revenge.
It is both fascinating and liberating to see the western genre adopted by countries all around the world. Spaghetti westerns were always around, but in the last decade we’ve seen efforts from Korea, Japan, and now Denmark. Whether set far from the American frontier, or right in the middle of it (as this effort is), each film manages to capture something about humanity starting a fresh in a promised but unforgiving land. THE SALVATION certainly recreates what is great about westerns, while also adding in a quiet and reserved Scandinavian nature.
The film starts very bleakly, and gets darker from there. Mikkelsen is on expert form as a skilled Danish soldier just looking to start a fresh. Fate has other ideas though, and he soon finds himself dragged back into a world of guns and violence. One thing THE SALVATION does incredibly well, is show the neverending cyclical nature of violence. At one point Mikkelsen is the hero for seeking his vengeance, and then suddenly Dean Morgan shows us an uglier side. As the film’s true villain, Dean Morgan is despicable in all the right ways. His ultimatum to the town that fails to deliver his brother’s killers has a very terrifying climax, with Dean Morgan forever keeping his cool in a spine tingling fashion.
Despite conforming to a number of tropes, the film has a script co-written by Anders Thomas Jensen, who has already amazed this year with A SECOND CHANCE. Along with director Levring, the film truly feels like two Danish movie characters ending up in a classic Hollywood western. Immigration is a hot topic across the globe, so to see a land built on immigrants quickly turn against them is hypocritical in a very lyrical way. Language is surprisingly not an issue though, with the international language of violence being something that all characters speak. Whether it’s the French henchman played by Eric Cantona, or the entirely mute Eva Green, put a gun in any character’s hand and suddenly everybody understands.
The tight script also allows for all sorts of modern themes to be addressed. A corrupt mayor is buying up the land at a fraction of the cost, law enforcement officers are just a front, and big businesses are behind the real decisions made. These never come across as hamfisted or forced, and are perhaps sadly just an echo of how the world truly is. If such parallels aren’t your bag, rest assured that the action is both immersive and rewarding. Tales of revenge are a dime a dozen these days, but they still ring true if fuelled by basic desires while interlaced with heart and soul, which THE SALVATION certainly manages to do.
THE SALVATION joins a long line of traditional yet relevant westerns of recent years. Beautifully recreating American life using the barren landscapes of certain parts of South Africa, you’ll be treated to brilliant costumes, detailed sets, dialogue with both humour and resonance, and epic set pieces that rank high with some of the year’s best action. THE SALVATION represents the best of both the revenge and western genres. With a distinct Danish flavour, an extra sense of brooding tragedy resonates throughout as it reaches a fantastic and bloody climax. Strong performances and memorable sequences fill out this darkly enjoyable film.
[usr=4]THE SALVATION is released on 17th April.
