The Salvation

Saw this on premiere-night in Denmark and left the cinema relieved and with a smile on my face. Director Kristian Levring delivers a very believable, dark and uncompromising western set in a very classic western atmosphere.

The story is straightforward and although it moves along slowly at times (fast paced at others), it's quite intense and is generally beautifully shot.

If you're going for a feel good movie, this is not it, but if you like classic westerns, you'll enjoy it.

Mads Mikkelsen and Mikael Persbrandt deliver solid performances as the danish brothers Jon and Peter who've emigrated to America after fighting the Germans in the danish/German war of 1864. But for me, Eva Green steals the show as the mute Madelaine (princess). She has a very mystical and powerful presence and leaves you wondering, wanting more.

All in all a very enjoyable picture that is a great testament to how far danish cinema has come. This is quite uncharacteristic for a typical danish movie, but Levring really pulls it off and I think any lover of westerns will find this a solid addition to the batch of quality westerns in the past 10 years (The Proposition, 3:10 to Yuma, True grit, Django Unchained etc.) It doesn't quite reach those levels, but it's close and it's enjoyable.

If you like traditional westerns you will enjoy this film.

These days you don't get to see American westerns very often, so is nice to see that genre is not dead thanks to productions like this one from Denmark or others like The Dark Valley (Das finstere Tal).

Mads Mikkelsen plays the main character with great professionalism, without excesses. Same thing with Eva Green, portraying a scarred mute woman that talks only with her eyes.

You have the good guy, the VERY bad guy, the town full of cowards, the tormented girl, the backstabbing character. All the things you expect to find in a good old western. If you add to that the good performances, my only advice is, see this movie.

Set in the Old West in 1871 we meet Jon (Mads Mikkelsen)and Peter (Mikael Persbrandt) both soldiers who fought in the war of 1864 in their old country. Here Jon has been waiting to be reunited with his wife and son after a seven year gap. Only as soon as they arrive they befall a terrible crime and the only way Jon is going to be able to re right the wrong is by fighting back.

Now to say any more could be a plot spoiler – needless to say this is a classic western of the revenge genre. It paints the bad guys really bad and the good guys flawed but essentially 'right'. There is ambiguity too and there are the townsfolk with their own agendas and greed and power stalking the prairie.

What makes this outstanding is the acting, the musical score, the make up and the fantastic direction. Director Kristian Levring is clearly a fan of John Ford and those of you who know your westerns will see a few shots framed a la 'The Searchers'. Still I see this as flattery and this is truly an excellent film that will only go to prove that as a genre the western is alive, kicking and doing really well – absolutely recommended

this is probably one of the best western in years. It's a dark and harrowing film, a la "the proposition" or "unforgiven". This movie is not for the squeamish: innocent people are killed without a thought, and the film does a good job portraying the lawlessness and "anything goes" ethos of the times. Mads Mikkelsen is excellent as a hardworking taciturn Danish immigrant who's spent years trying to make a living in this land of opportunity. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes when he brings his family to the country, and then the rest of the film is basically about survival and revenge. At 1.5 hours, the pacing is good, and there are no unnecessary scenes or fat bogging down the story. Action scenes are realistic and very well done, and there's some pretty good cinematography throughout. All in all, a very well crafted and entertaining Western!

By the Danish, and why not? Especially if it's done as well as this was/is. Mads Mikkelsen has proved himself worthy of leading roles even in (his not native tongue) English. But there is a bit of Danish thrown into the mix with this. But it's not the spoken language that will get your attention with this movie.

It's the framing, it's the "picture" language it speaks. This looks as down and dirty as Westerns come and it does a really good job throwing us into a situation Western fans know very well. So while the story itself is not new, we do get a very well made movie, that you should be able to enjoy a lot.