Northern Western with Mads Mikkelsen
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An unusual western is being released in Russia – the story of the conquest of the Jutland moorlands by a Holstein veteran and exotic potatoes, directed by the Stephen King film adaptation (the big studio failure “The Dark Tower”) and produced by Lars von Trier’s film company “Centropa”. The stern face of Mads Mikkelsen turns this not-so-great film by the burly Dane Nikolaj Arcel into a work of art.
Northern Europe, mid-18th century. Retired Holstein captain Ludwig Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen) returns to his native Denmark with the idea of a startup for King Frederick V, who is passionate about developing the deserted swamps and moorlands of uncomfortable Jutland. In exchange for a noble title, the bastard, servant and little else, the adventurer Kalen promises royal dignitaries to found a colony in no man’s land – to prepare soil unsuitable for plants for planting and to accept settlers. Officials are twirling their fingers at their temples, but since the adventure does not require any infusion of budget funds, they agree. They say, let the captain do something weird for his pension if he wants to.
Kalen, however, is not as simple as it may seem in the royal treasury of Copenhagen. He is not going to plant some cabbage or turnips on the scarce land, but innovative at that time unpretentious potatoes, the tubers of which were ordered all the way to Mecklenburg and are generally able to withstand the mournful Baltic summer. This seemingly economically flawless plan is hindered by only one circumstance in the person of the nouveau riche feudal lord Frederic de Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg) who lives next door. He is obviously jealous of the active retiree, who is able to persuade even a gang of tramps hiding in the neighborhood to work for him.
Bon vivant, an avid hunter and everyday sadist Baron de Schinkel from a family of upstarts, half a century ago in the role of Kalen was his father, so the local serf owner puts a spoke in the wheels of capitalism that is emerging before our eyes. He knows that his time is running out so quickly that even the baron’s own bride looks at Captain Cullen with excitement, in which there is clearly something beyond ordinary human sympathy.
“The Sword of the King” – here it is ritually worth noting that the Russian-language title of the film is a complete gag, having no relation either to the original “Bastard” or to the international distribution title “The Promised Land” – this is a movie that diligently runs along many paths at once and Fortunately, the reason for this seems to be the excessive Protestant thoroughness of the script – it achieves some success. Arcel could probably direct a series, there would be plenty of material: he is so careful to resolve all the conflicts and close all the character arcs (there are many endings, one more beautiful than the other).
On the one hand, “The King’s Sword” is a costume melodrama that modernizes historical conflicts, an adaptation of a fairly recent novel by Ida Jessen. And here we can remember that 10 years earlier, the same Arcel released “A Royal Affair”, the action of which took place under the next Danish monarch, the mad Christian VII, however, like “The Sword of the King”, it was focused on the hero of Mads Mikkelsen. On the other hand, the new film is also a real Western. Captain Cullen, with his Stoeros stubbornness, would give a head start to the classic heroes of Gary Cooper: potatoes are more important to him than people, in his romantic war for living space, he is ready to grab the throats of not only local landowners, but the state and society as a whole, and even God himself with his hierarchies. This is how potatoes do it, season after season with prolific persistence proving the superiority of the roots over the tops. The former grow in the most unsuitable soil, and the latter are poisonous.
The main character’s striking resemblance to this glorious root vegetable is by no means an accident, exaggerated by criticism, but the result of the conscious work of the film’s director and his cinematographer Rasmus Viedebak. He films his 18th century film with a clear eye on Kubrick’s “Barry Lyndon” (even the most brutal scenes are playfully courtly). However, when it comes to Mikkelsen’s Kalen, Viedeback is Old Testament reserved. A few close-ups are enough: a face carved as if from stone, an earthy look, rough hands, proudly closed lips – to clearly demonstrate the primordial chaos that the pampered landowner de Schinkel loves to rant about so much and about which the pampered landowner de Schinkel understands nothing. Here it is archaic – a naked man, pouring the blood of a single goat on the bare ground in an attempt to achieve at least some sign from higher powers. This blood, more reliably than any words, glues the structure of the film together – unlike the inhospitable land of Jutland, it is still quite loose.
In theaters from April 18
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