I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
There’s clichés in them thar hills. A motherlode, even. Danish filmmaker Kristian Levring’s (The Intended) Western is so unabashedly crammed with stereotypes and contrivances that it’s hard to see how anyone involved kept a straight face while shooting. (The character who is both preacher and sheriff is a particular unintended hoot.) The Salvation is nearly Blazing Saddles without the jokes: it’s all genre conventions with none of the fun, just your inescapable expectations confirmed around every sun-blighted corner. It’s 1870, and cartoon villain Delarue (Jeffrey Dean Morgan: They Came Together) is running a protection racket in a small town somewhere out in the dusty West. (The film was shot in South Africa, and looks nicely sandblasted.) Except Delarue is actually up to something else: he’s working for a mysterious nefarious company that is buying up land for some unknown reason. Because of course they are. You will guess instantly the reason for the landgrab, though of course it’s entirely beside the point. The point is all about how a man picks his battles, and what’s honor and what’s cowardice anyway? How should a man feel when his wife and son are murdered (after his wife is raped, of course) by Delarue’s henchmen? Jon (Mads Mikkelsen: The Hunt), a former soldier in Denmark’s war with Germany, had no intention of going up against Delarue, but Jon didn’t know it was Delarue’s henchmen he killed for their crime. So hooray! The town has a savior. If only accidentally. I love Mikkelsen and I love Eva Green (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For) even more — she plays Delarue’s partner in crime — but even my fangirl adoration could not make this anything other than pure tedium for me.
first viewed during the 58th BFI London Film Festival
See also my #WhereAreTheWomen rating of The Salvation for its representation of girls and women.
It’s a thing one sees from time to time – someone from a country without a huge filmmaking tradition makes something so blatantly genre-imitative that even Hollywood wouldn’t fund it. But I wouldn’t have put Denmark in that class.
The really weird thing is, this was cowritten by the guy who wrote the amazing and genre-busting A Second Chance, and I see absolutely no hint of that here.
V good western to break the drought. Good versus evil. Evil dies. Only a feminist would criticise it. (And no donation for such a mean spirited cynical review.)
Oh noes! I’ll get right on changing everything about how I see movies and write about them so that you’ll make a donation.
This is very good film. Sure, it uses all the familiar mechanisms of the western movie subgenre. Excellent direction, some really well shot scenes, top notch acting. Mikkelson (The Pusher trilogy), is great as usual. The guy who plays his brother is even better – The scene where he goads the jailer is top notch acting, The facial tics are genius.
It’s a tradtional Western story. Good V Evil. I’m a fan of the genre.I enjoyed it.
Plus I’m a fan of Mads, I think he’s a wonderful actor. He reminds of Charles Bronson, but with Viking DNA. Honestly I think Danish directors should make more Westerns, subtitles n all.