Between winning best actor at Cannes in 2012 for “The Hunt” and becoming America’s favorite psychiatrist/cannibal in “Hannibal,” Mads Mikkelsen is now at the point where whatever he does, it will likely be interesting and potentially awesome. And certainly, our hopes were raised for “Michael Kohlhaas” when we saw it last spring on the Croisette. But even the greats sometimes stumble.
Renamed, rather dramatically, as “Age of Uprising: The Legend Of Michael Kohlhaas,” the movie hits U.K. theaters today and a trailer has arrived to give you a sneak peek, though you’ll have to endure an almost hilariously over the top voiceover. Directed by Arnaud des Pallieres and featuring a pretty decent supporting cast with Denis Lavant, Bruno Ganz, David Kross and Sergi Lopez, the story centers on a 16th century horse dealer who rebels against the establishment when two of his animals are illegally confiscated.
And unfortunately, the movie is about as exciting as that sounds with our own Jessica Kiang noting that the end result “wastefully uses its strong story, great cast and properly damp, moodily medieval photography” in a tale that gets “lost in the translation” and is “anti-dramatic.” Bummer.
“Age of Uprising: The Legend Of Michael Kohlhaas” opens today in the U.K. and later this year in the U.S. via Music Box Films. [The Film Stage]
