The Salvation (2014) Reviews

• entertaining bleak and dark Western

  HotlineSF2015-03-13

  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!

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• Smørrebrød-western.

  rubenm2014-09-09

  On the one hand, 'The Salvation' is a classic western. Good citizens versus evil villains. A steam train. A stage coach. Horses. Lots of shootouts. Barren desert landscapes. A dusty frontier town. Name a western cliché, and it's there. Except Indians. They're only talked about in this film. On the other hand, this is also a western with original, non-classic elements in it. Lots of languages. Parts are spoken in Danish, but you can also hear Spanish and Italian from time to time. Plus: a very strong female character, who radiates power although she is mute. Thirdly: the South-African locations. They're not very prominent, because they look very much like the American West. But when you know it, you can't help but think about it. The film tells the story of a Danish immigrant, who kills two men who raped and murdered his wife. One of them is the brother of a local outlaw, who terrorizes the town until the culprit is found. But the Dane, an ex-soldier, is not easy to capture and confronts the outlaw. Overall, this film seems to be very much inspired by the Sergio Leone westerns. The visual style is superb, and director Levring uses every trick in the book. Aereal shots, slow motion, close-ups: it's all there. I was amazed by the colours in some scenes - it looked as if they were heavily digitally enhanced. The result is astonishing. And just when you think you've seen it all, Levring surprises with a beautiful and, in a way, revealing end shot. Sergio Leone created the spaghetti-western. Maybe the time has come now for the smørrebrød-western.

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• Intense and unforgiving

  nphilip212014-05-23

  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.

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• Straight-up western, old but new

  thebackofmyhouse2014-11-23

  A straight up western starring Mads Mikkelsen, Eva Green, Jeffery Dean Morgan, and even Eric Cantona. Danish production, shot in South Africa, it looked convincingly American west. It's very old school in its story, good guy vs bad guy, revenge, gun fights, the whole nine yards. And it's a pretty fine movie too. Danish guy waits for his wife and son to arrive in America to start new lives, but bad guys are going to spoil their plan. There's no way he's going to let them bad guys go, after toiling for 7 years to start a new life only to see it destroyed as soon as his family arrives. And did I mention he fought wars in the Danish army before he moved to America? Oh yeah, this Dane know how to shoot straight too. You really do get the feeling that this guy wants no trouble and just wants to get on with his life, but it's trouble that comes looking for him. A lot of new westerns tend to be "different" and avoid the straight up good vs bad revenge trope because it's been done to death during the genre's heyday. But I think it's a good time revisit that trope with today's new talent and technology. The story may be cliché, but everything else feels fresh. The best western I've watched in a long time.

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• Old School western

  kosmasp2015-06-04

  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.

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