Summary
The opening night film at the 50th International Film Festival Rotterdam is a solid revenge film with a socio-political twist, with Anders Thomas Jensen bringing punchy action and dark comedy in equal measure.
In the complex, intertwined but seemingly divergent paths of Mads Mikkelsen’s career, we have a year in which we get both Another Round and RIDERS OF JUSTICE (Retfærdighedens ryttere). Reuniting the award-winning actor with the equally prolific writer/director Anders Thomas Jensen (Men & Chicken), Mads goes back to his roots in full elder Neeson mode.
Here Mikkelsen plays Markus, a soldier who returns home from war when a train disaster claims the life of his wife. However, neither his daughter Mathilde (Pagten‘s Andrea Heick Gadeberg) nor eccentric mathematicians Otto (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) and Lennart (Lars Brygmann) believe it’s an accident.
From the unassuming opening to the shock of the train tragedy, it’s fair to say there’s more than meets the eye to this film. The initially measured pace of the screenplay, co-written by Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair, The Dark Tower), gives way to some more familiar thriller trappings, but you would never mistake this for high-octane actioner.
Underlying the thriller facade is are a group of characters trying to elicit meaning in a chaos-driven world. One looks for God in a wall full of post-its, while others rely on science. Relative newcomer Gadeberg is a stand-out in a who’s who of Denmark’s top actors, which also includes Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Roland Møller (Skyscraper).
Slickly shot by Kasper Tuxen (The Professor and the Madman), it captures the cool climes of the city while punctuating it with bursts of violence. As Markus and his team slowly plan their revenge, fuelled by some timely data-driven decision making, it’s contrasted with quieter family moments of people coming together to share their grief.
It all culminates in spray of action that one would expect from a modern thriller, especially one filled with men on the north side of 50. Of course, if none of that convinces you, I’ll just throw one last thing out there: Mads Mikkelsen in a Christmas sweater. You’re welcome.
RIDERS OF JUSTICE opens the 50th-anniversary edition of IFFR. The festival runs from 1 – 7 February 2021 on the IFFR.com platform. Check out the website for screening details.
2020 | Denmark | DIRECTOR: Anders Thomas Jensen | WRITER: Nikolaj Arcel, Anders Thomas Jensen | CAST: Mads Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Roland Møller | DISTRIBUTOR: International Film Festival Rotterdam| RUNNING TIME: 116 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 1 February 2021 (NL)
