The movie Mads Mikkelsen calls an absolute masterpiece: “It’s very hard to watch”
Mainstream audiences have been conditioned to believe that Mads Mikkelsen does almost nothing but play charismatically nefarious characters in major blockbusters, and while it’s a side-line that’s kept him firmly in-demand, there are plenty more strings to his bow.
Whether he’s antagonising James Bond in Casino Royale, feasting on human flesh in Hannibal, replacing Johnny Depp as the villainous Grindelwald in Fantastic Beats: The Secrets of Dumbledore, causing chaos as the sorcerer Kaecilius in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Doctor Strange, or trying to rewrite the course of history in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the Danish star is among Hollywood’s go-to baddies.
Those tend to be the projects that pay the most, but Mikkelsen’s work in his native country has showcased his versatility across drama, comedy, period pieces, and more, although he’s got his own theory as to why he’s become one of the first names on any wish-list any time a big budget American movie needs a sinister figure with charisma to spare.
“It’s quite simple. It’s the funny accent. It’s as simple as that,” he once mused before explaining why he doesn’t face similar issues on home soil. “In Denmark, we don’t divide it into bad guys and good guys. We tend to look at more complex characters.” It sounds scathing, but it can’t be said he hasn’t hit the nail on the head.
Then again, considering Mikkelsen named one of the most haunting, harrowing, unflinching, and visceral films ever made that depicts the atrocities of war in a fashion that blends realism with externalism as one of his all-time favourites, perhaps he’s only got himself to blame for becoming synonymous with big screen villainy.
Elem Klimov’s 1985 anti-war epic Come and See takes place during Nazi Germany’s occupation of Belarus, with Aleksey Kravchenko’s Florya joining the resistance against his family’s wishes. When he returns, his life and home are lying in tatters both figuratively and literally, with the battle between despair and hope raging just as fiercely as the conflict that overshadows the story.
Even Mikkelsen concedes it’s something “I won’t watch too many more times in my life” due to its raw power, but that didn’t prevent him from declaring Come and See to be “an absolute masterpiece” to A.Frame. “It’s very hard to watch, and it’s not aiming to be,” the actor explained. “There’s just something about the way they made it. It’s not to shock us, but it does horrify you. It’s a fantastic film.”
Alex Garland thinks everyone should see it at least once, but that might be enough if not even the people who hold it among their personal favourites can stomach the prospect of repeat viewings, such is the enthralling horror at the heart of Kilmov’s staggering tale.
