The true heir to Max Von Sydow?: Mads Mikkelsen in The Promised Land
HENRIKOHSTEN/ZENTROPA
THE PROMISED LAND In his ability to span the realms of big-budget franchise farragos –weeping terror financier Le Chiffre in Casino Royale (2006), glam rock sorcerer Kaecilius in Dr Strange (2016), Death Starchitect Galen Erso in Rogue One (2016) – and austere Danish psychological thrillers like The Hunt, Mads Mikkelsen may be the true heir to Max Von Sydow. “I don’t believe in God,” he declared matter-of-factly, back in his first Bond venture, “I believe in areasonable rate of return.”
As rewarding as playing dandified Nazis in the latest Indiana Jones sequel must be for his bank balance, it rarely gives Mads the actor much to work with. So it’s arelief to find him front and centre of The Promised Land, raring to sink those delectable eye-teeth into the role of Captain Ludvig Kahlen, aretired Danish military officer, determined to squander his life savings into ahare-brained scheme to cultivate potatoes in the blasted heaths of 18th-century Denmark.