Because Mads Mikkelsen is a fine (in all senses of the word) actor, I have decided to see all his films, which is why I saw Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas. Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas is an adaptation of a novella based on a historic account of Hans Kohlhase, a merchant who sought revenge when he was unable to get justice in court against a Saxon nobleman who illegally seized his horses.
Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas approaches the story and the 1500s period in a natural, understated style. The only soundtrack is the sound of flies, and every scene is beautifully shot, but not in an over glorification of the period. As a viewer, you can feel the temperature and imagine the funk. Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas succeeds at comparing and contrasting the titular character with the nobleman. Kohlhaas displays excellence and beauty in every act and values the living for their innate worth. He reads the Bible in his tongue. He teaches his servant to read. His animals are lush and beautiful. He loves his (painfully skinny) wife and cares for his daughter. In contrast, the nobleman is casually cruel, but too cowardly to effectively back up his actions when challenged.
Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas shows how daily life can be emblematic of the breakdown of effective government, and if the rule of law only exists theoretically, but exploitation and corruption actually dominate, men of principle and honor will supplant it with a better one by force albeit reluctantly and as a last resort. Even though Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas depicts the titular character as a man of the book, the Bible, and he spends more time with representatives of his faith than the nobleman, the ultimate betrayal comes from those representatives as they use the tools of that faith to bolster a corrupt establishment instead of upholding the Biblical principles they heretofore shared with Kohlhaas. The nuns and priest do not show any sign of conflict, but appear to be completely certain that it is better to help the unrighteous and openly cowardly establishment than the honorable faithful.
Even though Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas has more in common thematically with John Wick than our idea of the founding fathers as men of letters, the action is muted and realistic. There is a huge chunk of Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas where the titular character is not shown as the battle unfolds. When he reappears, he is more concerned with honor than vengeance when he punishes one of his fighters for stealing from peasants. I thought that Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas was going to explore that fracture within the ranks, but it is just dropped and accepted. Kohlhaas is a reluctant fighter, which is his weakness. His unfounded faith in the system and its rulers and his hesitation to follow through to the natural conclusion of his uprising is his downfall. Men of their word often forget that other men and women are not like them and should not be relied upon to act as promised when they never have before.
Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas is far from a perfect movie. I still have no idea who was the guy that kept taking care of the daughter. Sometimes the subtitles would just not appear while the characters were talking so I had no idea what was going on. The daughter was a little strange, and I am not sure why. The Wailing and Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas seem to think it is a normal thing for daughters to be cavalier about her parents having sex and just appear in the middle of it. I don’t get it. When he finally gets compensation for everything, including his own death, but not his wife, what is happening? Was that normal? I loved the scene when Mads was having his outdoor bath, and a woman is just blatantly checking him out. That scene was the most realistic scene in the movie.
I would recommend Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas, but would warn prospective viewers that the pacing is deliberate, and it is more meditative than action so don’t let the talk of an uprising in the title fool you. The uprising in Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas starts long before the nobleman acts badly. Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas explains that the uprising exists in living life with respect towards others.