Danish action comedy Riders of Justice marks the fifth collaboration between Mads Mikkelsen and filmmaker Anders Thomas Jensen (“Men and Chicken”).
What is it about ?
A deployed soldier, Markus, returns home to Denmark after his wife dies in a train accident. He has to take care of their teenage daughter, Mathilde. Soon, Markus discovers that the train derailment that claimed the life of his wife may not have been an unfortunate accident …
Riders of Justice directed by Anders Thomas Jensen with Mads Mikkelsen – Broadcast on myCANAL
HUMOR AS A RIDING AGAINST HORROR
At first glance, Riders of Justice is nothing but an umpteenth vigilante, this sub-genre of the action film popularity in the 70s by the series of Justice in the City with Charles Bronson. However, the fifth collaboration of filmmaker Anders Thomas Jensen (Men and Chicken) with Mads Mikkelsen offers us a film more surprising than it seems!
Because Riders of Justice is not just an action movie. The feature film is indeed full of puzzling comic moments, which disarm the dramatic situations facing the main character.
Mads Mikkelsen’s performance – impeccable as always – is thus counterbalanced by those of his playing partners who form the team of broken arms with whom the protagonist decides to partner.
“When something bad happens and our daily life grows darker, humor is, at least for me, a form of survival. When you tell this kind of story, its presence is essential” said Anders Thomas Jensen in an interview with Collider.
Known to the general public for his black comedies The Green Butchers and Men & Chicken, the Danish filmmaker is indeed a past master in the art of combining dramatic scenes with moments of absurd comedy.
In the same interview, Mads Mikkelsen sums up the collaboration with one of her favorite filmmakers as some form of makeover: “We shot five films together. (…)
The enthusiasm and the need for innovation that drives us to call each other in the middle of the night to discuss is still present. I tend to feel younger when I shoot with Anders Tomas and then feel older once the shoot ends. “.
The film Riders of Justice can be discovered now exclusively on myCANAL.
