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Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas

Released May 30, 2014 2h 2m Drama History List
47% Tomatometer 32 Reviews 39% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
In 16th-century France, a horse trader (Mads Mikkelsen) raises a peasant army and goes to war to exact vengeance on an unjust lord.
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Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas

Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas

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Critics Consensus

Age of the Uprising is well-acted and skillfully composed; unfortunately, it crawls along too slowly to take advantage of its finer qualities.

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Critics Reviews

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Larushka Ivan-Zadeh metro.co.uk Arnaud des Pallières's dreary French costume drama might have been called Robin Hood And His Very Un-Merry Men. Rated: 2/5 Sep 6, 2017 Full Review Ben Sachs Chicago Reader The film is almost monotonously somber, though not in a bad way -- when it erupts into violence or settles briefly into moments of intimacy, the shift in tone can be surprising, even invigorating. Jun 5, 2014 Full Review Mike D'Angelo AV Club It can be quite powerful on the rare occasions when it allows raw emotion to make its way to the surface. Rated: B- Jun 5, 2014 Full Review Daniel Green CineVue There's little to distract one from this drab literary adaptation's ponderous pace and washed out palette - even the great Dane himself. Rated: 2/5 Mar 7, 2019 Full Review Alistair Harkness Scotsman The film is not without merit, although it remains too much of a slow-burn to really catch fire as the gritty, medieval Euro western its set up promises. Rated: 3/5 Feb 2, 2018 Full Review Jason Solomons The Mail on Sunday (UK) We might laugh, but Mikkelsen is so moody and magnificent we take him very seriously. That's part of the problem. Mikkelsen is too cool, too brooding and we never get behind his icy mask. Rated: 3/5 Oct 31, 2017 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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R 9 It's a good film, even though it could've been done far greater. This does make for a quite pleasant two hours, it's a simple story and portrayed it quite an understated and straightforward way. While that is a positive, it is actually also a negative in a weird sorta way. As much as I enjoyed it, I still wanted much more from it; and I feel like it had greater in its locker. Mads Mikkelsen as Michael Kohlhaas (apparently loosely based on real life Hans Kohlhase) is great casting and Mikkelsen puts in a performance of quality, though I personally believe a more commanding showing would've elevated the movie higher... but that's minor, as less in fairness still would work either way. The support cast are solid. Two other parts that could've made this 2013 release stronger are the dialogue and the music. For the former, none of the conversations or speeches struck a memorable cord. For the latter, I wanted a proper movie score throughout as I think it would've suited things onscreen perfectly; thankfully, we do get a great piece of music at the end at least. All in all, 'Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas' could've went up a few gears but what's there is still a good watch in my opinion. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/16/23 Full Review Joe A Boring, incredibly boring. For a movie about an "uprising" it provides zero excitement and honestly doesn't provide any details about this seemingly historic event Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 11/26/22 Full Review Audience Member 3stars for Mads 1. 5for the image Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Late R If you ever wondered whether it would be possible to make what is essentially a revenge story tedious, slow and boring to watch, then ‘Age of Uprising: Michael Kohlhaas' is your answer. The pacing is strange for such a story and the sparse dialogue stands out, and not in a good way. Yes, it's nicely filmed making use of the beautiful surroundings and locations, and the cast is great with the always superb Mads Mikkelsen doing his best to offer some point of interest which results in a few engaging scenes, but even he can only do so much. In short, it's neither fun nor entertaining and I found myself often checking my watch which I never take as a good sign. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/17/20 Full Review Audience Member I watched it only because Mads Mikkelsen is in it. I just needed to get out of my head the Mikkelsen Hannibal persona, since I didn't like the series at all but love Mikkelsen. I agree with all those who found the movie too slow. A half hour could have been excised in the movie's interest. I was most annoyed by the bad lighting and filming that was too close, showing irrelevant fragments , as if tearing apart and dissecting a beautiful painting. At times the camera moved so erratically that it seemed to be a home movie. Thankfully, Mads Mikkelsen made it all worthwhile. He's a major actor of great charisma and sensitivity. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie is impressive. This is a novel adaptation, the book dating from the XIX century. I think it has to be seen by those who want to understand the idea of revenge or who simply would like to do law. Because the movie explaining what justice is worth. Sorry I'm french so my English is not amazing. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas

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Cast & Crew

Walking With the Enemy 44% 59% Walking With the Enemy Diplomacy 94% 80% Diplomacy The Cut 58% 67% The Cut TRAILER for The Cut The Retrieval 93% 73% The Retrieval Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis In 16th-century France, a horse trader (Mads Mikkelsen) raises a peasant army and goes to war to exact vengeance on an unjust lord.
Director
Arnaud des Pallières
Producer
Serge Lalou
Screenwriter
Christelle Berthevas, Arnaud des Pallières, Heinrich von Kleist
Distributor
Music Box Films
Production Co
K'Ien Productions, Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, Les Films d'ici, arte France Cinéma, Hérodiade, Looks Filmproduktionen, ZDF Arte
Genre
Drama, History
Original Language
French (France)
Release Date (Theaters)
May 30, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 23, 2015
Runtime
2h 2m
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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