There are two staples of cinema that continue to grasp at the soul somehow, despite their more unsavoury qualities, and our our increasingly modern sensibilities, and in The Salvation they’re both exemplified to perfection. The savage revenge Western takes both of these well-trodden genres and delivers some of the most powerful movie action of 2015 and we’ll be very surprised if it doesn’t go on to be a cult classic in the years to come. For anyone that missed on the big screen, it’s definitely one to add to the list now that it’s out on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download.
A little like Dark City did for sci-fi, The Salvation is a new kind of Western that spins everything a little on its head, while still having its roots well and truly anchored in the brilliance of great work before it. Equally, there are also some parallels with the lean and direct approach taken in another recent revenge flick, John Wick, and while it doesn’t exactly have an intentionally outlandish setup, it does have a very distinct style to go alongside the uncompromisingly taught dialogue and story development.
The plot is brutal and strangely elegant following the initial grim atrocity that sparks Danish war-veteran settler, Jon, to fight back against the tyranny of local gang boss, Delarue. When his wife and son come to join him in his new life in the American mid-West after seven years apart, they find themselves in a dangerous situation on the stage coach back to Jon’s small prospect. Their two companions turn on them on route and Jon is thrown off, leaving his wife and son to the mercy of their attackers, and as you can probably guess it doesn’t end well for them. There’s plenty more to it than that, but that’s the setup and it’s ferocious from that point on.
In addition to a well wrought story, written by director Kristian Levring and his long standing pen pal, Anders Thomas Jensen, the film has some solid performances from the cast. It’s great to see Mads Mikkelsen (Charlie Countryman) back in a significant movie release following his epic Le Chiffre in Casino Royale and he makes for a well poised Western hero as he first tries to stay clear of trouble, only for it to find him and force his hand. He doesn’t say all that much, but he doesn’t need to and manages to convey a lot of the emotion without words.
It’s a film of great supporting performances, whether it’s Eva Green (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For) in her role as the mute and hard-edged widow of Delarue’s brother, one of the two men on the stage coach, or Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn Of Justice) as the despicable Delarue himself. Eric Cantona (Looking For Eric) puts in a decent turn as Delarue’s enforcer, The Corsican, Mikael Persbrandt (The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies) is strong and quiet as Jon’s brother, Peter, and Scottish actor, Douglas Henshall, brings a bit more conversational balance as town sheriff and priest.
The film comes together with a distinct style that at its best features some stunning cinematography techniques with excellent clarity, composition and symbolism, but at its worst comes across as being a little too affected. The lighting at night is too clear and illuminated to feel connected with the rest of the film, for example, and the over distribution of oil wells in the closing scenes hammers the point home all too firmly.
The gunfight action and fight scene choreography is superb throughout and it ties in very well with the strength of the music by Kasper Winding. It makes for a thoroughly enthralling delivery that approaches masterpiece proportions at times with intense scenes, hard-fire battles and near complete efficiency. Levring has done a very good job of taking such a well established genre and doing something new with it.
The Salvation DVD review: 4/5
