Anders Thomas Jensen

The fascinating ‘Men & Chicken’ will make you laugh and cringe in equal measure

Westerns have never recovered from the oversaturation of the genre that killed off viewer interest decades ago, but every now and then a gem pops up. Recent successes like The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, 2007’s 3:10 to Yuma and the Coen brothers adaptation of True Grit all did well because they tweaked the genre slightly, but director Kristian Levring goes with an old school approach. A faithful recreation of those revenge Westerns made so popular in the 1970s, The Salvation envelopes many elements of previous Clint Eastwood classics and wraps it into a tidy package.

Oscar-winning Danish director Susanne Bier’s latest film is an emotionally-charged thriller, centered on a successful police officer who has recently started a family. Andreas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his wife Anna (Maria Bonnevie) are coming to terms with their new lives as parents, struggling to adapt to their baby’s challenging sleeping patterns and find time to spend alone together. However, they are devoted parents who are raising their baby in idyllic circumstances, with absolute financial security and a stunning lakeside home.