The Zurich Film Festival, which runs Sept. 28 – Oct. 8, will honor the Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen with its Golden Eye award in recognition of his “successful career and versatility,” the Swiss event said Monday.
Mikkelsen will accept the award on Oct. 6, and will present his latest film, “The Promised Land,” which had its world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival this month. Nikolaj Arcel’s film was described by Variety critic Guy Lodge as a “lavishly upholstered historical romp,” and “a Danish Western, built on black-and-white moral binaries and a yee-haw sense of intrepid adventure.”
Lodge wrote: “Notionally rooted in historical fact, but embellished with storybook romance and flouncing cartoon villainy, this roundly enjoyable Venice competition entry finally owes all its residual gravitas (and at least half its considerable handsomeness) to the expressive woodcut visage of one Mads Mikkelsen.”
Mikkelsen will also take part in a ZFF Masters discussion at the Zurich Film Festival, in which he will talk about his career.
The festival described Mikkelsen as “one of the most popular and versatile actors in contemporary cinema.” Among the roles it underscored were Danish films such as Susanne Bier’s Oscar nominated “After the Wedding,” Nikolaj Arcel’s Oscar nominated “A Royal Affair,” Thomas Vinterberg’s “The Hunt,” for which Mikkelsen won the best actor award at Cannes, and Vinterberg’s “Another Round,” which won an Oscar.
It also referenced his parts in Hollywood movies such as “King Arthur,” “Casino Royale,” “Clash of the Titans,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Doctor Strange,” “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” and “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” as well as Bryan Fuller’s TV series “Hannibal.”
“Mads Mikkelsen is a very charismatic actor who always completely immerses himself in his characters and captivates the audience with his looks and physical performance,” Christian Jungen, Zurich’s artistic director, said. “He radiates strength and sometimes vulnerability at the same time, and, as a leading actor, is able to carry films from A to Z, as he does in his latest work ‘The Promised Land.’”
