A lot of good movies despite being a massive success in their own region do not get a nomination for an Oscar Award every year and this is quite a common practice. However, Nikolaj Arcel’s Danish drama movie, The Promised Land starring Mads Mikkelsen which gathered a lot of attention throughout last year was almost sure to be included in the Oscars nomination for the best international feature did not end up making the list and it came as a huge surprise to the fans.
Nikolaj Arcel talks about how working in Europe is different from working in Hollywood
Nikolaj Arcel has been a successful director and mostly directed or written Danish films throughout his career spanning over 2 decades. As Arcel has also worked on Hollywood projects like The Dark Tower in the past, in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter he was asked about the difference between working in Europe and working in Hollywood and the director revealed that working on Danish films is a lot less pressure and a lot more freedom than working on Hollywood movies. He said,
“In Denmark, for better or worse, it’s your movie — nobody really interferes until you’re done and it’s over. And then if you fail, it’s on your terms. And if you succeed, it’s on your terms. It’s very different. The U.S. is more … “corporate” is probably the right word. A lot more people with a lot more voices.”
Nikolaj Arcel further added that he had fun directing The Promised Land as there is less pressure to win awards or make a movie a huge blockbuster working in Denmark.
Mads Mikkelsen was very adamant about his character’s personality in The Promised Land
Nikolaj Arcel who has worked with Mads Mikkelsen in the past as well was asked about how the actor’s character was different in a way from the roles he is used to portraying in European films. The interviewer asked Arcel that in The Promised Land, Mikkelsen played a combination of a ruthless and vulnerable character unlike his usual characters which are either ruthless or vulnerable but not both.
Nikolaj Arcel revealed that it was Mads Mikkelsen himself that made the call that his character should be a bit more ruthless than what was described in the script. Arcel said,
“Mads really helped me with this. Mads is a brave actor. And every time he and Thomas and I sat down in a room together, it was Mads, especially, who was very adamant that we create a character that was very real in terms of his own psychology. We thought at the beginning we should show him to be a bit more caring. But Mads said, ‘No, he has to be tough, unfeeling.’ He really helped me shape the character in the script”
Although the movie did not get a nomination for an Oscar Award, The Promised Land was still a massive critical success as it largely received positive reviews from fans and critics. The movie even went on to win 3 awards at the European Film Awards including a Best European actor award for Mads Mikkelsen.
