like a clock. precision, strange beauty, delicate mechanism. the acting, the landscape, the script. as pillars of an admirable work who remains the novel by Kleist but it has the gift to be more than an inspired adaptation. a film about justice and sin. and a splendid role for Mads Mikkelsen who gives to his character not only the traits of the novel but something special, powerful, entire convincing. the grace to use the nuances of Michael Kohlhaas, the wise manner to use the silences, the force of gestures, the beautiful measure who discover the essence of tragedy, the presence of Roxane Duran who reminds, in same measure, Elisabeth I and the young Elisabeth II, the performance of Melusine Mayance, the speech of Denis Levant who remains the perfect definition of the root of tragedy are the details who transforms an adaptation in useful support for reflection about great themes.
