Mikael Salomon Movies
Distinguished Danish lighting director Mikael Salomon has been in high demand since the early '70s for his creativity with special effects and his ability to rise to the most challenging filming situation. He got his start in Scandinavia and filmed around 50 movies by the time he was 40. Eventually, he came to Hollywood where he worked on a number of epic films. He also directed for television. Some of Salomon's most interesting work can be found in such films as the underwater extravaganza The Abyss (1989) and Backdraft (1991). Both films had spectacular special effects and were nominated for Academy Awards. In the late '80s, he began working for Amblin Entertainment. Salomon made his directorial debut in the 1993 feature A Far Off Place. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Based on James Ellroy's novel Blood on the Moon, Cop is a grim, brutally violent, darkly humorous modern-day film noir. Lloyd Hopkins (James Woods), is an obsessive, amoral LAPD police detective investigating a murder he believes to have been the work of a serial killer. Hopkins is cynical and obsessed with the way society fills women's heads with fairy-tale promises of romance. "Innocence kills," he sneers. "I see it every day." His investigation leads him to the bookstore of a writer of feminist poetry (Lesley Ann Warren) who has for some time been receiving gifts of poems and flowers from an unknown admirer. Hopkins, looking through her diaries, realizes that the dates of the gifts correspond to the dates of the murders, and he begins a hunt for the killer which leads to a violent and exciting conclusion. Cop is completely absorbing because of Woods' chillingly effective performance. Few actors can make an amoral, clever, sardonic, and vicious character as appealing as Hopkins. As Hopkins, Woods combines complex contradictions with ease, showing the various sides of his character's personality. Cop, while singularly unpleasant is always insightful and fascinating. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Woods, Lesley Ann Warren, (more)
- 1987
- PG
In this tumultuous post- WW I drama, a Viennese doctor and her lover migrate, with many other European Jews, to Israel where they dream of setting up a peaceful egalitarian society. Their dreams are soon shattered by the violent Bedouins who forcefully object to their presence. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kelly McGillis, John Shea, (more)
- 1987
This made-for-cable outing is a loose remake of the Paul Muni film I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. Val Kilmer inhabits the Muni role of World War I vet Robert Elliot Burns, whose exploits following his escape from a Southern work camp are detailed in episodic fashion. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Val Kilmer, Charles Durning, (more)
- 1986
- R
This drama looks into the life of French painter Paul Gauguin. Donald Sutherland plays Gauguin as he struggles through a few years in the 1890s in Montmartre after he has come back from his first stay in Tahiti. His new and radical painting style is not amenable to easy acceptance, as witnessed by August Strindberg's rejection of it here. The best segments of this film show the artist at work and talking with his friends, other less successful moments show him in amorous liaisons or in one case, in a fight sequence. Most of all, his dedication to his artistic vision as well as the depth of his personality are elements which maintain interest throughout, in a large part due to Sutherland's insightful portrayal of the artist. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Sutherland, Jean Yanne, (more)
- 1986
Based on legendary Danish writer Tove Ditlevsen's autobiographical novel of growing up during the Depression, this Danish screen milestone was directed with a sure hand by the veteran Astrid Henning-Jensen. Fourteen-year-old Ester (Sofie Gråbøll), a daydreamer whose ambition is to become a writer, finds all the material she needs crammed in with her family in a one-bedroom cold-water flat in the slums of Copenhagen's downtrodden but proud working-class neighborhood of Vesterbro. The co-director of the classic Child of Man (1946), Henning-Jensen brings the same kind of social realism to Bardommens Gade but occasionally tips the scale a bit too much in favor of nostalgia. Still, the well-acted film stands as one of the decade's more impressive undertakings. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sofie Gråbøl, Vigga Bro, (more)
- 1986
- PG13
This small-town romance may be trying to ride the coattails of the Big Chill that also featured Kevin Kline. Kline plays Henry here, and when the film opens he and his love Gussie Sawyer (Sissy Spacek, wife of director Jack Fisk), are sitting together planning the future they will have. She will be a flight attendant and he will get a college degree. Yet when they part, so does their destiny. By a quirk of fate, Gussie starts taking photos for an in-flight magazine and ends up an ace photographer while Henry has stayed in their small town to run the newspaper after his dad died. When Gussie comes back for a vacation 15 years later the two old sweethearts find that the embers that burned so low over the last many years are heating up again. No one in the town is unaware of what is going on, and Gussie is in for a lecture from her dad while Henry hears it like it is from his wife. But will that change the course of their relationship? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sissy Spacek, Kevin Kline, (more)
- 1985
Ole Ernst plays Peter von Scholten in this historical film biography. Appointed by King Frederick VI (Henning Moritzen) as governor of the Virgin Islands, Peter fights for the education and liberation of the island's black residents, former slaves, while keeping a black mistress on the islands and a wife at home in Denmark. Peter establishes schools for the children and avoids a bloody insurgence from locals bent on violent overthrow of the government. The former governor is charged with treason and dies a dejected man soon after the unfair charges are overturned. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ole Ernst, Jesper Langberg, (more)
- 1985
- R
Never mind the title: Goodbye, New York mostly takes place in Israel. Julie Hagerty plays Nancy Callighan, a spoiled Irish-Jewish lass who decides to see the world after her husband has betrayed her. En route to Paris by plane, Nancy takes a few too many sedatives, and when she awakens, she's in Tel Aviv, minus money and luggage. Latching onto a cabdriver (Amos Kollek), Nancy settles in a Kibbutz, where she is subjected to traditional limitations on her freedom of choice and movement. Before long, however, she has adjusted to her new lifestyle. With the arrival of her husband, however, Nancy is faced with a momentous decision: should she give up all that she now holds near and dear, or should she return to New York. A darkly funny plot twist makes our heroine's mind up in record time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Hagerty, Amos Kollek, (more)
- 1979
In 19th century Denmark, especially on the rural estates of the petty nobles, not much leeway was given for human frailty. In this story, a rustic Baron has just married a woman who is much more refined than he is, a divorcee, in order to insure the continuance of his lineage. While he is much smitten with her, his new wife has entered the relationship in cold blood, looking for security for herself and her daughter. When she has an affair with a noble visitor to the estate, her mother-in-law wastes no time in telling the Baron what is going on, and the enraged man loses his temper in a tragic manner. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jens Okking, Helle Hertz, (more)
- 1978
When he hears that the Danish people have passed a referendum permitting the development of nuclear power plants, the swimming instructor for disabled children is shocked. He has long been an opponent of nuclear power, and this latest announcement is the last straw. An expert rifle shot, he makes a series of tape recordings and sends them to a journalist, warning that he will begin an escalating series of crimes and murders unless and until nuclear power development is stopped. At first, he only shoots the Punch and Judy puppets in the park, but "The Marksman" (Jens Okking) cannot stop there. Meanwhile, the journalist is put into a difficult situation by the tapes, which force him into journalistic and social dilemmas. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jens Okking
- 1978
The incredible upsurge in American UHF television stations in the 1980s created a huge demand for children's programming. One enterprising syndicator purchased the rights for a group of British and European films, originally targeted for the Saturday-matinee crowd. One such film was Black Island, released theatrically in England in 1979. Martin Murphy and Michael Salomon head the cast as a couple of British kids named Michael and Joe. Stranded on a remote island, the boys rather enjoy the adventure -- until they discover that two escaped convicts have also landed on the tiny isle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
In this story, a 7-year old boy, named for the King of Rock 'n Roll by his fanatical mother, has trouble communicating with everyone but his grandparents. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lele Dorazio, Lena-Pia Bernhardsson, (more)
- 1977
In this zany spy comedy, Ulf Pilgaard plays a professor who has somehow gotten a crucial NATO map tattooed on his back by a group of Russian spies. Now everyone wants to get their hands on him. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ulf Pilgaard
- 1976
A man with a failing heart suffers from prolonged indecision about whether to accept a heart transplant. Once he does, he becomes obsessed with discovering the nature of the man whose heart he now carries. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lars Knutzon, Ann-Mari Max Hansen, (more)
- 1976
In this police thriller, a policeman returning to work after a nervous breakdown is asked to give perfunctory treatment to a case involving his ex-wife and her new lover, a petty criminal. This kibosh has been laid on by his higher-ups at the urging of a group of important businessmen. However, the policeman persistently investigates and nearly blows the lid off of a really big swindling operation. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jens Okking, Dick Kaysoe, (more)
- 1975
Mille (Lisbeth Lundquist) is married to a rather dull man, a scientist, whose lack of ability to satisfy her sexually is accepted by both of them. In this Danish film, she has liaisons with men and women outside of her marriage, and all of them talk a lot. The happiest people among her friends are Susanne, a lesbian, and Uffe, a homosexual antique dealer. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lisbeth Lundquist, Lisbeth Dahl, (more)
- 1975
Based on Poul Oerums' detective novel, in this movie the police are attempting to solve the murder of a news reporter. The inspector (Frits Helmuth) calmly attempts to sort through the complex web of lies told to him by the important people of the town, all of whom have run afoul of the reporter's investigations in some way. One of them is an embezzler, another one's wife is having an extramarital affair which would be damaging to his reputation if it were revealed. Indeed, most of them have a motive for seeing the reporter dead. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frits Helmuth, Ghita Nørby, (more)
- 1972
In this tame Danish sex comedy, precisely opposite goals lead a young official of the Department of Roads and Traffic and all the women of the local village to end up in the sack. His goal is to get them to sign papers allowing a new highway to go through the middle of town. Their goal is to get him to re-route the highway. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
This provocative sci-fi outing is set in an over-populated, horribly polluted 21st century where child-bearing has become illegal. To help ease the tension and stress caused by not procreating, married couples use robot dolls to substitute for children. One couple decides to break the law and have a real baby in secret. Unfortunately, their neighbors find out and demand that the couple share the baby with them. The other couple does so, but finds that the neighbors get too attached to the infant. They stop sharing their child, and the neighbors becomes so angry that they report them to authorities. The couple and their baby are arrested and sentenced to death. Fortunately, the clever husband anticipated this and made a few plans in advance. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1972
This Danish sex farce, despite its relentless focus on sex, sex, sex, is a fairly tame, humorous softcore porn film. The young headmaster of a boy's boarding school has decided that due to the virility of his young charges, they are a sort of national treasure. He believes that his school should become co-educational as soon as possible. In order to raise funds for the changeover, the boys stay behind during their summer vacation and temporarily convert the school into a love hotel. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1971
The Conservative Danish government surprised everyone by removing all censorship from the entertainment industry in 1969. One of the results of this legislation was a series of well-meaning but highly ridiculed attempts to "go behind the facade" of the porn industry. Hvorfor Gør De Det? ("Why Do They Do It?") asked that question to a series of rather dour-looking working-class couples who performed sexual acts on each other or their pets to the titillation of mainly Japanese and American tourists. Films like these invited the re-introduction of some form of censorship, if for no other reason than to raise the level of filmmaking. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
