Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas

In sixteenth-century France, in the Cévennes region, Michael Kohlhaas is a prosperous horse dealer with a settled life, a wife and a daughter. A dispute with a local baron over a toll costs him horses and a servant, and when he turns to the courts he finds the law siding with the powerful rather than with him. Unable to obtain redress through legal means, the once devout and upright man gathers followers and takes up arms, turning the countryside into a battlefield in pursuit of what he considers his due.

Arnaud des Pallières directed and co-wrote the film with Christelle Berthevas, working from the German novella by Heinrich von Kleist; Serge Lalou produced. Mads Mikkelsen plays Kohlhaas, with Mélusine Mayance, Delphine Chuillot, Bruno Ganz, Denis Lavant and David Kross in supporting roles. It was des Pallières' second feature as director, followed by Orphan in 2017 and Party of Fools in 2024.

Released in 2013, the film runs 122 minutes. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.1 from around 9,800 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 5.9 from 237 votes. A critics' rating of 5.2 from 32 reviews sits slightly below those audience scores, suggesting a mixed professional response alongside a more moderate viewer reception.