Adam's Apples: Mads Mikkelsen Week at FOMO Cinema

Welcome to RETURN OF THE MADS at FOMO Cinema Tbilisi. The original plan was one week. Our guests had other ideas.

After an overwhelming response to MADSNESS, I'm extending the retrospective with another week of films, exploring the performances, directors and collaborations that helped turn Mikkelsen from Denmark's best-kept secret into one of the defining screen actors of his generation.

He's worked with Nicolas Winding Refn, Thomas Vinterberg, Susanne Bier, Anders Thomas Jensen and some of the biggest directors in international cinema, balancing arthouse cinema with global blockbusters.

This time we're digging a little deeper. We'll revisit some familiar faces, discover a few hidden gems and trace the remarkable second act of a career that's only become more adventurous with time.

ADAM'S APPLES

Anders Thomas Jensen | 2005 | Denmark / Germany | 1h34m | Danish with English subtitles

By this point in MADSNESS we've had gangster Mads, cannibal Mads, villainous Mads, fat Mads, ripped Mads, and mentally ill Mads. ADAM'S APPLES gives us saintly Mads.

Fresh out of prison, violent neo-Nazi Adam is sentenced to community service at a remote country church run by Ivan, an impossibly optimistic priest who seems determined to see the good in absolutely everyone. The church is already home to a kleptomaniac, a recovering alcoholic and a former tennis player with a penchant for armed robbery. Adam quickly becomes convinced that Ivan's relentless optimism is either an act of extraordinary kindness or a sign that he's completely lost his mind.

Like so much of Anders Thomas Jensen's work, ADAM'S APPLES is fascinated by broken people trying to build meaningful lives despite overwhelming evidence that they probably shouldn't be trusted to do so. What begins as an outrageous black comedy gradually evolves into something stranger, deeper and unexpectedly moving, touching on faith, forgiveness, trauma, redemption and the stories we tell ourselves in order to keep going.

Mads Mikkelsen's performance is unlike almost anything else in his career. Ivan is gentle, endlessly patient and almost supernaturally hopeful, refusing to let cruelty or tragedy define the people around him. Whether you see him as a saint, a fool or something in between is one of the film's greatest pleasures.

Hilarious, blasphemous and quietly profound, ADAM'S APPLES has grown into one of the most beloved Danish films of the twenty-first century. It remains the film that many Danish audiences consider Anders Thomas Jensen's masterpiece.

FOOD AND DRINK POLICY: FOMO Cinema Lounge Bar opens 1 hour before the first screening of the day and closes at 02:00, serving a wide selection of beer, wine, cocktails, and non-alcoholic refreshments including coffee and tea, as well as fresh hot popcorn! Outside food is allowed in the bar but not in the cinema. No alcohol from outside allowed. All guests are invited to arrive early and stay late!

LOCATION: FOMO Secret Cinema, Bazari Orbeliani, Tbilisi. A five minute walk from Liberty Square metro.

HOW TO FIND FOMO: Enter Bazari Orbeliani via Atoneli St above Carrefour and take the stairs on your left to Level 1. Signage on the door. You can also check our Instagram story highlights for a video showing exactly how to find us: https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3OTMzMTA2Mjk0MDI5MjM1