Mads Mikkelsen: 5 Awesome Performances & 5 That Sucked

5. Citron - Flame & Citron (2008)

Based on historical events - focused on the Nazi occupation of Denmark and the resistance movements fight back - Flame & Citron is not only Denmark's most expensive film ever, it also represents a labour of love - or at least of politics - for director Ole Madsen.

His agenda with the film was to reclaim the story, which he felt had always been misrepresented and to explore the idea that war is not a morally black and white experience. To that end, his central characters - played by Mads Mikkelsen and Thure Lindhardt - are ambiguous, complex and utterly compelling.

The film is quite stunning, and Mikkelsen's nervous, almost wounded performance as the far less assured Citron is captivating. As his partner is validated by his killing of Nazi sympathisers, Mikkelsen grows hollow and haunted by it and by living perpetually on the run. And his performance is the biggest gem in a great war film.