Wildside (Vildspor) 1998

Directed by Simon Staho and written by Staho and one of the lead actors, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Vildspor tells the story of two childhood friends from Copenhagen whose personalities lead them down two very different roads. While the saying is that some need to “sow their wild oats” before settling down, Ossy (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) never gives up his wild ways. In Thailand, the two friends indulge in booze, cocaine, women and the dangerous world of drug smuggling. One day, Jimmy (Mads Mikkelsen) realizes this isn’t the life he wants nor will his best friend ever want the ordinary life he himself desires. The irony is that they wouldn’t be in Thailand if he hadn’t accidentally killed a man in Denmark. When Jimmy fled from the authorities, Ossy remained a loyal friend and stuck by him. All Jimmy wants now is to be left in peace, to have a normal life. He “escapes” to Iceland, somewhere remote and far from Ossy and the “wild side.”

Years later, Ossy shows up on Jimmy’s doorstep, threatening to destroy the simple, happy life he has created with a wife and child who know nothing about his wild past. But Ossy arrives with a secret of his own, one he doesn’t share with his once best friend. And Jimmy still feels guilty about running off without a word to Ossy when they were in Thailand. It’s hard to turn your back on a friend a second time…or is it?

Vildspor explores the limits of friendship, giving a subtle, but powerful moral lesson on self-destructive personalities. In the end, can you save a friend who’s hellbent on destroying himself and those around him, or do you save yourself?

NOTES:

This is one of two back-to-back movies Mads and fellow Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau appeared in together (the other being Nattens Engel or Angel of the Night) in 1998, and which cemented a real-life friendship between the two actors.



Nikolaj Coster-Waldau also met his future wife on the set. Greenland born actress, Nukâka Motzfeldt, played the part of Jóna in Vildspor. The two married the same year the movie was released.

by Melisa

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