Itself loosely based on a true story, the 19th century novella by Heinrich von Kleist, "Michael Kohlhaas," has been adapted several times for screen, notably by Volker Schlöndorff in 1969, even spawning "The Jack Bull," a pretty good HBO restaging starring Johns Cusack and Goodman, in 1999. But with Schlöndorff himself telling us in interview that he considered his version his "biggest failure" it would have seemed that there was still room for the definitive, high-profile, straight-up adaptation. And on paper, that's what Arnaud de Pallières' Cannes competition entrant "Michael Kohlhaas" was meant to be -- just check out its impeccable line-up of European stars-with-major-arthouse-appeal: Mads Mikkelsen (last year's Cannes Best Actor for "The Hunt"), Bruno Ganz (whose sclerotic Hitler in "Downfall" spawned its own remarkably resilient meme) and Denis Lavant (coming off his chameleonic performance in the critically worshipped "Holy Motors")....
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