An epic drama set in 16th-century France against a backdrop of feudalism in decline, Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas stars Mads Mikkelsen as a well-to-do horse merchant who resorts to fanatical and violent extremes to obtain justice after a nobleman openly and illegally humiliates him by stealing two of his horses. Adapted from Heinrich von Kleist's novella, a classic of German Romanticism, Michael Kohlhaas was previously adapted for film in 1969 by Volker Schlöndorff and served as the inspiration for E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime.