So Auntie goes for fishing in the continent.
Ever since I had the pleasure of watching Smilla's Sense of Snow I have been a fan of the Nordic noir genre. They do make good TV and are cracking good at makings suspenseful crime dramas. So much so that even BBC has decided that they want a share of the pie. The recent adaptations of Henning Mankel's Wallander novels are a good example. (More on that series on a later post.)
But sometimes it just pays to show the original with subtitles instead of remaking the whole show. That is exactly what BBC4 is doing. They are showing Forbrydelsen, renamed The Killing. It is a twenty-part Danish drama produced by Denmarks Radio. The show is written by the Danish Crime writer Søren Sveistrup and has a stellar Danish cast.
The concept of the show is not unlike that of 24. However, instead of focusing on 24 hours of a day, each episode focuses on each day of the investigation. It is a tightly knit story with many different plot lines running through, all centered on the main event: the brutal rape and murder of a young girl.
Detective Sarah Lund of the Copenhagen is looking forward to her last day on the job. She is moving to Sweden with her boyfriend and hopes to take up a post at Stockholm PD. All she wants to do is pack up all her stuff from her office, hand it over to the next guy and take off to her going away party. She is excited about spending more time with her beau and her son.
A call comes in about clothing remains found near a forest. The Superintendent asks Lund to go along with Detective Jan Myers, her replacement, to show him the ropes. They find torn clothings belonging to a young woman and a video card. Suspecting that a john had abandoned a prostitute at this remote area, Myers feels a bit indignant and wants to pay a visit to the man whose name was on the card.
While visiting Theiss Larsen's family, they discover that he has a nineteen year old daughter. Lund and Myers realize that she may have been carrying her father's video card and may have been a victim of violence. They undertake a prolonged search and soon discovers that near the forest is a waterway. A car is found submerged under water and inside the boot they find the body of Nanna Larsen, the young girl.
The Superintendent decides to give Lund the job of investigating the murder. She protests but after looking at the forensic report and seeing how the girl was raped and then murdered, decides to stay and finish the job.
While all of this is going on, the Copenhagen City Hall politics is heating up. The mayor is facing a robust challenge from a young and coming politician- Troels Hartmann. However, to bring a twist in the tale, the car where Nanna's body was found was linked to the Hartmann campaign. Hartmann is facing political disaster because of this link but he is compassionate enough to cancel a debate and not talk to the press at the request of Lund. Back room political deals are going on and he faces delicate political negotiations but is constantly hampered by the fact that the Mayor, who has a mole in his office, seems to be one step ahead of him all the time.
And then there is Nanna's family. Theiss is a loving father and husband and Pernille is a devoted mother and wife. Nanna was their eldest and they have two little boys. They run a moving business and as employers they are very considerate. A nicer family you will not find and to have this tragedy befall them is really a testament to how basically unfair life is.
The pace of the show is quite fast, considering that all the 20 episodes are focused on one single murder investigation. It helps that each episode is based on each day of the investigation and focuses the investigation on a different suspect so you are always left guessing and so the storyline never slacks off. There is a lot of character development within the show so those who are literary inclined would find it an interesting watch. For those who are fans of noir fiction, this is a good show to watch because the characters and the storyline are so compelling as are the numerous subplots that criss cross the show.
One simple description of the show could be that it builds tension. It builds it over time and takes a lot of care in doing so. It is very well written and well done in terms of directing. The performances of the actors are simply superb and dramatically intense.
I am looking forward to seeing how the show ends.
The Killing is on BBC4 on Wednesdays at 10.30 pm and Saturdays at 9 pm.
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