Beck (TV Series) Levande begravd (2009) User Reviews

Tightly Constructed Detective Thriller with a Surprise Ending

[l_rawjalaurence · 7/10 · 30 September 2015]

Already familiar to British audiences from the Radio 4 dramatizations (under the title THE MARTIN BECK KILLINGS), this was the first episode broadcast in a season of the Swedish versions on BBC Four television with subtitles.

Harald Hamrell's production clearly delineated the relationships between the main protagonists. The eponymous hero (Peter Haber) is a cerebral type favoring patient investigation and cool calculation. His sidekick Gunvald (Mikael Persbrandt) favors a more direct approach involving violence both verbal and physical. The two have an antagonistic relationship lightened somewhat by the odd wry joke.

Set in and around the streets of Stockholm, the production creates a world of corruption in which everyone seems out for themselves. In this episode the two police officers have to track down a crazed killer who buries his victims alive and leaves messages designed to attract Beck's interest. In the end Beck is placed in deadly peril, with his inquisitiveness getting the better of him. Even the police force are not above a certain degree of self-interest.

Stylistically speaking, this episode contains a lot of patient deduction interspersed with some genuinely scary moments. At one point a middle-aged woman living on her own is placed in deadly peril by an unidentified stalker; the camera pursues her through her bungalow as she tries to find out what the problem is, with the sequence ending with an abrupt cut as the stalker comes up behind her and places a hand over her mouth.

The ending deliberately subverts our expectations, drawing us into a world of revenge and murder. Imprisoning the criminal does not promote reform; on the contrary, it breeds a festering resentment that spells danger for anyone responsible for incarcerating the criminal in the first place.

Generally good, but not at the level of many Swedish and Danish counterparts

[BeneCumb · 8/10 · 4 October 2013]

/refers to all episodes of 4 seasons/

Scandinavian crime series are a kind of quality sign for those fond of "old-fashioned" thrillers, without constant chases, explosions and vain cops spreading "witty" remarks even in dangerous situations. Thus, it is no wonder that such films and more popular in Europe and/or among older generations. Sweden has provided dozens of smart police figures, both male and female, and Martin Beck is definitely among the best known.

Unlike in earlier feature films, the series uses the main characters only, scripts are new and Beck and his fellows act in modern world, with technology available giving more "contemporary" feeling. Nevertheless, the issues are still the same as with "original" Beck, with the exception of cross-border crimes spread after the fall of Iron Curtain and wars in the Balkans.

As for the cast, the finest performance is made by Mikael Persbrandt as Gunvald Larsson, whose arrogance and straightforwardness is catchier to watch than Beck's various struggles (well, I like Peter Haber more than Gösta Ekman), apart from the latter's strange dialogues with his neighbour Valdemar, so different from the average mood throughout the series. I can assume that for many viewers they just add unnecessary length to the episodes - around 90 minutes is too long indeed bearing in mind 34 episodes on air every week. At times the tensions fade and events get blurred, and lateral issues (by Gunvald, in particular) make it all too confusing.

Although each episode deals with separate case, it is still advisable to watch them sequentially as there are several flashbacks and references to the past, co-policemen come and go etc. The most interesting episodes to me deal with greed/money, criminals with mental issues are not so fascinating as they are generally imputable.

Decent series, but still less sophisticated than e.g. Wallander or Falk or Bron/Broen.

Season Four Review

[southdavid · 7/10 · 4 July 2022]

Season four of "Beck" is something of an oddity now. After another lengthy break the show returned with two episodes, before going on another hiatus ahead of season five.

Martin Beck (Peter Haber) and his team become embroiled in a case of international terrorism which has a close personal tie to Gunvald Larsson (Mikael Persbrandt). Then a murderer who is burying his victims alive in an airtight coffin is hunted by the team, but when it becomes clear that they know where Martin lives a deadly game of cat and mouse begins.

A bit of a new style for Beck here, the camera has always been fairly dynamic but it's true shaky cam style now. It suits some scenes, but in others feels dated now. Generally, I'd say it's a visual step up though and there's money spent on stunts and car chases now. The two cases are actually quite interesting and the second one pull of a noble double bluff, that I don't think the show would have attempted earlier on. The second episode particularly is a bit out of the ordinary, and occasionally feels more like a horror film, than a police procedural. It has a genuine jump scare in this one, as well as a few more horror clichés.

I'm still entertained and will be cracking on with season five as soon as I can.

Excellent!

[fishkettle · 10/10 · 14 November 2015]

26th episode out of 30 is a little late to start watching a series, but that's how I got here!

Brilliant suspense, with motifs from the horror genre, but in keeping with the storyline. Well-acted and well-written, with at least a couple of moments of genuine shock.

I enjoyed it immensely and will now watch the remaining episodes that I have recorded!

There are a number of plot twists and it ain't over, 'til it's over! I've read that this is different from the other films in the series, but we'll see!

Crime-Thriller or Horror?

[k-nilsson96 · 5/10 · 9 March 2015]

The movie is good in many aspects but is different from other Beck-movies. Their constantly surprising moments are more similar to a horror movie than a thriller. *There is a noise in the room. Who is there? Oh, the lamp is swinging. *Horror music begins* BAM! A cat meows.* Typical horror scene and should not be involved in a classic Beck-movie.

I would rate the previous Beck-movies as 7-8/10, but this one falls down to 5. The movie is not even based on a trustworthy story. How could the series-murder enter Beck's apartment and assault him when the door was locked and not broken? How could the series-murder stand up, walk away, pick up a sledgehammer and try to attack Police- Oscar? Oscar just smashed a stone to his head. He would be knocked out for a long time and maybe even brain-damaged. And even if he wouldn't be knocked out, it's impossible to stand up and walk away quietly in that situation.

In the previous Beck-movies I enjoyed that the movies were trustworthy. Everything was logical, maybe not so likely but still possible, and it could have been a true story. This one was not logical, not convincing and belongs to a low budget horror movie. The constantly surprising, shocking scenes and the unbelievable scenes really drag this movie down unlike other Beck-movies.

Though, the acting and effects in the movie is quite costly and detailed. That's good!

Buried Alive

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 13 September 2015]

In the opening scenes a woman is attacked in her car as it passes through a carwash; her assailant injects her in the neck. We then see a mother and child visiting a playground; the child discovers a large coffin-like box buried in the sandpit; there is a tapping noise coming from it. By the time the police arrive the woman inside has died. She was a prominent lawyer and suspicion immediately falls on the biker gang she was prosecuting… until its leader turns out to be the next victim. It soon becomes apparent that there is a serial killer at work as more bodies turn up; including one that is several months old. As the case continues, and the police work to find a connection between the victims, the killer contacts Martin Beck, the leader of the police investigation and ultimately puts him in real danger of becoming the next victim.

For some reason this was the first episode of 'Beck' to be broadcast on BBC4 so was my introduction to the character and the series. This didn't prove to be much of a problem as it didn't take too long to figure out who was who. The opening scenes quickly grabbed my attention and from then on the story moved at a quick pace as the body count rises. There is some use of horror movie cliché… who wasn't expecting to see the killer when a woman closed her fridge door?! Still even though such moments were a little cliché they provided some extra tension. It wasn't all darkness though; one of his neighbours was distinctly bizarre and provided some amusement. Those hoping to solve the crime before the killer is revealed may be a little disappointed as the first time we see him is when he is literally unmasked. The acting was solid and the characters felt like real people. Overall a pretty good story that left me looking forward to further stories in the series.

These comments are based on watching the episode in Swedish with English subtitles.