I have written at length already about my ideas as they relate to international mystery shows. For those of us in the U.S. accustomed to Law and Order and CSI, with maybe a little Masterpiece Mystery thrown in for good measure, it may or may not surprise that many other countries have a robust tradition of detective and cop shows. Italy, France, Finland... The list goes on and on. Many of these shows are wonderful.
Some of the very best of these come from Scandinavia. They include the omnipotent Wallander -- the mother of all mystery shows. But there are also less well-known series, like Beck. (I always have to laugh because evidently "Beck" is trademarked... I can't help but wonder how the internationally famous musician feels about that...).
At any rate, Martin Beck and his compadres in the Homicide Division have been solving murders on television since the late 90's (there have been about 30 episodes made since then). The shows are "movie" length -- 90 minutes, so you have plenty of time to get thoroughly engaged. The stories are based on books by Mai Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö that I have not read (but admit I should). Thanks to the invaluable MHz International Mystery (and also my local provider, Comcast), I have watched several episodes.
Beck (played wonderfully by Peter Haber) has a sidekick (of course he does!), Larsson (played by the smoldering Mikael Persbrandt), and where Beck is a pretty decent, well-intentioned chap (especially compared to some of his maladjusted counterparts in other Scandinavian series), his partner is a sort of Darth Vader to Beck's Luke. Larsson is the ultimate Bad Cop. He is bigoted. He's violent. He's snarky. He's funny and yet he's frightening. He does things cops shouldn't do. The discordance between the two characters is pitch-perfect, and adds to the fascination.
The plots are very good indeed. The pacing is perfect -- not too frenetic, and yet not too languid. They are right in the Goldilocks Zone. But be forewarned that the stories can be extremely disturbing. For example, a baby in a bassinet is viciously dropped to her death from a balcony. I can't help but think in most U.S. shows, the threat of such a terrible death would be made, but the action would not occur. But here, we see it happen, and to be honest I'm pretty sure I wish I hadn't. The audience is in no way protected from the brutality.
Amazingly, and unlike many of the other series out of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, there is some blessed comic relief provided in the episodes, in the guise of Grannen, Beck's bizarre (to put it mildly) next-door neighbor. I don't want to spoil anything about him for you here. So I'll just say if he doesn't make you laugh out loud at your TV, then you might need to work on your sense of humor.
These are really quite good. If you're a mystery fan, they'll be worth your time to watch, and your money if you want to buy the DVDs. And, as always, thanks to MHz International Mystery for all you do!
Some of the very best of these come from Scandinavia. They include the omnipotent Wallander -- the mother of all mystery shows. But there are also less well-known series, like Beck. (I always have to laugh because evidently "Beck" is trademarked... I can't help but wonder how the internationally famous musician feels about that...).
At any rate, Martin Beck and his compadres in the Homicide Division have been solving murders on television since the late 90's (there have been about 30 episodes made since then). The shows are "movie" length -- 90 minutes, so you have plenty of time to get thoroughly engaged. The stories are based on books by Mai Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö that I have not read (but admit I should). Thanks to the invaluable MHz International Mystery (and also my local provider, Comcast), I have watched several episodes.
Beck (played wonderfully by Peter Haber) has a sidekick (of course he does!), Larsson (played by the smoldering Mikael Persbrandt), and where Beck is a pretty decent, well-intentioned chap (especially compared to some of his maladjusted counterparts in other Scandinavian series), his partner is a sort of Darth Vader to Beck's Luke. Larsson is the ultimate Bad Cop. He is bigoted. He's violent. He's snarky. He's funny and yet he's frightening. He does things cops shouldn't do. The discordance between the two characters is pitch-perfect, and adds to the fascination.
The plots are very good indeed. The pacing is perfect -- not too frenetic, and yet not too languid. They are right in the Goldilocks Zone. But be forewarned that the stories can be extremely disturbing. For example, a baby in a bassinet is viciously dropped to her death from a balcony. I can't help but think in most U.S. shows, the threat of such a terrible death would be made, but the action would not occur. But here, we see it happen, and to be honest I'm pretty sure I wish I hadn't. The audience is in no way protected from the brutality.
Amazingly, and unlike many of the other series out of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, there is some blessed comic relief provided in the episodes, in the guise of Grannen, Beck's bizarre (to put it mildly) next-door neighbor. I don't want to spoil anything about him for you here. So I'll just say if he doesn't make you laugh out loud at your TV, then you might need to work on your sense of humor.
These are really quite good. If you're a mystery fan, they'll be worth your time to watch, and your money if you want to buy the DVDs. And, as always, thanks to MHz International Mystery for all you do!