Forbrydelsen - the best TV show you've probably never heard of...
Every now and again a TV show comes along that makes you positively evangelical in your need to spread the word. That need is somehow even more pressing when said TV show is a slow-moving, twenty-episode Danish series complete with subtitles, and starring no one you've ever heard of...
BBC4, the tiny UK arts channel which - God love it - has the balls to take risks like this, made the genius scheduling decision to screen Forbrydelsen (or The Killing, to give it its slightly inaccurately translated title) in double bills, and for the past ten Saturdays Cat and I have been blissfully entranced by its labyrinthine plotting, moodily shot landscapes and flawless performances.
Opening with Day One, the series tracks a twenty-day investigation into the sadistic murder of a teenaged girl. Three distinct strands - the bereaved family, the murky world of local politics, and the detectives heading up the case - intertwine seamlessly to throw out so many twists, shocks and red herrings that some kind of score card is essential if you're going to play along. I'll concede that none of that sounds particularly original, but what sets Forbrydelsen apart from so much of the dross on the small screen is its utter lack of sensation and its willingness to portray unflinchingly the terrible aftermath of the crime. Although the victim - Nanna Birk Larsen - is only ever a shade in the background, remembered, obviously loved, but never really a tangible character, her loss completely shatters her family. The bewildered grief of her parents, suddenly facing an invasive police presence in their home as they try to decide which dress to bury their daughter in is almost unbearable to watch. There are no histrionics, nothing but raw emotion and the inevitable unravelling of relationships that were never meant to endure the strain of something so awful.
At the heart of
the police investigation and the entire show is Sofie Gråbøl as DCI Sarah Lund. Perpetually on the verge of leaving to join her boyfriend in Sweden (a national offence on a par with wearing a St George's cross to a St Patrick's Day Parade!), Lund is reeled back to her old job by the murder. As the odds, obstacles and her mother's passive-aggressive disapproval pile up against her, she becomes increasingly obsessed by the case, despite the best efforts of her replacement, who would prefer that she sod off to Sweden and leave him to run things in his own bull-in-a-china-shop style. Lund is a fabulous creation; quiet and intuitive, she's polite to witnesses, relentless in her pursuit of the culprit, unapologetically useless as a mother and a girlfriend, and still managing to rock a seemingly endless supply of Faroe Isle woolly jumpers. As her personal and professional lives slowly come apart at the seams, Lund becomes ever more isolated and prone to taking risks that would have been anathema to her on Day One. It's a mesmeric performance from Gråbøl, who is lovely in a slightly off-kilter way, perfect for a heroine whose idea of high fashion is a ratty ponytail, an unwashed jumper, nicotine gum and a pair of green wellies.
You may well have heard of The Killing because AMC have just remade the series and it premieres in the US tomorrow night. The AMC version features a cast of well-chiselled, vaguely familiar faces, has been cut down to thirteen episodes, and features a different culprit, so it'll be interesting to see what if anything remains of its source. It has also apparently taken pains to give Sarah a big ol' back-story, which is somewhat missing the point. For anyone with twenty hours to spare who is lucky enough to find a decently-subtitled version of the original, all I can say is: take a chance, because it's bloody brilliant. It's also hopelessly addictive (we, along with quite a few fellow fans on the Guardian blog, celebrated last week's finale with a Forbrydelsen Finale Food Fest!), Danish is surprisingly soothing and a lot of fun to listen to, and barely anyone else will have heard of the series so there's bugger-all chance of spoilers. Having waited four years before airing series one, its popularity over here has already seen series two snapped up by BBC4. If I disappear for another ten weeks in autumn while I don my woolly jumper in tribute and fry up the frikadeller, please don't be worried. Tak!
BBC4, the tiny UK arts channel which - God love it - has the balls to take risks like this, made the genius scheduling decision to screen Forbrydelsen (or The Killing, to give it its slightly inaccurately translated title) in double bills, and for the past ten Saturdays Cat and I have been blissfully entranced by its labyrinthine plotting, moodily shot landscapes and flawless performances.
Opening with Day One, the series tracks a twenty-day investigation into the sadistic murder of a teenaged girl. Three distinct strands - the bereaved family, the murky world of local politics, and the detectives heading up the case - intertwine seamlessly to throw out so many twists, shocks and red herrings that some kind of score card is essential if you're going to play along. I'll concede that none of that sounds particularly original, but what sets Forbrydelsen apart from so much of the dross on the small screen is its utter lack of sensation and its willingness to portray unflinchingly the terrible aftermath of the crime. Although the victim - Nanna Birk Larsen - is only ever a shade in the background, remembered, obviously loved, but never really a tangible character, her loss completely shatters her family. The bewildered grief of her parents, suddenly facing an invasive police presence in their home as they try to decide which dress to bury their daughter in is almost unbearable to watch. There are no histrionics, nothing but raw emotion and the inevitable unravelling of relationships that were never meant to endure the strain of something so awful.
At the heart of
the police investigation and the entire show is Sofie Gråbøl as DCI Sarah Lund. Perpetually on the verge of leaving to join her boyfriend in Sweden (a national offence on a par with wearing a St George's cross to a St Patrick's Day Parade!), Lund is reeled back to her old job by the murder. As the odds, obstacles and her mother's passive-aggressive disapproval pile up against her, she becomes increasingly obsessed by the case, despite the best efforts of her replacement, who would prefer that she sod off to Sweden and leave him to run things in his own bull-in-a-china-shop style. Lund is a fabulous creation; quiet and intuitive, she's polite to witnesses, relentless in her pursuit of the culprit, unapologetically useless as a mother and a girlfriend, and still managing to rock a seemingly endless supply of Faroe Isle woolly jumpers. As her personal and professional lives slowly come apart at the seams, Lund becomes ever more isolated and prone to taking risks that would have been anathema to her on Day One. It's a mesmeric performance from Gråbøl, who is lovely in a slightly off-kilter way, perfect for a heroine whose idea of high fashion is a ratty ponytail, an unwashed jumper, nicotine gum and a pair of green wellies.
You may well have heard of The Killing because AMC have just remade the series and it premieres in the US tomorrow night. The AMC version features a cast of well-chiselled, vaguely familiar faces, has been cut down to thirteen episodes, and features a different culprit, so it'll be interesting to see what if anything remains of its source. It has also apparently taken pains to give Sarah a big ol' back-story, which is somewhat missing the point. For anyone with twenty hours to spare who is lucky enough to find a decently-subtitled version of the original, all I can say is: take a chance, because it's bloody brilliant. It's also hopelessly addictive (we, along with quite a few fellow fans on the Guardian blog, celebrated last week's finale with a Forbrydelsen Finale Food Fest!), Danish is surprisingly soothing and a lot of fun to listen to, and barely anyone else will have heard of the series so there's bugger-all chance of spoilers. Having waited four years before airing series one, its popularity over here has already seen series two snapped up by BBC4. If I disappear for another ten weeks in autumn while I don my woolly jumper in tribute and fry up the frikadeller, please don't be worried. Tak!