Criminal Activities: Reading & Watching

My latest review on Euro Crime is for James Wolff's first novel "Beside The Syrian Sea". It's set in the Middle East and involves a son's attempts to get his father, an ISIS hostage, released from captivity. The father is an earnestly moral cleric and the son is a desperately introverted intelligence worker finding himself suddenly without the boundaries he has so carefully maintained and quite literally in a new land.
I was gripped by it, not just by plot and thrill but by  its characters and their relationships. I also somehow found it "terribly British" ... in the nicest possible way. Read the review in full detail here at Euro Crime.

Meanwhile, as they say, there has been much to watch on telly. I haven't really enjoyed Season 2 of the Belgian thriller "Salamander" but I still watched it through. Nor, I must say, am I enamoured of Belgian thriller "Rough Justice" either. But still watching. Perhaps my dissatisfaction lies in the completely straight-faced, lugubrious main characters of each series? My Belgian favourite? (Sounds like a variety of iris, don't it.) When it comes to Belgian thrillers on British screens over the last 12 months - my highlight remains Season One of "Professor T". Not at all to everybody's taste, (sigh) it was to mine. The Old Man gave up on its fantasy musical breaks and opted for the washing up, but I was hooked. Although ... I realise now ... it carries the motif of straight-faced Belgian leads to bizarre extremes with its emotionally locked-in, germ-obsessive, forensic genius that is Prof T. Yes I know there have been other series predicated on emotionally damaged, clever-clogs analysts - but they don't have fantasy musical numbers! End of.

Aah! Not Belgian I know - but I forgot  season Four of "The Bridge". Now there's another "straight-faced" lead  - but no fantasy musical numbers - yet.
Am I watching? Of course I am.

Current State Of Obsessions

We are a household filled with obsessions. Aren't you? For me, Bike Girl, it's fantasising a life on the road with my bike and my dog. Have you met my dog?
 Mrs D "arranged" him for me. I'd thought I'd like one of those rangy Lurcher guys. But I think some Chow Chow got in to Dog's mix by the look of him. Whatever, he is a good-natured old boy.

So what are these current obsessions? Grey Doll still reads crime novels and has just reviewed "Fatal Crossing", a crime debut by Danish journalist turned crime writer Lone Theils for Euro Crime. You can read The Doll's review in this post on the Euro Crime blog.

The Doll's eyes are tired and rectangular from her evening TV-viewing as well. She and The Old Man did give up on multinational crime thriller The Team ... and she is beginning to think that the third series of French dirty-politics and PR-villainies series, Spin, has ... spun. But she is happy to see Hinterland back on the screen. It's a Welsh crime series set in almost total darkness and packed with monosyllabic conversations... except for the Welsh bits. Loves the photography though, does the Doll.
Other viewing she has recently enjoyed includes globe-trotting situation comedy Gap Year. And, Oh, how she misses the weekly slot filled with pillage and war, tattooed Danes, prissy Saxons and the muscular, jaw-clenched Uhtred (nee Osbert) of Bebbenburg in The Last Kingdom.

You may ask about The Old Man's obsessions too. But why ask? Didn't you know that in the UK we have a General Election coming up? Shouting at the telly and radio has gone to maximum decibels in this household. Grey Doll joins in and then Dog starts barking.  Then I have to rev up the bike and dream of faraway hills and open roads.

In Front Of The Telly - The Living And The Dead: River, The Bridge And The Last Kingdom

Yes this is how it is. I spend my life watching telly... when I am not writing posts for this blog. Some of my viewing has been a disappointment... some has been stupendous.

Let me say I do not know what has got up the nose of the telly writers on a certain national TV listings magazine when it comes to the detective series "River". (I know that this finished several weeks ago but I just had to say something about it.) I thought it was a fantastic show. It wasn't "depressing", it wasn't dreary, the lead actors were brilliant, subtle and wonderful (Yes, this includes Stellan Skarsgard) and pardon me for being a viewer that does not mind an "art house ending"... though I am not sure what such a thing is. True, I did lose The Old Man's company after a couple of episodes. Those who follow this blog will know that The Old Man can be challenged when it comes to telling one face from another (this is very variable... some times he sees resemblances that I have not spotted). Add factors such as flashback scenes and "hallucinations" and his brain do give up and he stomps off to do the washing up. Me, I loved the concept of a cop who chats to dead people. In fact I loved it all, acting, plot, photography....

However both The Old Man and I are present and swashing and buckling in front of "The Last Kingdom" - BBC's adaptation of Bernard Cornwell's historical novel series The Saxon Stories. (Well look there are Scandinavians in it, yes?) There are criticisms of the occasional chronological lapse in the prop department... and some reviewers have lashed out at the production as a whole. I did dread a cod CGI'd world of action, stereotypes and gore. But I got drawn into the plot and the action and...by the subtleties. Blimey I wouldn't want a night out with Alfred... I expected a man who burned the cakes to be much more fun... and as for his wife..... Thankfully and praise-worthily (such a word?) the CGI is largely reserved for the landscape. Which is understandable. 9th century England was much emptier than it is now. So...if it is possible to swash, buckle and be thoughtful then "The Last Kingdom" does it for me.

Meanwhile Scandi-Saturdays on BBC Four continue in style with the return of Swedish-Danish production "The Bridge" in its third season. Episodes 1 & 2 set it off to a good start but I suspect that lead character Saga's new Danish cop partner may prove a challenge to The Old Man again.... for I'm not sure who that Danish cop talks to at home or what realm they are in.

On a disappointed note... I am persisting with the second series of French "dead" and "living" drama "The Returned"... but I think it has lost its way... or me. There are an awful lot of scenes between characters involving silent stares and very little conversation. So, so disappointed. I loved the first series.

Re-Reading a Favourite Book: "Borderliners" by Peter Hoeg

Remember I posted about Library Thing and the book groups you can join there?


As part of one group's subject challenge... to read around the theme of "education".... I've just finished re-reading a favourite of mine from the 1990s: Borderliners by Danish writer Peter Hoeg.


Set in Denmark in the early 1970s, the story is narrated from the viewpoint of one of the "borderline" children of the title: three damaged adolescents placed in an elite boarding school as part of a secret experiment in social integration by the Danish Education department. Peter and Katarina, the elder pair, try to look after the third and youngest - August - who is deeply damaged from a life of abuse at the hands of his own parents. Not knowing that they are the subjects of a social experiment, they observe their teachers and those in authority with feral detail in their efforts to interpret a survival pattern for themselves as individuals and as some kind of distorted family group. Their paranoia (if you like) also drives them deep into esoteric theories concerning time. It is a concern that stays with the narrator into adulthood and life in the "laboratory".... his term for everyday life and domesticity. These aspects make the book difficult to read. Some reviews love this complexity and originality... some see it as affectation. Whatever... I found reading Borderliners still to be an intense and moving experience. The book remains a favourite of mine and its denouement is both tragic and triumphant.

I also loved Hoeg's previous novel - Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow which is the book that brought Heog to the attention of the popular reading public. And which I now realise heralded my passion for Scandi-Noir as it falls more easily into the category of crime fiction. But each book Hoeg writes is different. In Borderliners he seems perhaps to have been at the forefront in writing about the damage wrought by institutional abuse (a subject now all too familiar to the contemporary reader) and in writing from the point of view of the psychological outsider. (If you enjoyed Stieg Larsson's Girl With The Dragon Tattoo you may realise how it's anti-hero Lisbeth Salander became who she was... after Hoeg's account of childrens homes, schools and psychological and physical abuse.)

Borderliners is currently "out of print" as I write this. But it is available - either secondhand or as a "print on demand" item - from various sellers via AbeBooks.

Saturday Night Borgen

Ooh... Saturday night treats on the telly last night....

(I do get away from the woes of the world with BBC's Dr Who 50th Anniversary Special ... What better way to dispel gloom than to contemplate the end of just about everything.)

Then The Old Man deigns to re-enter the room and it's time to get away from current depressing political shenanigans.... by settling down to watch the second batch of episodes of the final series of Danish tele-drama "Borgen".....

which be about............ politics.

The Parting Of The Recordings

So us euro-telly watchers in the UK who do favour BBC4 on a Saturday night... wave bye-bye for now (we hope it's just for now) to "Borgen" and all that Danish drama and politicking.

The Old Man do watch this alongside me.. in real-time broadcasting... but do occasionally get confused and asks me when is "the crime" coming in. I do remind him that this be a series about politics not crime... though......come to think of it....

Good news for me is that the slot will be filled by the new series of the French Flic crime buster "Spiral"... what I do like and what The Old Man do not. Too violent he do say. So I will not be able to partake in real-time broadcasting.. but will have to insist that it be recorded for me to catch up with.

I can see that The Old Man is getting tetchy with "Ripper Street" as well... what I do thoroughly enjoy despite some slightly sniffy press. That may end up being recorded and all.

Then there's the return of "Being Human".... vampires, werewolves and ghosts... not The Old Man's kinda thing at all....

But then.... he be on his own when we get those documentaries about "early steam power" or "Hitler" so...

to each his own.... and praise be for recording technology. (No. I don't have an iPhone.)

Good-Bye Sara Lund

So there it is. For those of us in the UK who watched the last episodes of "The Killing III" last night.

Blimey! I do not see that ending coming. They do always manage to surprise me, that team. And yes I do admit to being rather on the edge of my seat and chewing my nails and shouting at The Old Man not to talk so much cos I is reading the sub-titles. The Old Man huffs and says they could've wrapped it up previous episode....

I did complain a bit, I admit, at the US spin-off series of The Killing but by second season I do get the hang of it and do think it pretty good and rather grittier... and rainier.... than a lot of US cop series. And by grittier I do mean that the actors do not appear to have been botoxed and buffed to Alcatraz and back. So then they do announce that they be cancelling it! Typical I do say to myself. Now it is possible that they are un-cancelling it!  Or hang on a minute. Stop Press! May be cancelling it again? I give up....

Never Mind The Sheep - Back To Crime

OK. Brushing aside the brioche crumbs and sheep's wool...
I'm back to say that I do catch up with and greatly enjoy Tuesday's episode in BBC One's "Imagine" series: "Ian Rankin and the Case of the Disappearing Detective". Amongst other things it takes us through Rankin's writing process and his decision to bring Rebus back from retirement by following his writing of "Standing in Another Man's Grave"  from day one of draft one through to the book's completion.

I do very much enjoy watching this process and observe that an experienced and successful writer may still undergo that dreadful see-saw of doubt and satisfaction that accompanies creative activities. "Page 65" is apparently the tipping point. I just know the middle of making something is Doomsday.... but my efforts are largely confined to lino-cuts. Not quite such public acts of doubt then.

And of course while on the subject of crime thrillers - whatever Rankin may think about Scandinavian crime - a nation of fans is standing at the ready for the third and final series of "The Killing" due to take off with a double episode on our telly screens - BBC Four Saturday Nov 17th 21.00.

Saturday Night: The Bridge

So what's the verdict Scandi-Noir fans? On Danish/Swedish crime drama "The Bridge" shown in UK last night on BBC4?
Again BBC4 are choosing to show a blockbusting 2 episodes per Saturday night... which is OK by me. But it can leave The Old man wriggling a bit, seein as he is new to this crime drama thing. However, as I posted before... the re-circulation of Danish actors into each series does help The Old Man on his facial recognition thingy.
Anyway.... here we be... two episodes in... and maybe still a bit uninvolved in what so far is a range of rather unlovely characters? But OK maybe I am warming to the bewildered-by-Swedes, Danish detective, Martin. And I do wonder how far we can stretch this "detective as outsider" thing? It is of course an essential ingredient to a lot of crime drama.... but Saga, the Swedish lead detective, is further outside than most. Mmmmn ... she makes Sara Lund look like an Agony Aunt. Though... maybe I be warming a bit to Saga as well.  Whatever. Rest assured I be still watchin' next Saturday.
See what the "Grauniad" says about the series here.

The Old Man Gives "Those Who Kill" The Thumbs-up

So this is how it goes. We do record "Those Who Kill" on the Thursday night telly. Then we do watch it like Friday night... fast forwarding them pesky adverts... And now The Old Man has announced that he do prefer it to the various "Killings".

This is of course a modern-day sacrilege but The Old Man is now so confident in his views that he be pontificating on Euro-crime telly.... to ME! I mean I'ms the one who wants to watch it.

I have explained his difficulties with crime films/telly before... on account of all telly faces look pretty much the same for him. Well. Now that he has the familiarity of interchangeable Danish telly actors... he be happy.

Also... he do explain another advantage of "Those Who Kill".

It has one crime per episode... or strictly speaking... a serial crime per episode... This do give him another aspect of comfort. The monoplot.

"No sub-plots!" he do say. He be so pleased. Everything become easy now.

One thing I myself say about it.

Some critics have complained that "Katrine" is no Sarah Lund ("Forbrydelsen" reference).

Sillies. You be looking at the wrong obsessive, say I.

It's not Katrine who is the "Sarah Lund-alike" in this series.

It's Thomas Schaeffer... the psychiatrist.

Travels With My Film-Life: Outer Space & "Melancholia"

Well is it Outer Space I ask myself?

We's here at a posh wedding reception in Lars von Trier's film "Melancholia". And the bride (Kirsten Dunst) be going loopy... but who would wonder at that... given the mad parents what she has got (played by Charlotte Rampling and John Hurt) and the controlling sister (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and rich as Croesus brother-in-law (Keifer Sutherland).

She be marrying Michael (Alexander Skarsgard... who at other times be vampire Eric in "True Blood") but seems to be going off the idea...

It becomes clear that a planet has popped out from behind the sun and is on collision course with the earth.... The rational characters explain that it will miss and not be the end of all things. But there is of course an element of doubt. Anyway the plot progresses with large helpings of Wagner's "Tristan" theme...

And I do sit there somewhat stunned at the end of the film but... you know what? Next day it's still with me. So although it's got maybe a mixed reception... I do indeed think it is a good film. But then I am a bit of a von Trier fan.

But also I do see it described as science fiction and....

of course it ain't.

I think it is in fact a study of melancholia, depression, whatever... that darned old rogue planet that pops out from behind the sun in order to smash everything to bits....

The Old Man Gets Into Danish Crime

So there we be... sittin wonderin what to watch on the box on a night completely devoid of stuff.
I's dreading, I admit, The Old Man announcing that we can watch a nice DVD. Perhaps an item of acclaimed third world cinema involving grim peasant life and not a little goat slaughter; or an early art film from the silent era what goes on for at least two hours.... parts one and then two.... another three hours.

But no. He do say...

"Shall we watch that new Danish crime thing? What we recorded the other night?"

I be gob-smacked as I had decided I would be watching this all by myself in hourly instalments. So I do say in bewildered tone "Er?....Sure...."

And so we do. It's the Danish crime series "Those Who Kill" broadcast for Brits on ITV3 on Thursdays at 10pm. And the Old Man enjoys it. This is a new development. He do already make it clear that he wants no more of the Inspector Montalbano series on Saturday nights on BBC4....
But I had not reckoned with his well-known lack of facial recognition tendency (see this Post.).

It is a wondrous experience as The Old Man settles down and with great air of pride shouts out the "identity" of the actors:

"Politician - "Killing 1"..... soldier - "Killing 2"..."
"Secretary - Borgen..." shout I, joining in with the spirit of the thing...

Seriously, The Old Man thoroughly enjoys the familiarity of it all.
We shall be watching more. But pre-recorded.... there is at least half an hour's worth of adverts in it... and this way you can speed through. Oh, and if you missed it... they seem to be discrete stories per episode so you can start watching soon with no great loss.

You will find a helpful diagram explaining the recycling of Danish actors in this Guardian article!

The Old Man Watches "The Killing 2" on BBC4

So. There we have it. Saturday nights on the telly worked out.

As you may know The Old Man does have some problems with things like film or telly dramas... that facial recognition thing... (see Post for 6 Sept 2011)... So I's being all careful about it and says that as long as I can watch Episode 1 in real time... and Episode 2 is recorded for me to catch up with... then he's let off and we can watch something else at 10 pm. Cos I know he did manage most of the first series... much to my surprise.

He looks at me uneasy but says OK. And so we watch the first episode at the end of which The Old Man lets out a great sigh of relief. Then he says to me:

"Think I'd like to watch something else now. Rather than straight into the next episode."

"OK" say I, "I'll just pop out for a mo... be back in a minute..."

So I come back a few minutes later...

and The Old Man is sat there.... gripping the arms of his chair.... with the credits for Episode 2 of "The Killing 2" rolling up the screen.

"Hey! You..." yell I.... as I settle down on the sofa.... just in time...

This Saturday - The Killing 2

Just a little reminder.

This Saturday Nov 19th on BBC4 at 9pm. Sara's back on British TV in series 2 of Danish thriller "The Killing".

Episode 1 at 9pm and episode 2 follows at 10pm. The Old Man will complain that he can't possibly sustain two hours on the trot.... wimp! But hey.. what are HDDr gizmos for, or "catchup" on the Internet.

And... And... for those of you Sara fans who are also knitaholics... Radio Times (19th - 25th Nov issue) has a knitting pattern for the new red sweater. Yes. The new one. Well they certainly hope to boost sales.

"The Strand" & a Short Interview With Jussi Adler-Olsen

Lyin' around listenin to BBC World Service as I do. I catch their arts programme "The Strand" which includes a short interview with Danish crime writer Jussi Adler-Olsen on the popularity of Scandinavian Crime Fiction. Check out these links to find out more and "listen again".

And...and..and...
.....following on from yesterday's post about BBC4's Scandinavian Crime shows there is a Stop Press for Wallander portrayed by Rolf Lassgard. BBC 4 is showing a feature-length Wallander story "The Pyramid" starring Rolf Lassgard tonight, Saturday 12 Nov, at 9pm... repeated November Fri 18 at 01:30 am)

Mrs Doonuthin reckons you should know about all this stuff.

More Scandinavian Crime Comes to the Telly

I meant to say....
that the Independent mentions several Scandinavian treats coming to BBC4 in 2012.

One is a Danish/Swedish co-production titled "The Bridge" - because the body of a woman is indeed found bang in the middle of the Oresund Bridge that connects Danish Copenhagen and Swedish Malmo - which means that a two-country police team has to be assembled in order to investigate the crime.

Another is "Sebastian Bergman" - two 90 minute films starring Rolf Lassgard (last seen by us as Kurt Wallander in a feature length version of "The Man Who Smiled") as a detective investigating the death of a 15 year old boy. You can read a bit more about both of these here.

There is also a Danish political series "Borgen" from the same production company as "The Killing".

Meanwhile... and for something a bit more Gallic... anybody got any news on the fourth series of French crime serial "Spiral" aka "Engrenages"?

Red Sweater Day: "The Killing 2" is Coming

Hang on to your nicotine chewing gum, Sara's back.

And this time the sweater is red.

Yup! Splendid Danish crime serial "Forbrydelsen" returns to BBC 4 with Series 2, starting Saturday Nov 19th. You can read the Independent's article and their interview with lead actress Sofie Grabol here.

But meanwhile make sure you clear the calendar, set up the HDR or ... whatever it takes to make sure that you see "The Killing 2" from the very start.

Me? I'm sittin' in front of the telly right now... and I ain't movin till I seen it....

"The Killing is Killing Me"

Gotta another mail the other day from my insomniac "Forbrydelsen-fan" friend. Now she is lying awake worrying about some plot points that are puzzling her. She did send me a whole list to clear up. But I says: "Don't look at me. You need Mrs Doonuthin for this."

So I has a go at passing some of the questions over to Mrs Doonuthin... like
"Was Nanna killed at the flat or in the woods?"
"Who cut the wire to the stairwell light outside Lund's flat"
"Why did the powers that be want to cover up the link between Nanna's and Mette's murders?"
... and many more.

Mrs Doonuthin, ever helpful, looks up at me with bleary eyes, hiccups, and says: "I dunno... didn't spot them dyscreppersies meself... I just thought it was a jolly good telly-thing, me."

Sorry, dear friend - despite her cutting edge critical faculties, Mrs Doonuthin is of no use whatsoever. Meanwhile, I can assure you that you only have to Google "Forbrydelsen Nanna..." to get plenty of blogospheric discussion links on the matter of plot points.

But I shall step over Mrs Doonuthin's snoozing form, ponder on your questions - and get back to you.

Ruining Your Friends' Sleeping Habits: Telly

I got mail the other day... from a friend who's complaining that she's not sleepin well... cos she's lyin there trying to anticipate the plots of both versions of The Killing. And this is also because she's stayin up half the night watchin both versions. She blames me totally for this. (see my recent post bout this here).

I am sorry, babe. Oh! but don't tell me the outcome for the US version cos I haven't caught up with that myself!! Good job I didn't tell you to catch up on BBC4's "Spiral" at the same time though.

Oh where would we be without BBC4's foreign crime serials?

Well don't hold your breath. We may be able to find out soon. Remember those cut announcements are due soon. (See this post.)

"The Killing": That Sweater. She's Back.

Sara's back. A series of repeat showings of "Forbrydelsen" - the original Danish crime series known as The Killing, starts tonight on BBC 4 at 10pm. Be warned, if you haven't seen it before, it's a long old series. But I's been hooked.

Channel 4 is still showing the U.S. remake on Thursdays at 9pm. I will now admit to starting to lose interest in this version. Though I think the lead actress, Mireille Enos, is very good. But for me... I dunno... times like these I realise that I feel at home with... European!

So, if you haven't seen the Danish original. And crime telly is your thing. Turn off the phone. Get out the popcorn.... or nicotine gum... and settle in for the duration. Cos then. Mmmn. Series 2 starts in the autumn.