Arne Dahl: The Blinded Man (2011)

A botched bank robbery sets the pace for this Swedish mini series. Ultimately, this event will play largely in the thriller. Based on a novel by Arne Dahl, "Misterioso"' which we had read some time ago. The two part series is an adaptation of the book shown recently on cable. The creators of this police drama were probably capitalizing in the newly popular "black novel" genre. At the center of the story is Paul Hjelm, a detective who decides to act on his instinct, rather than with the guide lines set by the department. Paul walked into a hostage situation wounding the desperate African immigrant who stands to be deported. Knowing his job in the police department is in jeopardy, Paul is surprised when he is recruited by Jenny Hultin to participate in the team she has put together to investigate the slaying of several prominent business executives by an unknown killer.To make matters worse, Paul's own problems at home with his wife, get even more complicated by the long hours he has to work trying yo unravel the mystery behind the murders. The team zeroes in the Russian mafia, as the ones responsible for the crimes, which operate out of Talinn, Estonia, and is muscling their way into the distribution of adulterated liquor that finds its way to most drinking places. One of the detectives, Chavez, is responsible for identifying the tune being played at one of the murder scenes. It is a rare piece played by legendary jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. Paul gets lucky in correctly pinpointing the real culprit, going after the perpetrator. Directed by Harald Hamrell, the series involves the viewer in surprising ways. The adaptation is credited to Cecilia and Rolf Borjlind, who expanded on the original Arne Dahl's text. The assembled cast does a credible job for director Hamrell. As an ensemble piece, everyone gets a chance to shine. Trolle Davidson, the cinematographer captures in excellent images the mood of the story.

Scandanavian crime thrillers have been spreading across the world in recent years: the superb 'The Killing', the stylish (though silly) 'The Bridge', or the various reconditionings of 'Wallander', fundamentally a Swedish version of 'Inspector Morse'. This dramatisation of a set of stories by crime write Arne Dahl about a specialist crime unit are the latest to make it to the UK; but sadly, they demonstrate that not everything is brilliant just because it's from the north. Although realist in tone, the plots of each two part episode feel immensely contrived and over-complex, while the background soap-opera, the private lives of its immensely ordinary protagonists, is both dull and obvious. And the whole thing is so slow: each three hour slug crawls forward, yet the details of the story seem hard to remember, with endless similar scenes and more blood than tension. Understated is one thing; but this is neither truly believable, nor (in any sense) fun.

BBC4 it seems is flooding the UK market with every Scandinavian cop series going but if it means I have an alternative to "The Voice" and "Britain's Got Talent", you'll not find me complaining.This Swedish-made production sees a handful of maverick cops put together by a sort of female George Cowley to capture a serial killer who is blowing away fat-cat financiers. Centring on one cop above the rest, who naturally has family issues (don't they all and always) and who loses control in a hostage situation, he gets reprieved from suspension by getting to join the team. Spread over two ninety minute episodes, it's too long and shows its padding, especially the contrived participation of Russian gangs while some of the plot devices are just too esoteric and coincidental, key items of evidence include, for example a rare Thelonious Monk recording and individually crafted darts, while I found I didn't have much sympathy for our family-man hero after he bedded his female colleague the first chance he got.Still, there are some good deaths and a gripping and exciting climax with a well-worked circularity which saw Viggo revisit his earlier hostage crisis and of course this time get it right. The acting by all concerned was excellent and the direction flowing and occasionally imaginative, while as ever the cinematography was of a high standard.By the end of this episode, I felt quite comfortable with the different personalities of the group and wonder if they'll be brought back together for further cases in the rest of the series.

After the glories of 'Wallander' and 'The Killing' followed by 'Borgen' the rubbish has started to appear from Scandinavia on Saturday nights on BBC4. First, we had the less than inspiring 'The Bridge' which is going to be remade all over the world. Apart from the main female character 'The Bridge' was tired, sloppy and unbelievable. A lot of stories seem to turn an ordinary person into a Moriarty-type genius serial killer overnight, and therefore the plot sucks and the climax totally unbelievable.'The Blinded Man,' to give this two part TV movie its UK title, was almost totally unbelievable throughout. A group of six disparate detectives are brought together to catch a serial killer who is shooting very rich businessmen at the rate of one a night! Cue rich business people not having any private security protection anywhere in sight! They just go down bang bang as the tecs slouch about with different theories involving Russian Mafioso (not that one again!) getting precisely nowhere. Obvious violence, a few desultory car chases, some urgent dashing about, the heavy police killing mob surrounding suspects, and flaky back stories for the detectives owe more to crass Hollywood well below par police thrillers than Scando-noir! Yes, it is lazy, poorly written, very sloppily directed, and very underpowered in the acting stakes. For example, Roney as tec Paul Hjeim is such a poorly drawn character with such a poor performance given that one almost loses the will to watch. The way the action stops occasionally for characters to interact and fill in their backgrounds has all the interest of watching paint dry as well as being some of the clunkiest television I have seen for ages. Of course, the villain is not introduced until about twenty minutes from the end, so no hope of solving the case yourself! And my final blast goes to the absolute nonsense of seeing one of the group nailed to a wall, like a crucifixion, by Russian thugs, and yet he can walk about pulling his suitcase on a flight home within a few hours! Really!!!!!!!!!!!!! If the book is this bad, then the author ( a noted literary critic! ) should offer to stand down while his work receives a thorough good kicking. I will be looking elsewhere for the rest of this terrible series!