The Killing (2007)

Recommended

Denmark/Norway/Sweden

Television Mini-Series

Original Title: Forbrydelsen

Head Writer: Søren Sveistrup

Cast: Sofie Gråbøl, Lars Mikkelsen, Søren Malling, Bjarne Henriksen, Ann Eleonora Jørgensen, Marie Askehave, Michael Moritzen, Nicolaj Kopernikus, Bent Mejding, Johan Gry, Morten Suurballe, Farshad Kholghi

On her last day before leaving for a new life in Sweden, Sarah Lund, an obsessive police detective, gets drawn into a murder investigation, partnering up with her replacement to find the murderer of 19-year-old Nanna Birk Larsen, a case filled with twists, turns, and much political skulduggery, in Sveistrup’s hugely addictive, well acted, and often quite brilliant mini-series, which miraculously manages to survive its numerous clichés, its gratingly constant score, some occasionally over-zealous editing, and a horribly distracting star cameo. Iain.Stott

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The Woman Who Dreamt of a Man (2010)

Best Avoided

Denmark/France/Norway/Poland/Sweden

Feature Film

Original Title: Kvinden der drømte om en mand

Director: Per Fly

Writers: Per Fly, Dorthe Warnø Høgh

Cinematographer: Harald Gunnar Paalgard

Composers: Kristian Eidnes Andersen, Stefan Nilsson

Cast: Sonja Richter, Marcin Dorocinski, Michael Nyqvist, Monika Krzywkowska, Olga Boladz

A curious and decidedly disappointing misfire from the director of The Bench (2000), this erotic thriller of sorts, which is neither erotic nor thrilling but merely risible, depicts the tawdry, passionate affair that sparks up between a Danish fashion photographer and a Polish economics professor in a Paris hotel, which, when shifted to Warsaw, develops into a dangerous (and rather familiar) obsession for the female party. Iain.Stott

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