zoschenkooksanna Reviews

Frikjent (2015–2016)

So much potential unrealized, but great acting.

[5/10 · 5 November 2022]

The problems that plagued Frikjent, especially in the second series, are common enough in other series. I would call it a contract-derived failing, where either extra episodes were required, so it was dragged out, or planned future episodes are cancelled, whereby characters and plotlines get killed off suddenly. Both maladies, occurring one after the other, are apparent here.

Scriptwriting opportunites lost: Single Series Opportunity: The trial should have ended with a guilty verdict for William, and the work compressed or re-edited tightly into just one series. It could still be achieved with some days in the cutting room, and re-released. Aksel embarks on a new life with the Prosecutor OR reunites with his Malaysian wife and son. Inger and Lars reconcile. Tonje gets back with her research assistant boyfriend, and they start a family. Aksel re-establishes the company . He is approached by town thugs who apologize for their behaviour. The town has jobs again. Happy ending.

Two Series Opportunity: The penultimate scene in S02E08 should have been as follows and there should have been two plot-dense episodes to make for ten episodes in each series:

• The two cars stop at the snowdrift. Lars snaps, approaches his parents' car with the rifle.

• There is a struggle with his mother Eva over the bonnet of the car, for the weapon, and she gets hold of it, it discharges, wounding Lars but killing William who sits in the passenger seat.

• She then tries to kill Aksel, but he escapes back towards the mountain cottage, with Eva, armed, in pursuit.

• Lars calls the police who arrive via helicopter and shoot Eva as she is about to take out Aksel, high in the mountains.

• Eva survives, but is charged with the murder of William but found guilty of manslaughter of William and attempted murder of Lars and Aksel, the two half-brothers.

• Lars confesses and is charged with the murder of his sister, Karine twenty years ago, but he is acquitted because he was underage, and her slipping on the rocks and dying was not foreseeable.

• The Malaysian asset-stripping company threatens to sue for theft of intellectual property buts nothing comes of it.

• Aksel Nilsen is totally exonerated, his wife and son arrive from Malaysia. They reconcile. The wife becomes the new solar company's deputy administrator/lawyer. Together they look after the old Mom.

• Brother Erik moves permanently back into his Mom's former house, now renovated, and it looks amazing. Half the year he looks after Mom, the other half year he has a job in France as ski instructor. New girlfriend.

Happy ending.

Summary of the issues: Many reviewers said the show should have ended with series one, and they are correct. But the last few episodes of series one were stripped of content and resolutions to give enough leads for series two. Series two should have been better resolved in the final episode. It contained major plot errors and failed to achieve a satisfactory resolution to the tension.

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: The Woman in the Big Hat (1971) Season 1, Episode 9

The Female Department relegated to the Storeroom at the Yard

[8/10 · 23 September 2022]

But it shines. Yes, if you are one of the Victorian crime literati or a Conan Doyle expert or seasoned Thespian weary of the view beyond proscenium, you will tear great holes in this production. But relatively speaking, compared to the seedy Dorrington episodes, to a normal viewer, this episode of the series, it just shines. The ladies do a great job, Inspector Saunders too.

The culprit wasn't too obvious. The interaction between the personalities, is indeed a tad like a theatre production, reminiscent of the Oscar Wilde productions, but who cares, as long as it is this good?

Even the Viennese virago was faultless, colorful and delightful. If only the rest of Series One was as good.

Oh, and yes, the ladies talk a little bit. Well, a lot. Men, get used to it. And bring on more drama like this, please.

After the Rain (1999)

A film for the contemporary age.

[9/10 · 7 August 2018]

There are so many layers to this film. So I can't dissect them all. All I really want to say is, if you are going through a change or hiatus in your employment status, or are unhappy in you work, or even out of work, and are looking for some direction, then this is the film for you. They finished the film on a perfect note, at a perfect moment. When you get to the end, you will see. And if you don't get it, then it wasn't the story for you.

Only God Forgives (2013)

If you like Takeshi Kitano....

[9/10 · 18 February 2018]

This is as good if not better than Violent Cop (1989) by Beat Kitano. When I saw the shorts I thought the Thai cop was evil. Now I know better...heh-heh. But hey, what about the scene before last? Was that just a dream? Or did he really make the final cut?

Bænken (2000)

Rob a liquor store and descend into the bender from hell with Jesper Christensen...

[8/10 · 21 January 2016]

Three men, a poor man, a rich man and an anything but average man, are in abominable situations, all of their own choosing, and they have to struggle to create something good out of it, no matter how insignificant and unimportant that good may seem to others. Per Fly's Danish Trilogy, begins here, with Baenken, and I found Christensen's poor alcoholic utterly convincing. Didn't recognize him. Felt every rasping draw of the astringent cigarette smoke, the throat retching gulp of every mouthful of borrowed beer and stolen liquor. His failed attempt to reestablish a relationship with his daughter, soul crushing. His battle to the death to do something, anything to redeem himself, incredibly moving, heroic. His masterful performance to some extent, overshadows the plot, the whole film. Followed by Arven, and Drapet to complete the trilogy.

Manslaughter (2005)

Morality tale and relationship dynamics refresher

[8/10 · 20 January 2016]

In this, the third installment in Per Fly's trilogy, again the familiar conservative themes of the primacy of family, and a moral imperative not to shirk responsibilities, yet not to harm others, come to the fore. In a scene reminiscent of shock-jock Jack in Terry Gilliam's The Fisher King inciting a listener to murder, Carsten possibly instigates Pil's violent actions resulting in the murder of a policeman, the arrest of his young activist lover, the end of his marriage, and the start of some predictable but still interesting relationship developments and deepening moral questions. This reviewer did not find it drawn out, rather, the pace was about right.

The Inheritance (2003)

Scandinavian coming of age tale for men.

[8/10 · 17 January 2016]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And what most reviewers believe is that The Inheritance is about how a man, bullied by his domineering mother, turns his back on a beautiful wife and life in Sweden and betrays everything and everyone, ending up a basket case and pale shadow of his former self. But they're all wrong. A contrarian reading of the film goes thusly: A man is in a relationship in which he is the subservient party. But he doesn't know it. He decides, against the wishes of his persuasive wife, and out of conscientious duty to the steel workers, to take control of the family business. He makes many difficult decisions, but all are guided by his desire to do the right thing, and for others to do the right thing by him. Where is the fault therein? He is let down by his backstabbing brother in law and his cheating wife. He forgives her, and eventually him. But, and through a classic bit of Scando' understatement we discover this, she keeps on cheating. Eventually she leaves him. Presumably Alfred (the libidinous Lothario) dumps her when she is no longer married. Christopher, our protagonist, manages to save the steel mill, reinstate some sacked workers, get his act together, get a reliable wife, and with some encouragement from Mom, basically grow up. This is a brilliant Scandi coming of age film for the fellas. It is little wonder that the luvvie set viewed it with puzzlement and decided it was an anti-capitalist polemic. The attempted rape of a middle aged, swarthy-complexioned French maid by Christopher after his wife walked out on him, was greeted with incredulity by the critics, as proof of his moral decline. But if you notice the humble maid with broom is the antithesis of his flighty, starry-eyed wife, it becomes clearer: she represents a modest, caring, constant heart, an irresistible attraction, and more evidence that the film is a vehicle, a clarion call for return to traditional values, utterly incomprehensible to the current generation of filmerati. One other thing. Pay particular attention to the opening minutes of the film. They are important for later.

Fortitude (2015–2018)

Long-in-the-tusk pachyderm destined for bone-yard?

[4/10 · 31 March 2015]

Espen Xandrius was right! I am glad I searched the reviews to discover that someone had already pegged this. The UK makers of this series have taken ideas from elsewhere to form the backbone of this one. And the obvious inspiration is John Carpenter's The Thing (1982). Or even the 2011 remake of same. And maybe thrown in a little "Terror in the Midnight Sun" (1959) to boot. (Edit: Oh, and I almost forgot Peter Hoag's 1993 novel "Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow" featuring isolated meteorite crash site with deadly arctic parasitic worm species). From "An alien life-form with the ability to take over other bodies" to a contagious bug frozen in the ice that drives people crazy, is not such a stretch.

But to drag out what took Carpenter's (and Hoag's) concepts into ten and counting episodes so far, without even joining the dots for the characters, so they are still running around unaware that there is a weird and dangerous prehistoric germ on the loose, well, its just disrespectful to one's audience I reckon. I always liked the way that John Carpenter made his own music soundtracks, using cutting edge 1960s synthesizers, for his cult films. The music on this one is much less memorable, in my opinion. The Anglo-Celtic percussion with bare voice for the soundtrack betrays its cultural roots, and they ain't in the Arctic. Scandi-folk or even a bit of "doof" from Armin van Buuren would have been better. I would say Ana Brun and Fleshquartet's The Opening used in the Final Wallander series is a hint at how it could have been done.

And is the elongated, going nowhere plot shaping up to be another Mad Dogs? That was one mutt that should have been put down after the third series. Director/Writer Simon Donald had better do something, and fast, or this ailing long-in-the-tusk woolly pachyderm is destined for the knacker's yard.