Danish Drama
So, I haven't updated my blog for a while and that's mainly because I've been watching TV. I am working on a post about Skyfall (coming soon!) but mostly it's all about spending time with the box. After all, if it's good enough for Homer Simpson, it's good enough for me. I will confess right now that I do have a bit of a thing for trash tv. I'm still a devoted Eastenders fan (always will be) and I also indulged in a bit of Celebrity Big Brother (sorry!). However, at the moment, I think the best thing on TV is the so called Scandi-Drama that has been brought to us from Denmark.
Now, I'm not an expert on Danish TV drama, I've only watched Borgen and The Killing 1 but I love both and I'm going to explain why...
We first started watching Borgen when it appeared on BBC4. It had great reviews in the TV guide and Saturday night is generally a bit of a wasteland when it comes to TV drama (especially now Merlin is finished) so we thought we'd give it a go and I was gripped from the very first episode. I think there are a few different reasons as to why this is. Firstly, I think it's about the way I watch. What I mean by this is, because it's a foreign language TV drama, I have to keep my eyes on the screen at all times, meaning that I'm really concentrating on what is going on. I can't think of any other TV programmes that get my full concentration. When I watch TV it's often a background thing whilst I'm on the computer or playing with my phone. I can't do that whilst watching Borgen or The Killing, otherwise I'd completely miss the plot and so I'm fully engaged from the very first moment. It genuinely is: get a cup of tea before it starts and don't move until the end (sometimes two whole hours because genius scheduling means we get two episodes back to back).
The storylines in Borgen are fairly simple and yet also complicated and deep and intriguing. Who'd have thought Danish politics could be so interesting? Who'd have thought I'd understand anything about it? (this is another reason I love it; it makes me feel intelligent!!) the relationships between Birgitte Nyborg and the people around her are sensitive, she has to manage people and situations carefully and she always, always needs to negotiate. Decisions are made thoughtfully and the "issue" of the episode develops slowly - an hour long drama allows this - and yet it also feels fast paced, plenty goes on, dialogue is delivered quickly and we see the different perspectives of politians and journalists.
Another reason I love both these dramas are the characters. Both Borgen and The Killing feature strong women. I am a woman, so it stands to reason that I'm going to like these characters. Yes, they are flawed and like many TV dramas, the women we see cannot have it all (difficult relationships and chaotic home life feature) but both the women push the narrative forward and are in positions of power. Sarah Lund is cool, calm and thoughtful whilst Birgitte Nyborg and the journalist Katrine Fonsmark are both guided by strong morals and stand by the difficult decisions they make. In British TV Drama, I don't think we see such a range of strong female characters - yes we have the powerful matriarchs that feature in soap operas but women are largely absent from political and crime drama unless they are in a supporting role to a lead male character or, in the case of crime, play the victim (obviously I am aware there are some exceptions here)
Which leads me nicely to say more about The Killing. Firstly, I should say that I have arrived late to the party. When everyone else was raving about Sarah Lund and her jumpers, I'm not quite sure what I was doing - watching Strictly Come Dancing maybe? Currently I've watched only 5 episodes of Series 1. My Mother-in-law has watched more episodes of The Killing than me, in fact, the in-laws were the ones who lent us the box set. Thank goodness they did, this show is highly addictive and I don't know what I'd do if I had to wait a week between episodes.
One of the reasons why I love The Killing (in addition to points made above) is the simple but sophisticated way in which it is filmed. So many crime dramas these days rely heavily on fast paced editing, loads of jump cuts and flashbacks. Gory reconstructions have become the norm and sometimes the use of special effects gets in the way of telling a decent story. The Killing is pretty old school - a fairly detailed recap at the start, a very slow reverse zoom at the end and mise-en-scene that might make you think the show is set in the '70s. The Killing has been called "Denmark's answer to The Wire" and I can see why, as they both use similar visual techniques, however, I lost interest in The Wire after three episodes and have yet to re-visit it even though the box set is ready and waiting.
There are loads more reasons why I love these shows but I'm desperate to get this post up because a) I really want to encourage those who haven't seen them to tune in - don't be put off by the subtitles, you'll get used to them and listening to the dialogue delivered in another language brings another kind of joy and b)I want to share my love of Scandi Drama with others and, now that series 2 of Borgen is coming to an end, find out what else I should be watching from this part of the world.
Tak!
Now, I'm not an expert on Danish TV drama, I've only watched Borgen and The Killing 1 but I love both and I'm going to explain why...
We first started watching Borgen when it appeared on BBC4. It had great reviews in the TV guide and Saturday night is generally a bit of a wasteland when it comes to TV drama (especially now Merlin is finished) so we thought we'd give it a go and I was gripped from the very first episode. I think there are a few different reasons as to why this is. Firstly, I think it's about the way I watch. What I mean by this is, because it's a foreign language TV drama, I have to keep my eyes on the screen at all times, meaning that I'm really concentrating on what is going on. I can't think of any other TV programmes that get my full concentration. When I watch TV it's often a background thing whilst I'm on the computer or playing with my phone. I can't do that whilst watching Borgen or The Killing, otherwise I'd completely miss the plot and so I'm fully engaged from the very first moment. It genuinely is: get a cup of tea before it starts and don't move until the end (sometimes two whole hours because genius scheduling means we get two episodes back to back).
The storylines in Borgen are fairly simple and yet also complicated and deep and intriguing. Who'd have thought Danish politics could be so interesting? Who'd have thought I'd understand anything about it? (this is another reason I love it; it makes me feel intelligent!!) the relationships between Birgitte Nyborg and the people around her are sensitive, she has to manage people and situations carefully and she always, always needs to negotiate. Decisions are made thoughtfully and the "issue" of the episode develops slowly - an hour long drama allows this - and yet it also feels fast paced, plenty goes on, dialogue is delivered quickly and we see the different perspectives of politians and journalists.
Another reason I love both these dramas are the characters. Both Borgen and The Killing feature strong women. I am a woman, so it stands to reason that I'm going to like these characters. Yes, they are flawed and like many TV dramas, the women we see cannot have it all (difficult relationships and chaotic home life feature) but both the women push the narrative forward and are in positions of power. Sarah Lund is cool, calm and thoughtful whilst Birgitte Nyborg and the journalist Katrine Fonsmark are both guided by strong morals and stand by the difficult decisions they make. In British TV Drama, I don't think we see such a range of strong female characters - yes we have the powerful matriarchs that feature in soap operas but women are largely absent from political and crime drama unless they are in a supporting role to a lead male character or, in the case of crime, play the victim (obviously I am aware there are some exceptions here)
Which leads me nicely to say more about The Killing. Firstly, I should say that I have arrived late to the party. When everyone else was raving about Sarah Lund and her jumpers, I'm not quite sure what I was doing - watching Strictly Come Dancing maybe? Currently I've watched only 5 episodes of Series 1. My Mother-in-law has watched more episodes of The Killing than me, in fact, the in-laws were the ones who lent us the box set. Thank goodness they did, this show is highly addictive and I don't know what I'd do if I had to wait a week between episodes.
One of the reasons why I love The Killing (in addition to points made above) is the simple but sophisticated way in which it is filmed. So many crime dramas these days rely heavily on fast paced editing, loads of jump cuts and flashbacks. Gory reconstructions have become the norm and sometimes the use of special effects gets in the way of telling a decent story. The Killing is pretty old school - a fairly detailed recap at the start, a very slow reverse zoom at the end and mise-en-scene that might make you think the show is set in the '70s. The Killing has been called "Denmark's answer to The Wire" and I can see why, as they both use similar visual techniques, however, I lost interest in The Wire after three episodes and have yet to re-visit it even though the box set is ready and waiting.
There are loads more reasons why I love these shows but I'm desperate to get this post up because a) I really want to encourage those who haven't seen them to tune in - don't be put off by the subtitles, you'll get used to them and listening to the dialogue delivered in another language brings another kind of joy and b)I want to share my love of Scandi Drama with others and, now that series 2 of Borgen is coming to an end, find out what else I should be watching from this part of the world.
Tak!
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