Erbarmen

Slow moving detective movie but I like it like that.No excessive reading of words in another language because the film speaks for itself. The director has created a very entertaining atmosphere. You develop a feel for the investigation. The editing is tight. Nothing is wasted. The homicide detective gets demoted to cold case files. He picks up one that speaks to him. A suicide that after digging does not come close to a suicide and no body. Going deeper in, nothing is easy or as it seems. As you move along the story unfolds in tidbits and gets darker and darker. Man sinks about as low as a human twisted can go. I don't want to give away any of the ending but with lackluster uncommon in Hollywood style movie making it's riveting. I enjoyed this gem immensely.

Kvinden i buret has got the English, and much better title, The Keeper of Lost Causes, in stead of what should have been The caged woman. The Danish title is maybe the worst about this film, but still that's due to the Novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen, which have had a good portion of success with the crime novels about detective Carl. The international title I find as very suitable, and promises more to come!

Carl (played by Nikolaj Lie Kaas) is a cop which after a mistake thrown off his normal job as detective, after nearly being shot. His wife has dumped him, his best friend and fellow detective is dead and his ex-partner crippled, both in the same case which nearly cost him life. He is put at a desk to close open old cases. But he has other plans. I'll leave the case here, but the film is so well made, and the actors play so well in a well crafted script by Nicolaj Arcel, which really is an amazing writer, that this is well worth a watch.

The film manages to be interesting all the way through, and even gives us as viewers some really hard scenes to watch, as well as giving some kins of flashbacks which is really fresh. The casting is also very good when it comes to these time flashbacks, which show real quality.

This is the start of a franchise of Adler-Olsen filmed novels, and I hope the next will be just as good. Nicolaj Lie-Kaas has said yes to three more. Surprisingly also well known Swedish comedy film maker Fares Fares function as his sidekick, though his Danish is quite bad. But it works, due to his credibility, and that he is a foreign breaking on Danish.

Check it out.

I saw this on a rented DVD in 2014. Felt like writing a review before i watch two of its sequels. The plot - After a raid gone wrong that resulted in the death of one of his team and the paralysis of another, a homicide cop Nikolaj Lie Kaas has been kicked to the basement aka Department Q to tie off five years of unresolved cases along with an inexperienced assistant called Faras Faras. They wind up pursuing the case of a high-ranking female politician, a supposed suicide whose body was never found. In short this is Scandinavian Noir. The acting of the two leading detectives is assured and the cinematography is compelling. It is a perfectly adequate crime thriller that will appeal to fans of this genre. The Keeper of Lost Causes is genuinely gripping, even though the direction is fairly standard and the main plot elements are predictable. Fans of The Treatment, Marshland, Memories of murder, Headhunters, Insomnia, True Detectives - S1 will definitely enjoy this.

If your a fan of Nordic noir like me then there is enough here in Department Q to keep you entertained for 90 minutes. Whilst I did find the plot far fetched and totally implausible. The fast paced script quality acting, and the usual dark moody cinematography the Danes do so well, made this an enjoyable watch and look forward to further installments.

Scandinavian detective films is a sign of international quality, especially for those who think that stories can be catchy without constant chases-shootings and without a thin line between law machinery and criminals. Kvinden i buret is a nice and solid example such films, plus talented character actors in leading roles - a Dane Nikolaj Lie Kaas and an Assyrian from Sweden Fares Fares (by the way, speaking tolerable Danish). Multidimensional plot provides additional tensions and you start to ponder who and why, the outcome is logical, although the wrongdoer's person and motives were revealed a bit too early. The film includes several clichés as well (for example, injudicious boss vs. solitary pigheaded detective, bickers between partners), but they are not annoying, enabling to unfold the characters and justify certain deeds.

All in all, a nice film, and first in the line of films (to be) made on the basis of Jussi Adler-Olsen's novels. I am looking forward to see them all.