Matador

I have to agree with all the rest of the Reviews. Matador has to be one of the best TV shows ever made. All the actors are the cream of the Danish acting world. The Director was the best in the business for bringing Danish Life to Life, so to speak. I am amazed it has not been shown on British TV as it is very comparable to that other magnificent British TV drama "When The Boat Comes in" I would be hard pushed to say which one was better. But Matador has a longer run and does manage to cover the German occupation of Denmark. Which will be an eye opener to the British public if shown on British TV. So I do hope somebody gets the courage to show this on UK TV. As it is just a great TV Drama about families and the stress of the new on old ideas and values. So it still has something for today's TV audience. I have never got tired of watching it. Its called Matador because that is the Danish name for the board game Monopoly.

Auuchh - my arm! If you ask, where it hurts, you most surely never saw this television serie - and you are very likely to be either a foreigner or an alien, because no one else would ever ask, they would know that you are quoting "Matador" being impressed or surprised. No tv-show was ever better, then it would never have such a fortunate compilation of talent, magnificent writers, magnificent actors and a magnificent director.

The tale of the struggle between the two families is made ever present, so the point is not lost even though there is a multitude of sidestories that even includes real events. The way the story goes is so original that you never loose interest, although it is a slow going story - it takes 27 hours for it to come to an end. Real addicts find the playing time too short though. The text comprises a multitude of funny lines and jokes, you never stop laughing. The way each scene is shot, and the way the picture is framed is bold in itself. The director dares leaving the person speaking out of picture, if the facial expression of another person is more interesting. Also, he uses events as a way of foretelling, what will be happening - the doctor being quoted just prior to his appearing on screen. There are millions of details like that and it takes a long time to discover them all, but that's part of the fascination - you never get it all.

This is perhaps the best danish TV series ever made! It's about a business man moving to a dull little town called Korsbaek, where he builds up a business empire. The series is about the people in this town, mainly the two families Skjern & Varnaes, where Skjern are the newcommers, and Varnaes is the old family in the town.

The serial depicting life in a small Danish town from the late 1920's through the end of the WW2, hits spot on, describing the struggles of both rich and poor, in a well-paced, amazingly well thought out story. I've only seen it twice because I haven't been able to find a way to buy it on NTSC tape.

It's a huge relief in the age of bad soaps to see a production like this, made so carefully with a big heart. It is perfect in every detail, the story is wonderfully funny and charming, and the cast is absolutely great. Even the characters who are not so very kind have an air of love and understanding about them!