Jour polaire

I watch a ton of foreign murder series. All the "big" name ones, and tons of mediocre, not so great ones. Midnight Sun was gripping.

I enjoy when I watch a series and learn about other cultures at the same time. A big part of this story involved the "Sami" people. The Sami people (also Sámi or Saami, traditionally known in English as Lapps or Laplanders) are an indigenous Finno-Ugric people inhabiting the Arctic area of Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. ( hat tip to Wiki). The series has a mix of French, English and Swedish, so you do need subtitles. I enjoyed the mix.

I had never heard of these people, and it was interesting to do a little research and learn. I felt the actors were top notch. Some of these reviews complained when one of the policemen makes an early exit from the show. I was disappointed as well, but the other policemen grows on you. ( Trying to avoid spoilers, so no names).

The French actress, Leïla Bekhti is mesmerizing. I would like to see her in more series available for a broader market. The rest of the actors were very good, right down to the town people. I am usually able to guess the murderer/s quite early on, since I watch so many shows like this, but this one keeps you guessing.

There are many layers that unfold as the story continues, and you are not sure what is going on exactly.

I enjoyed that. Also there were some new and gruesome ways to murder people in this show. It is not the same old, that is for sure. This was not the usual dark setting of many Nordic series. The scenery is beautiful. It is always sunny. The are in the constant sunlight period of the region.

I binged watched this over two days. Sometimes with some of these shows that unfold more slowly, you get into the rhythm better with binge watching it.

I enjoyed that this show was not depressing. Which is a surprise maybe since people do die in gruesome ways. Some of these tend to be so dark and sad with their main characters. These main characters had back stories, but were more hopeful in tone.

I find it refreshing to watch the slower pace and the use of silence to make a point, and punctuate moments. This tends to not be the way of American shows, that is for sure! I highly recommend this. It was done by the same writers who did "Swedish/Danish TV series Bron/Broen or The Bridge". which is amazing.

I have watched a few series where there are more episodes than the plot could carry so the series becomes bogged down and boring. This series is the opposite to this. I watched two or three episodes per night. I had to force myself to stop watching. The writing is over the top great. They story is never predictable and there are to many story lines to follow to be boring. I will probably watch it again. I enjoyed the language mixture and most of the casting was perfectly done. The loose ends at the end are story lines that are still developing and will be for years to come. The Sami people deserve to have their story told and this production was an excellent start.

I enjoyed this series. The thrills start with the very first scene. Fantastic scenery and thrilling plot. Some characters could have developed more such as the prosecutor but overall I thought it was great. The scenery is fantastic.....the starkness surprised me. The sub plots about the french detective and her emotional and physical struggles and her relationships was interesting though at times frustrating to me. I'd like to have known more about the prosecutor the prejudices against him and his relationships. It was left open to the last few episodes and the chase to try to find and stop whodunit. There are surprises however right up to the end.

This century has seen dozens of fine examples of Nordic Noir, particularly from Denmark and Sweden, but its wings have spread and presently many other countries are eager to shine or at least participate in the glory - like France here; on the other hand, for the sake of wider audiences and localities, the Nordics themselves need views and characters from aside.

Midnattssol has giftedly combined the opportunities based on above, and the result is an intriguing narration with interesting references to the past, versatile twists, beautiful nature, and maintenance of tension and thrill to almost the very end. The leading performances are not the finest - plus pity that a wonderful actor, Peter Stormare, was cut out so early - but, on the other hand, it enhances realism and pays attention to team efforts rather than a single solo (although the French lady is very keen on pursuing this :)). And last but not least - magnificent landscape, with daily life and difficulties of small Sami people, with what most viewers are not aware of.

Well, perhaps the wrongdoer was not too charismatic and the French connection remained somehow incomplete, but still, the series is worth watching - unless you are inured to fast action, lots of chases and betrayals. Life beyond the Polar circle has its own pace and angles...

This story is well constructed and the acting is superb.

But there are also a lot of other interesting elements in this series. There are the cultural differences. Not only between the French and the Swedes, but also between the Swedes and the indigenous people. The story is set in the far north of Sweden, so a large part of the year there is no night. So this is a problem for our French detective who is not used to that. Discrimination is covered, but it doesn't distract from the main goal of the story; caching the killer. I also liked the fact that the two main characters undergo personal growth throughout the whole series.

Everything is just right and all actions and events can be well explained by the characters of all the characters. And that says a lot when you start the opening scene of the series with a man tied to a propeller of a helicopter. After seeing the first episode I didn't quite know what to make of it. Such a bizarre murder, some dark sense of humour and right after that a really emotional scene. But after watching the second episode I got more into the atmosphere of the story and it got better and better after each episode.

In the last episode there is a rather long scene with only images with a music score. The music is so well made that it isn't melodramatic or inflame other sentiments. It is rather a moment of reflection. Something to think about without being moralistic.

This is the best Scandinavian detective series I've seen so far. And I've seen a lot. I can not think of anything that I didn't liked about it.