Krøniken

Even though Denmark has won two consecutive Emmy's for best non American TV series Krøniken is a much better drama series. The family saga covering a period of +30 years of Danish modern history (1949-1970) is taking up politics family values and all the relevant moral and ethic issues of the time.

If you get the chance you should see this spellbinding piece of work.

One of the finest facets of Krøniken is its authenticity. Every detail is authentic and original and you really feel like being at the exact place at that exact time. Amazing.

Actress Anne Louise Hassing (Ida) got her national breakthrough playing next to Anders W. Bertelsen (Palle) who has already established his position as one of the most popular younger Danish actors after a series of sympathetic roles in films and TV-series. Next to them a lot of popular names appear in the series in minor roles.

I have seen three of the 2005-2006 series while in Denmark. They are just fantastic! Even though my understanding of rapidly spoken Danish is still "under construction" to some degree, the human emotions, the attention to period details in both costumes and set design, and a top shelf script, make the series a delight even to "udlændinge". I would encourage anyone enjoying great dialog, wonderful acting, and terrific script writing, to try to catch this series. Some of Denmark's best actors are in this series, so fans of Danish film will recognize at least some of the principals. If you have been put off by the spare style of the "Dogme" school of film making, this is much more traditional in its "look".

Well, this is a series that many people have been talking about for the past two years, many mentioned as a sort of sequel to the famous "Matador", and in many ways it is.

Well, the first episode was watched by 2,2 million danes, which is roughly 40% of the country, a very nice premiere for sure. DR Drama, which is the production company and a subcompany of Danish Television is having a very succesful time these days, winning emmy's for both "Rejseholdet" and "Nikolaj & Julie", two years in a row. One can wonder why they plan on shutting down when their next series "Ørnen" is finished one day...well, that's another story..

This show started out so well, and I just watched episode 6 on TV now. I think the two first episodes were incredible, but since then it's gone downhill. No development, most characters are totally cliched and predictable and it is starting to remind me a little of those stupid soap operas of which they make an episode a day - you know which daytime soaps I'm talking about. And it's a shame - cause the production values are so high in this, expensive, but the story is starting my pants off.....to say it like it is....

Why, why why?

The concept is great, the acting decent. Even the cinematography works. But the scriptwriting is so sickening that it the whole series deteriorates into a painful farce of both glorifying and gratifying tributes to the great achievements of the Danish Social Democrats and an almost obsessive description of the moral decadence, corruption and demise of the "upper" classes.

Had this production come out of North Korea, the DDR or even the Soviet Union, I could have lived with it. Had it been a 90 minute film, I could have forgiven the producers, but this is 22 torturous episodes of badly scripted, incredible and immature propaganda that is unlikely to have exceeded even Stalin's or Goebbels' quality bars.

My advice is fairly clear: Unless you are either very bored or very brainwashed, don't bother with it. Re-arranging your sock draw is more thrilling!

Danish Television and cinema can do and has done far better than this. Why did they ever produce Kroniken with such a cheesy message?

Mom and I just finished all 22 episodes of this long story. Throughly enjoyed it. Nice story. Really good acting, super attention to detail sets, all the historical look and feel.,nice to watch the years roll by. I even liked the high in the corner camera shots..in the various rooms. We highly recommended this for those who have discovered works from Denmark, Sweden...with the more known NORDIC NOIR list like Borgen, Beck, Dragon, and Wallanders. Enjoy. Our box set got from Amazon.uk with the full 22 episodes plus Danish only bonus material...still hoping for some translations hints on that stuff. User ratings show only a few have discovered this....may have something to do with being Region 2 disks..we just bought a code free machine for like 50 bucks. Whoo Hoo!