Krøniken

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!

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?

I have seen the whole of the first series and I think it is a very worthy successor to Matador.

Although fictional , the series gives one an insight into life and the prevalent attitudes in post-war Denmark. It is very realistic with excellent characterization

There are really two stories side by side. One is the coming of television to Denmark and how the various radio manufacturers adapted to it and the other is the development of the characters and the events that transpire in their lives.

A gripping series and I'm just waiting for the second series to be broadcast.

Krønikken starts were Matador, the immortal Danish TV classic, ended. While it does not reach Matador's level, it certainly is an important contribution that vividly describes the culture of the Danish society from the postwar period, to the beginning of the modem times.

Unlike Matador, Krønikken, (the Chronicle) takes place in Copenhagen, and not in a province town; therefore its focus is a little narrower, and it has more supporting characters that are only seen in a few episodes. Its primary focus is the capitalistic family, whose patriarch owns the radio, and later, TV factory Bella, but it also has a strong focus on the development of the Danish social democratic party. This is because, that the Social Democrat was the primary architect for the modem Danish welfare state, which was created in this period.

It is a story, but it describes the history of that period better, then mere facts ever could.

If you are interested in the Danish culture, then Krønikken, is a must see.