The Killing

This is the most incredible series - i am on ep 13 awaiting the rest, but the script is sensational. So clever and completely absorbing. The direction and acting is also sublime, as is the art direction. I don't believe you will get better TV than this series. I have watched so many box kits of Sopranos, Dexter, In Treatment, Mad Men etc.. yet this series tops them all. I am overwhelmed by the quality and as someone who works in theatre and film i can highly recommend this to anyone who just wants to see how it is done best!

The way the series covers both the police investigation and the victim's family's turmoil is unique in crime dramas, the nature of grief and its effects on families, the emerging information in its many guises, ie things the family discover that were kept secret, and the slow and intelligent police case, coupled with subtle insights into all of the relationships. A show that never falls into cliché or stereotypes, and is shot with such beautiful lighting and moodiness that it is visually arresting. You are completely taken on a journey, cannot live in the real world while this world unfolds, and i dare you to watch one ep and not watch another - i think that would be virtually impossible.

There aren't many programmes where I feel I mustn't leave the room for a moment for fear of missing something - but this is one of them. As I write, the serial is around the middle of its run on BBC4 (so there are no ad breaks), with two episodes back-to-back each week. I can't remember the last time I saw a twenty-part serial. I didn't think anyone still made them. If they can be this good, there should definitely be more of them.

I don't yet know where the story is going. So far suspicion is falling on one person after another and there is a lot of (not always completely believable) politicking at City Hall. It doesn't sound much, but the direction and acting put this into a very superior category.

Sarah Lund, the main investigator is an obsessive, but a very believable one. I don't know how her more impulsive colleague Jan Meyer avoids strangling her out of frustration with the way she treats him. Her family and boyfriend likewise. Perhaps these are plot developments still to come!

One unusual feature is the focus on the reactions of the family of the murdered girl. The actress playing her mother deserves every award going.

Update 27 March: it ended last night on BBC4. Whew! Saturday nights won't be the same. I stand by what I wrote above, but, if you see it, be prepared to be a bit frustrated with a lot of unanswered questions at the end, and you may be wondering at one or two coincidences. Still, my enjoyment of the serial did not really come from its being a whodunit. The characters and the atmosphere were what really made it.

I've just finished watching all the episodes and I've not been so engrossed in a series since 24 (the original series) was on TV many years ago. In many respects it does remind me of 24.. 20 episodes spread over 20 days, many twists and turns, the main characters stumble from one wrong turn to another until the final denouement.

But that isn't its main appeal, I'd even go so far to say that it detracted slightly from the series as a whole. The absolute best part of this is just the sublime acting. The whole thing is about characters wrapped up in a mild cliffhanger plot, its how they react to each other and developments that really makes the difference from what we usually get on TV.

The filming is very good, and little touches abound in it - my favourite is still how Sarah Lund can breeze along with her eyes shut, yet Jan Meyer cannot follow behind her without stepping in something. That's a double act that Hollywood will never be able to match.

There are faults with it though. Unless the Danish police are really well funded I found forensics turning up at a snap of Sarah's fingers in the middle of the night to be somewhat unrealistic (they must have good overtime payments in Denmark), similarly a DNA sample would be tested and the results back in less than an hour, and its nearly always dark too - maybe they all sleep during the day. Either way, these are things you just live with as its a TV show and reality has to be strained.

In short - watch it, even with subtitles, you won't miss the developing characters and their reactions to their changing lives.

After finishing watching The Killing (US version) several years ago, of which my review is available, I happened to notice from some of the reviews that it was based on the original Danish series Forbrydelsen and how much the original version was way better and honestly recommended.

I had my doubts, thinking how could a series (even in its original version) be better than The Killing (US) and outshine it, until I happened to watch the first season of Forbrydelsen in its span of 20 episodes (each over 55 minutes long to my true pleasure) and already half-way through understood why it is so much better and why it can be compared to a blindingly brilliant gem.

• The script, storylines, plot and sub-plots_ are awesomely developed, unfolded, without rush, meticulously and with brilliance.
• The atmosphere is very well set, in each episode, depicting the thrilling events and various feelings that every protagonist is going through.
• The series has depth and complexity in the most superb form. Again, without any rush while slowly unfolding, at the same time, digging deeper and deeper. The ~one-hour-long episodes were such a joy that I cannot describe it. That's how it should be done, without doubt and hesitation.
• The cast. Oh the cast! Never have I seen such a stellar cast, altogether in a series. Everybody shines and I mean it. The parents do a wonderful job with gripping and realistic emotions, both passive and active, that get hold of your throat. Troels Hartmann (the mayor candidate) is a stellar actor with such a strong presence and charisma that few ever surpassed it in series and movies. And last but not least,Sofie Gråbøl (Sarah Lund), the main detective protagonist in the case, does such a job that words come short of describing it; her acting, emotions, stubbornness (oh my goodness), wittiness completed with such a belief in her intuitions, create so much magic that viewers cannot help but be riveted to the screen and keep following her quest for the truth. In some scenes, she brought tears into my eyes and made me gasp in awe by her superb and timely actions, her unparalleled stubborn strength and her shiny green eyes discovering part of the truth. At times, she reminded me of Jack Bauer and believe me, that's not a light thing to say! Kudos, Kudos to her and to the producers for casting her.
• The soundtrack and music were so good, gripping and timely that this section alone deserves tons of awards. The upbeat music accompanying emotionally intense scenes depicting various protagonists' actions and feelings at the end of each episode is the most suspenseful and fitting one that I have ever listened to in any motion picture / series.

A brilliancy to fully appreciate and understand, only by watching it and getting immersed and drowned in its deep, multi-layered and suspenseful storyline. Highly-recommended to all lovers of the genre.

It will change your views on thrillers forever.

I've seen The Killing I / Forbrydelsen I, and I liked it a lot. Good script, good filming and excellent acting, especially by Sarah Lund, the main character, and by the mother of the murdered girl the story begins with - she really performs brilliantly! There are many characters in the movie, and that was about the only thing I didn't like much - I sometimes had to think hard where I'd seen him or her before...

In the Killing II / Forbrydelsen II that is no problem: there are still a lot of characters, but not as many as in the first movie and as they all logically fit into the story there's no problem there. I think number II is even better than number I: a bit more action, a little more speed, still very fine acting, an even better script and more tension make it a great movie to watch! Basically all you want to do after the first episode is to watch the other 9....