Varg Veum - Bitre blomster

This is the first in what is planned to be a series of adaptations of Gunnar Staalesen's novels about the private detective, Varg Veum, and I must say that I was very pleased with the result.

The plot goes like this: The daughter of a female politician disappears at the same time as the politician's lover also goes underground, and she hires Varg Veum to try to find them. When Varg Veum starts tracking down the various clues, they all point towards the industrial plant the lover works at.

Even though the story in the book takes place in the early 1990s, the adaptation has moved the story to present-day. What pleased me most with the movie, was the beautiful scenery of Bergen together with a very nice musical score. The opening scene first shows Bergen viewed from mount Fløyen, and afterwards we get to see the main bus terminal and Bryggen. People from Bergen watching this movie will be especially pleased with this.

Trond Espen Seim fit the role as Varg Veum perfectly. Some people have criticized the choice of Seim in the lead role because he doesn't speak the Bergen dialect. I was also initially skeptical to this choice, but after seeing the film, I now understand how well he fits into this role. Bjørn Floberg was also great in the role as the chief inspector, and the scenes with him and Trond Espen Seim were great, especially the scene where they meet on the roof of the main bus terminal in the rain. This can't be considered as anything less than a classic scene that must be remembered in Norwegian movie history.

What I didn't like with this film, were most of the scenes with the bad guys. First of all, it was too obvious that they were bad guys. The way they were dressed up and the choice of music for these scenes made it look more like a parody than an actual murder mystery. These scenes were way overdone and destroyed much of the suspense that was built up beforehand.

But all in all, this was a beautiful movie and a beautiful portrayal of Bergen.

Finally it's happened! Varg Veum is now a part of movie history!

This first movie is quite good.

It keeps a nice flow of suspense and has good locations. The actors are doing a good job!

Trond Espen Seim is very cool as Varg Veum! (Thou it would have been fun with a 20 year younger Helge Jordal = Orions Belte!!) Bjørn Floberg is powerful on the screen, when he talks everybody listens!

Great camera-work, and a very nice music score, that builds up the suspense of the movie! Would have been fun if there had been a cameo of Varg Veums Creator Gunnar Staalesen, in all the movies! You know, like Hitchcock!

Varg Veum will Return!!

This is a series we are now getting in the US on Mhz. Compared to the more modern Scandi-Noir offerings, this just seems a bit too contrived, and has all the usual focus of Norwegian Eco topics i.e environmental pollution by big companies, selling chemical weapons etc. As is common in many Norwegian films, logic seems to go out the door and story events just occur without explanation, as long as they fit the story to give it a happy ending. The lead character is a very scruffy looking detective who really could do with a good clean up himself. He seems to get into scrapes with the criminals without waiting for back up to help. Not sure if this is part and parcel for the character as I have not read the novels on which the series is based. The series is composed of a number of seemingly independent episodes so will have to review each one as I watch. The first two, Bitter Flowers and Sleeping Beauty are just watchable but have none of the psychological twists associated with the more modern Scanidi-Noir offerings from Sweden and Denmark. The early Norwegian attempts I find are more geared towards being Politically correct and since the dialog via the subtitles conveys this, have to be enjoyed in that context!

Scandinavian crime films are usually pretty okay. This one wasn't. The main character irritated me with his attitude as if he owned the half of Norway, his supposed omnniscience, stride and what not. The story was very simple and the way it 'evolved' was just too easy. The bad guys are given away pretty early on and they hardly contribute to any suspense or depth. It is all just very flat and uninteresting.

The only big plus is Norway itself and its settings, which are always good - or so it turns out - for a nice, grim atmosphere. And that's about all I could make of it, my rating might even be a little too high, all things considered. If this just part one the Varg Veum series, I best leave the rest of it alone, methinks...

The mysteries keep one's attention; the Norwegian background is great as are the sets; the acting is good and there is a lot unexpected in the themes of some episodes. It is hard to review because it is divided by IMBD into single episodes. It deserves higher than the mid 6 ratings which almost kept me Formosa watching. Great for pandemic binging-get away for awhile from the "troubles".