Acquitted

In recent years, next to Denmark and Sweden, Norway has produced a number of good crime drama series where events occur in a small and/or distant community, with is vices and virtues. In spite of being one of the richest countries in the world, the human basics are the same, plus thinly populated areas and common solitude make investigations more difficult.

All this we can see in Frikjent as well, with tensions up due to a tragic event taken place decades ago. Sometimes it feels that the depiction is too widespread and the role of some characters and episodes is insignificant (e.g. the company-related ones), but the general atmosphere is well depicted and most important performances are pleasant, particularly Nicolai Cleve Broch as Aksel and Lena Endre (a Swede) as Eva whose mutual communication forms the most intensive verbal scenes in the series. The mentioned persons are definitely worth watching in other films/series as well, which I have managed to achieve.

And what is definitely nicer than in Sweden or Denmark, is nature. Also here, beautiful Norwegian landscape and environment is a kind of supporting actor for creating mood and completeness.

I approached this series with low expectations, so I didn't completely hate it. But I wouldn't recommend it unless you are really running out of things to watch. The scenery is beautiful, but the writing leaves something to be desired. The mystery is not just whodunnit but who will stay together, who will break up, who will hook up, etc.

There's a great deal of inconsistent behavior.. Characters seek the truth then suddenly don't want to know. They're in and out of love for no apparent reason, or they seek reconciliation, then revenge, then whatever. They reveal secret upon secret upon secret, until it's clear that the entire town should be in psychotherapy. Season 1 just barely held together, and Season 2 was a real setback for plausibility in law and crime shows.

Maybe worth a shot for some, but I didn't feel it improved as it went on.

Aquitted, or Frikjent, witch is the original title, has a very intriguing plot, which is inspired on an idea which occurred after the disappearance, and later found killed, young girl, Birgitte Tengs. A young lover was sentenced, but later acquitted for the killing, but even if there was an acquittal, the suspected young man was still sentenced to pay for damages. Upon this base, the main writers Anna-Bache Wiig and Siv Rajendram Eliassen.

We meet a modern businessman in Aksel Borgen, which for years have had considerable success, and is well established with a wife and son in Indonesia. Even back home some know about his success, though there's been a long 20 years since he left his little home town on the western coast of Norway. When the most important local firm at his birth place is in serious trouble, Aksel Borgen is asked back to save the all-important firm and his hometown in Norway. But there's a major catch. 20 years ago, he left his home town after being acquitted for murdering his high school sweetheart. People back home hasn't forgotten anything about the case.

The series rely very much on the acting in a series which is full of close dialog. This is a mystery crime drama with a touch of classy soap. It's well made, and beautifully produced. It also show the multi talented Nicolai Cleve Broch in a role which is perfect for his specter of method acting. We get time to care about the persons, which is crucial in such a series. We get to know a lot of interesting persons in a wast gallery in two countries on each side of the world. We see all kinds of conflicts evolve, and being dragged up from far beyond once more. Deep emotions, hard feelings, which is followed by a haunting music score, heavy on sentimentality as well as sadness.

The scenery is beautiful, and will add an extra exotic feel to the film of a really small town, which has old and modern buildings mixed as a part of the scenery as well as the premises for the plot unfolding. The film shows modern and traditional rural Norway, with architecture and modern technology is mixed with everyday life and the rural old traditional feel and traditions. On this back-draft, the modern multi national business is entering with modern tailor made suits and a beautiful designed Audi A7 limousine, which is used as a contrast to the nature, very effectively.

The main score, "To assign properties" is beautifully performed by the upcoming Norwegian band Highasakite, and fold every episode's opening and closing in a simply perfect way. Perfectly suited.

The slick feel is also made by the lovely footage. The whole series is excellent photographed all through. The story seems like it's got new angles all the time, and very likely there will be a second season, since this series has been a great success in native country Norway, with up to 45 % market share when aired. The series is sold to a lot of countries, and will have a world wide TV-distribution. Quite deservedly so. You'll probably have easy to see inspiration from other Scandinavian film inspirations, like Bergman, Hamer and Bier. Very Scandinavian. Very Norwegian.

The series is already sold to 15 countries, and more to come. The series is chosen for the Geneva International Film Festival og Seoul International Drama Awards, where it's nominated for three awards, amongst them best script.

Good things: The cinematography of the series is impressive. The actors give a solid performance. The music helps the atmosphere of the series to stay consistently gripping. Every second contains an excellent amount of uncomfortable tension that prevents the otherwise overdramatized script from falling into the soap opera category.

At the same time, the script is still plagued by some serious illogicalities. It is simply questionable whether an international high tech company could have been managed successfully by a woman whose behavior is seriously neurotic at worst and someone whose background is such a huge question mark could work as a big shot in an investment company and stay married with the same woman for 17 years.

Moreover, it is nothing short of unconvincing that the small town in which the events of this series take place could be so remarkably void of people who would just listen to reason and act sensibly under most circumstances.

Summary: While I still enjoy to watch the series, I can't help being nagged by the feeling that something just doesn't make sense in the script.

After reading the announcement of the series on German TV I was intrigued by the theme: A businessman returning to the small village in Norway, where he grew up and, after being a prime suspect in a murder at the age of 18, was acquitted of the crime. He left the town, made a successful career in the Far East, only to return after 20 years or so to save the main employer in the town from going bankrupt. Such a topic offers plenty of opportunities to make an intriguing TV-series. However, already after watching the first episode I was really disappointed. The actors walk, behave, and are dressed like clichés. The investors are of course all smartly dressed good looking young men, who prefer to travel by helicopter, but many of the details have nothing to do with the reality of this world. Their behaviour is irrational, and they take risks that investors would never take, even if they were driven by sentiments. After watching for a while, this gets so annoying, that the basically great theme of the series disappears into the background. There are really much better Scandinavian crime series to watch (like The Bridge), don't waste your precious time on this one.