Department Q: The Keeper of Lost Causes

The latest in a long (endless?) line of fine Scandinavian police thrillers, The Keeper of Lost Causes (Kvinden I buret to give it its Danish title) is a taut, thrilling cop drama that compels and seizes the interest for the duration of its 97 minute running time.

In the aftermath of an ill-fated mission that leaves one colleague dead and another seriously injured, police inspector Carl Mørck (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) is bumped from his department and tasked with setting up Department Q, a dead-end desk job that requires him to spend the next few years ensconced in a dusty basement with a new partner, Assad (Fares Fares), tying up the loose ends on old cases. Instructed to close three cases per week, Mørck and Assad begin with the investigation of a politician, Merete Lynggaard (Sonja Richter) who disappeared five years previously. Written off as a suicide, Mørck is determined to prove there is more to the case and delves into a murky case of abuse, murder and kidnapping.

With both Kaas and Richter alumni of the original series of The Killing, and Fares a star of both Easy Money and Zero Dark Thirty, the central trio makes for a very solid human triptych, even if displayed as separate components (he wrote carefully, determined not to lead or hint or give anything away). The relationship between Mørck and Assad, particularly, is a sufficient variation of the 'cop buddies' partnership to make it feel new. Both policemen have their foibles, their differences and their similarities; Mørck is out of favour, Assad has been trusted with something vaguely resembling a promotion, Mørck is silent and brooding, Assad celebrates his new found 'freedom' with ear-bleeding music, Mørck is a battering ram, Assad invests time to achieve his results…

As an aside, The Keeper of Lost Causes succeeds magnificently in portraying a Muslim character in a positive light in a film that isn't about that issue. Assad could be anyone; he just happens to be a Muslim.

Though The Keeper of Lost Causes will invariably be compared to The Killing, it is closer in tone to the thoughtfulness of Wallander and the cynicism of French series Spiral and is spiced with the dark violence of Larsson's Millennium trilogy. There is humour within the gloomy folds of this thriller but it is cold and cynical as befits a yarn of kidnap and murder.

I saw much of the outcome in the first fifteen minutes of The Keeper of Lost Causes but it was a still an electrifying journey that has a great deal to celebrate, not least of all a sublime accident sequence. Think 'ballet with cars' and you're getting close.

Like all good thrillers, The Keeper of Lost Causes works on the terror factor that it could happen. We don't tend to believe in zombies and vampires, although I'm up for a short-term zombocalypse armed with a crossbow and a katana, but humans with a vindictive streak and a penchant for malevolent revenge? Yep, they're far too real to ignore.

The Keeper of Lost Causes is a rare treat for another reason: it clearly sets itself up for a sequel and director Mikkel Nørgaard has duly obliged with the second adaptation of author Juss Adler-Olsen's novels, The Absent One (Fasandræberne), released in Denmark this autumn.

Roll on the end of the summer!

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Suspenseful thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the movie. I read the book a couple of years ago and as far as I can recall it, this movie does a good job in retelling the story.

If you like a cop thriller as much as I do, you are in the right place. I haven't read the book this is based on, but obviously and judging from what I saw in the movie, it must be good. There are more books (and it is obvious from the movie/story), so you might be getting even more from this (at least one other output is coming).

The acting is really good (even if it feels a bit moody and broody at times) and the story is even better. There are more things here to judge than just some bad guys, with even the cop having his flaws (transparent from the beginning). We also get nice touches (the coffee thing) to elevate the watching experience. An all around good take on a criminal story

Kvinden i buret has got the English, and much better title, The Keeper of Lost Causes, in stead of what should have been The caged woman. The Danish title is maybe the worst about this film, but still that's due to the Novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen, which have had a good portion of success with the crime novels about detective Carl. The international title I find as very suitable, and promises more to come!

Carl (played by Nikolaj Lie Kaas) is a cop which after a mistake thrown off his normal job as detective, after nearly being shot. His wife has dumped him, his best friend and fellow detective is dead and his ex-partner crippled, both in the same case which nearly cost him life. He is put at a desk to close open old cases. But he has other plans. I'll leave the case here, but the film is so well made, and the actors play so well in a well crafted script by Nicolaj Arcel, which really is an amazing writer, that this is well worth a watch.

The film manages to be interesting all the way through, and even gives us as viewers some really hard scenes to watch, as well as giving some kins of flashbacks which is really fresh. The casting is also very good when it comes to these time flashbacks, which show real quality.

This is the start of a franchise of Adler-Olsen filmed novels, and I hope the next will be just as good. Nicolaj Lie-Kaas has said yes to three more. Surprisingly also well known Swedish comedy film maker Fares Fares function as his sidekick, though his Danish is quite bad. But it works, due to his credibility, and that he is a foreign breaking on Danish.

Check it out.

Slow moving detective movie but I like it like that.No excessive reading of words in another language because the film speaks for itself. The director has created a very entertaining atmosphere. You develop a feel for the investigation. The editing is tight. Nothing is wasted. The homicide detective gets demoted to cold case files. He picks up one that speaks to him. A suicide that after digging does not come close to a suicide and no body. Going deeper in, nothing is easy or as it seems. As you move along the story unfolds in tidbits and gets darker and darker. Man sinks about as low as a human twisted can go. I don't want to give away any of the ending but with lackluster uncommon in Hollywood style movie making it's riveting. I enjoyed this gem immensely.