Fasandræberne

Good murder mystery noir from Denmark showing at NYC's IFC Center for just one week, and a picture that deserves more exposure than that. It is a tense detective story of a 'cold case', a double murder 20 years old taken up by Danish Detectives Morck and Assad. I am a great fan of top shelf detective films, and film noir in particular, and this one is surprisingly well done.

Nutshell; a brother and sister were murdered 20 years previous and the crimes were unsolved. Their father, a retired cop, approaches Morck and pleads with him to renew the case. Morck dusts him off, saying he is too busy. The father then turns up as a suicide, which leads Morck to regret his cavalier treatment of the father and decides to investigate. His subsequent investigation takes a sordid turn and becomes darker as the story unfolds.

There are three movies in the Det. Morck series, and I wish I could have stayed for all three. It is remarkably well done and bears all the hallmarks of Hollywood noir films. Morck is a no-nonsense detective who smokes and is hard-drinking and with a clear-headed assistant who tries to be a counter balance. Morck is moody and obsessive and will break the rules in the name of truth and justice, and the chemistry between the two is a tribute to their acting and to the screenplay. The movie scene needs more of this type of grown up fare as many of us have tired of the usual sequel to a dull film and of animated cartoon movies for 6 year olds. While Indies like this are produced perhaps there is still hope for a foundering art form.

For a decade a so, the term "Scandinavian crime" has been a sign of quality in the film world, and I have tried to watch them as much as possible - luckily it is no Bollywood... The film in question is the second one in line (after Kvinden i buret) where the detective duet Carl Mørck and Assad have to solve a felony happening over 20 years back, enabling to take a glance at the world of "Danish rich and spoiled". The tension is nicely there (although somewhat less than in the first film), and, in addition to as-usual fine performances by Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Fares Fares as the leading characters, one can follow the talents of Pilou Asbæk and David Dencik who are also versatile character actors (plus Søren Pilmark in a small role).

So, unless you are fond of constant chases, explosions, shootings, etc., this film (with captious title) is a pleasant example of a crime thriller with mystery elements, where human attitudes and relations play the biggest part, and deducing is the main factor in solving crimes.

Saw this recently on a rented DVD. This is the follow up to the Keeper of lost causes. In this film, both Nikolaj n Fares need to solve another case because some time has passed since the success of their first case and their reputation is going down. A bereaved ex-cop appeals to Nicolaj to solve the murder of his two children. The ex cop kills himself after being refused. Feeling guilty, our two cops begin looking into the case, with all leads initially pointing towards an elite boarding school. Their search for the truth takes them in some unexpected places n a bandaged nose. Nicolaj after being attacked, gets a bandaged nose, a nod to Jack Nicholson's character from Chinatown. The plot may not be new or there may not be enuff mystery but the movie was captivating to hold your interest till the end. It's much more darker, obscene and gruesome than its predecessor. Its more of a crime tale n less of a mystery. Found it to be a lil disappointing because its not in the same league as its predecessor specially when it comes to suspense n tension. This film has lots flashbacks like the first one. Nonetheless it got saved by strong performances by all. Fares gave a very good performance n Nikolaj too gave a nice performance. A decent police procedural crime tale.

Horror Hunters is a Danish film directed by Mikkel Nørgaard. In its native land, this film recently became the highest grossing domestic film in history. Now it's coming to DVD internationally and you'll have a chance to see it as well.

The film is an extremely graphic and unflinching crime film--one that you should be warned about before you decide to see it or not. While it's extremely well made, there are also some very graphic murders, tons of blood, rape and other bits of nastiness that make this a poor choice if you want to watch a film with the kids or your mother. Think twice before you'd consider doing this...no, think three times!

The film is a bit reminiscent of the American television shows "Cold Case" or "Cold Case Files" in that the story involves a police unit which investigates unsolved crimes. However, the case is unusual because someone has already been convicted of the crime. It seems that a police captain KNOWS there's much more to the case but has been unable to go further with the case. How he passes it on to the team is something...really, really something.

This case turns out to be 20 years old. And, through the course of the film, it turns out that the case has a lot of similarities to other cases committed since--horrible, senseless and violent crimes committed for kicks. The key to solving this is a woman named Kimmee who disappeared long, long ago as well as her involvement with a pair of rich and malevolent prep school teens. But, solving any of these crimes will be very difficult, as the perpetrators are powerful and well connected. It's made even more difficult because one of the investigators is an emotional mess himself and you really aren't sure if he'll solve the crime or end up getting himself killed due to his recklessness and unwillingness to back down when he's pressured to do so by his superiors.

As I first mentioned, the film is very graphic--much more so than I usually would watch. On the other hand, the plot is very intelligently written and the story is one that sucks you in and won't let you go until the guilty are brought to justice. For crimes of cop stories that don't mind a film that is very edgy and dark, this one is well worth seeing.

Seeking redemption or solace or anything remotely plain and silent after having done something horrible, is not easy. It even gets worse when the police digs up that past. Which is what happens here and our two main protagonists from the first novel (and especially the movie) are back on duty again.

I haven't read the novels, but I did watch the first movie, which I can highly recommend. This isn't a bad affair either, but I can see people being a bit disappointed after that massive first movie. Still this is not only decent, but a very good crime movie, with twists flying your way every now and then. New leads, chases and guessing who did what and what could happen next. If you let yourself enjoy that ride, you'll be having a good movie experience - just not at the exact same level as the first one delivered