Ivalo

Arctic Circle is a very interesting yet somewhat underrated Finnish-German co-production series to watch. I enjoyed it with pleasure, despite its flaws.

• (+) Very good acting by all the cast, with a big V. The beautiful Iina Kuustonen was a joy to follow through. By the way, Venla should have been properly credited as she did an awesome job. Shame on you the Executives.
• (+) Amazing depiction of the harsh climate (~ -40 Celsius), snow-blanketed Lapland and Ivalo with super beautiful vast landscapes, filming, sceneries and shots. One of the high plus of the show.
• (+-) Scientifically Interesting premise and screenplay with touching sub-storylines, unfortunately with big plot-holes, complemented with more than bad editing and super unrealistic happenings, events and results.
• Definitely deserves a final season 2 with new twists and turns and tying loose ends. Hope they are smart enough to realize it.

14 reviews only for a nice and thrilling European series finished one and a half year ago. There is something definitely wrong here!

Hope it is graced with a second season and followed by more dramatic series from thrilling Finland. They are on the right path, though, they still have a lot to learn from deeper Scandinavian marvels like Bron/Broen.

This Finnish series is set in Finnish Lapland, near the Russian border. Nina Kautsalo, a local police officer, is part of the investigation into what happened to a Russian prostitute found in a remote cabin. The case is complicated when it is discovered that she is carrying a deadly disease that has previously only been found in a remote corner of the Yemen. German virologist Thomas Lorenz is sent to investigate the disease and the two work together and discover a sinister and dangerous plot. The second season sees Nina once again involved in an investigation that crosses the border when somebody who seeks her help is silenced by a wealthy hunting party.

I really enjoyed this series. The cases were interesting and the characters were fun to watch. The first two seasons feel as if they are set in totally different places; the first is snow covered as far as the eye can see while the second features a green landscape. I always like to see shows set in places I know little about. The cast did a fine job; especially Iina Kuustonen as Nina, Venla Ronkainen, who played her delightful daughter and Maximilian Brückner as Thomas. There are some family issues in each season but these give depth to the characters rather than distract from the story. Overall a solid series; I hope we don't have to wait too long to get the third season here.

These comments are based on watching the series in the original languages with English subtitles; it should be noted that the characters talk to other nationalities in perfect English.

The scenario in itself is not extraordinary but you quicly get close to the characters. The actors are quiet good but i want to give a special award to Venla : Amazing Kid !!!

I just finished both seasons of Arctic Circle ("Ivalo"). I liked it. Yes, there were some strange twists of plot that strained credulity and were quite farfetched. That said, the drama was marked by good acting, sympathetic characters, an engaging storyline, and gorgeous Nordic vistas. I was going to give it a seven, but the surprises that unfolded late in the second season caused me to add a point and bump it up to eight.

Arctic Circle met my criterion for a good drama: I cared about all the major characters. Lina Kuustonen was a strong lead as policewoman Nina; both her sister Marita and her ex (and baby daddy) Esko became sympathetic characters as the story unfolded. And I can't say enough about actress Venla Ronkainen, an actress with Down Syndrome, who played Nina's special needs daughter, also named Venla. Often I find that kids in dramas don't add much to the storyline. But Arctic Circle was the exception. Venla was possibly the most endearing character I've ever seen in a drama. She played an important role in the flow of the action, and lit up every scene she was in. The actress was great. I don't know if she'll ever act in another production, but she did herself proud with her performance in 16 episodes of Arctic Circle.

As I write this, I have no idea whether there will be a third season, but I would watch it.

The English dubbing in this film is so atrocious that it reduces the appeal of the entire story. The dubbing cast sounds like it's reading from a sixth grade English class script. Not paying any attention to the what the words say or mean because they think that a full stop Is at the end of each line on the paper. A few irritatingly read two words at a time, like the SNL spoof of Captain Kirk. Add some annoying speech impediments plus a lack of expression or emotion in the dubbed lines and you're left with most of the tension and atmosphere reduced. I've heard more animation from people reading a menu than those supposedly going through tense and emotional scenes.

The story is intriguing - sex trafficking, a dangerous pathogen and cross border tensions should provide lots of intrigue and drama. The expressions and body language of the actors (some ofvwhom I've been impressed with from watching other Finnish dramas with subtitles) indicates that they are infinitely better than the talentless dubbing cast- in fact, it sounds like there are about six people in the dubbing cast, with each reading several characters. Badly. Part of the problem could be that the dubbing actors are not native English speakers, which would account for both the wooden delivery and the lack of flow.

The atmosphere, settings and scenery provide an air of menace that emphasizes the isolation of a sparsely populated place and the claustrophobia of a small village, despite showing vast tracts of pristine white landscapes.

Ironically, the main character chastises an older cop for using less than flattering terms for sex workers, but the entire casts uses Lappland, which is viewed as derogatory towards the indigenous Sampi or Sami people who live in the very northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland.

I really want to see what happens so I will endure the increasingly irritating dubbing to find out.

Maybe Plex can do what Netflix does, offer the viewer the option of watching non- English shows dubbed or subtitled. For maximum enjoyment l, go for the subtitles.