Departamento Q: O Ausente

Police Detective Carl Mørck (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) stumbles upon an old man nearby the Police Department Building and he asks if Carl had checked the documentation he sent to him. Carl does not give much attention to the man and two hours later the man is found dead after committing suicide in his bathtub. Carl convinces his partner Assad Pilou (Fares Fares) to reopen an old case where the twins of the old man had been murdered and soon Carl and Assad are involved in a network of old crimes where the powerful executives and millionaires Ditlev Pram (Pilou Asbæk) and his friend Ulrik Dybbøl (David Dencik) seem to be responsible for. Now they are chasing Ditlev´s former girlfriend Kimmie (Danica Curcic), who might be the key witness of the cases. But the criminals are hunting her down.

"Fasandræberne", a.k.a. "Department Q: The Absent One". Is another great franchise with a new case of Police Detectives Carl Mørck and Assad Pilou. The structure of the bleak story is similar to the first film with the use of flashbacks. The performances are top-notch again and the screenplay does not use the clichés of a crime film. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Departamento Q: O Ausente" ("Department Q: The Absent One")

Note: On 17 July 2021, I saw this film again.

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.

Everything I said in my review of the first film in the series (Keeper of the Lost Causes) applies to this, the second installment. Gritty, dark and disturbing. It is textured and believable with an intense verisimilitude as to not only the environment and behavior of the police but throughout the social strata where the other characters dwell. And, as in the earlier film, this one is as commendable for the attention to fleshing out the damaged creatures committing unspeakable acts as it is to developing the mechanics of the plot, the social themes underlying the series, and the growth (or collapse) of the lead players. And I cannot sing the praises high enough for a thriller, so realistic, that a main character gets struck in the head with a pipe, and rather that soldiering on like a superhero he falls, and then later collapses with a concussion. This series is about human beings; the weak and the strong, the good and the bad, and such simplistic terms like Hero and Evil Villain are neither welcomed nor adhered to.

So when I saw the Keeper of Lost Causes, I was very impressed by what a griping Crime Drama it was and when I discovered it was the first in a trilogy, I had to see the others.

The Absent One is the second in the trilogy. Some time after Carl and his partner, Assad made Department Q a name for their first case, they quickly became a joke again due to Carl's focus on solving the cold cases rather than just organizing the place met they have not closed another cold case since. Then a retired sheriff begs Carl to look into the cold case involving the murder of his two children which someone took the blame for. This lead Carl to uncover the dangerous vices of the privilege of high society.

It's as gritty as the first movie, with a case that has slightly more depth and angles to it. This allows us to see the warm heart of Carl without melting the ice, as he gives his all to make right what once went wrong. The detective himself becomes more well rounded with just enough peaks into his personal life (a bonding relationship he has with his ex-wife's son, who he obviously sees as his flesh and blood), to make him human. The movie also introduces a new team member, Rose, the last of a long list of secretaries who don't work well with Carl, but luckily Assad likes her.

This is becoming a fabulous police drama franchise and I can't wait to complete the trilogy.

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.