Favourite Discoveries of 2016 (9)

We round off the Euro Crime reviewers' favourite crime discoveries of 2016 with two DVD choices from Terry Halligan:

Terry's Favourite Discoveries of 2016

La Grande Vadouille

Summer 1941. French wartime comedy co-written and directed by Gerard Oury. When a British bomber is shot down over Paris during the Second World War, the crew members become separated as they parachute into the Nazi-occupied city. One lands on the scaffold of an amiable painter and decorator, Augustin (Bourvil). Another lands on top of a concert hall and is rescued by patriotic conductor Stanislas Lefort (Louis de Funes). The third ends up in the otter enclosure of a Parisian zoo. Meanwhile, the Germans are hot on their trail as they attempt to make their escape into the neutral zone of Southern France. The film which was originally released in 1966 and is apparently the most successful film in France in over 40 years. Terry Thomas (big moustache) stars as Sir Reginald in this highly original comedy.

Run Lola Run

This is a 1998 German thriller film written and directed by Tom Tykwer, and starring Franka Potente as Lola and Moritz Bleibtreu as Manni. The story follows a woman who needs to obtain 100,000 Deutsche Mark in twenty minutes to save her boyfriend's life. The film was released to generally positive reviews from critics and was selected as the German entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 71st Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Favourite Discoveries of 2016 (8)

Here is my favourite crime discovery of 2016:

Karen's Favourite Discovery of 2016

The Missing - Series 2

I almost missed out on this as because I hadn't watched the first series, I thought I wouldn't follow the second but fortunately encouragement from friends and the fact that the first episode was made available for longer on iPlayer meant that I was able to gobble them up over a few commutes to work.

Here is the official blurb:

When a young woman walks back into the town she was abducted from 11 years previously, it is revealed that she holds vital clues about another missing girl. French detective, Julien Baptiste, becomes embroiled in the mystery when he races across Europe to pursue a 12 year-old case. The Missing II dramatizes a thrilling chase for a missing girl, whilst exploring the truth of what happens when a missing child returns.

Set mostly in Germany, though filmed mainly in Belgium, The Missing is an extremely tense and complicated drama using several time periods. Fans of subtitled dramas will find some familiar faces popping up too.

Favourite Discoveries of 2016 (7)

Here is Mark Bailey's favourite crime/thriller discovery of 2016:

Mark's Favourite Discovery of 2016

The Library Suicides / Y Llyfrgell (Film 2016)

When famous author Elena Wdig commits suicide, her twin daughters Nan and Ana are lost without her. Elena’s final words suggest that her biographer, Eben, murdered her. One night, the twins set off to avenge their mother’s death whilst working as Librarians at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth but are disrupted by night porter Dan who finds himself unwillingly caught up in the saga.

I bought this on DVD after reading a number of positive reviews about it. It definitely isn’t crime or mystery but an offbeat thriller perhaps or Science Fiction or Horror even – it really does defy categorisation.

It is directed in Welsh by award winning director Euros Lyn (Broadchurch Series 1, Happy Valley, Doctor Who, Torchwood: Children of Earth) and based on a novel by Fflur Dafydd. It has a very small cast headed by Catrin Stewart as the twins and is shot almost entirely in the bowels of the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth (the scenes that aren’t take place just down the road from the building that acts as the police station in Y Gwyll/Hinterland which you see in long shots).

Why do I like it?
It plays with the whole notion of narrative and character – what you see and hear can be taken in multiple ways and you are not sure what is the truth or even if there is such a thing.
The cast are excellent especially Catrin Stewart who plays the twins so you begin to care about them – they may look identical but morally & psychologically they most certainly are not.

If you get a chance to see this (and given the involvement of S4C and BBC Films I would expect a TV showing in the UK in the next year or so) watch it – it is a great 87 minute film.

Favourite Discoveries of 2016 (5)

Here is Michelle Peckham's favourite crime discovery of 2016:

Michelle's Favourite Discoveries of 2016

Fortunately, while in the US in the summer, I was able to access many TV productions of books by my favourite Scandi authors, including those based on Liza Marklund's Annika Bengtzon series. I watched all the episodes, and they were excellent. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to be available in the UK, but hopefully will be at some point.

I also discovered the two films of the first two Jussi Adler-Olsen Department Q series (The Keeper of Lost Causes, and The Absent One). Both were excellent, and highly recommended.

DVD News: Dicte Series 1

The first series of Dicte - Crime Reporter the Danish crime series based on Elsebeth Egholm's novels, which recently ran on More 4 is available on DVD from today.

Following her divorce, investigative journalist Dicte (Iben Hjejle) moves back to her home town of Aarhus, along with her teenage daughter Rose. Dicte soon tangles with local police detective Wagner played by Lars Brygmann (Unit One, Borgen) and by the end of the first couple of episodes he's hoping not to see her again but of course that's not going to be the case!

The two-disc box-set has the episodes in their original ten-episode format ie 5 stories in two parts.

[I'm half-way through the series so I may return to the subject later on but so far it's enjoyable if a little full of coincidences.]

Win: The Last Panthers on DVD

Euro Crime has 3 copies of the DVD box-set of The Last Panthers to giveaway. To be in with a chance to win a copy, please enter your details in the form at the bottom of this post.

Only one entry per person please.
UK residents only.
Closing date is 24 March 2016 at 23.59.

Watch the bonus clip which also contains brief interviews with cast and crew:

All six episodes of the drama series created by Jack Thorne. Samantha Morton plays Naomi, a private British claims specialist instructed by her boss Tom (John Hurt) to recover diamonds stolen by a Serbian group calling themselves the Pink Panthers from a bank in Marseilles. Also on the hunt is French-Algerian cop Khalil (Tahar Rahim), in a chase that will take them into the murky underworld of gangsters and gangs in Eastern Europe. The series features an opening theme song from the late David Bowie.

DVD Release: Happy Valley

I'm so glad that Mrs Peabody persuaded me to watch Happy Valley. I downloaded it via iPlayer and watched it over a week. Possibly not the best material to watch on the train - I was either shielding my screen because of the violence or holding back tears.

If you didn't watch it, it's out on DVD today.

Watch it for the fabulous performance from Sarah Lancashire.

Favourite Discoveries 2013 (7)

Today's instalment of favourite discoveries of 2013 comes from reviewer Michelle Peckham who chooses a tv crime series based on Peter Robinson's popular Inspector Banks series.

Michelle Peckham's Favourite Discovery of 2013

My discovery of 2013 is DCI Banks, an ITV series (available on iTunes).

I'd read one or two of the crime novels featuring DCI Banks (by Peter Robinson), but had not watched the ITV series featuring this detective, until an American colleague of mine told me that he'd been watching it back in the USA. He said he'd really enjoyed it, particularly as it is set in Leeds, and he had had fun spotting places he recognised, places he'd seen when visiting me. On a dull rainy evening, I decided to download the TV series (series 1) from iTunes, and immediately became hooked. The stories run over two episodes, were well plotted, and entertaining to watch. Not quite the 'Montalbano' of the North, but with a nice flavour of Leeds and the surrounding countryside. Sadly, this is the only series on iTunes, but I am strongly tempted to buy the DVD for the follow-up series.

Favourite Discoveries 2013 (5)

Today's instalment of favourite discoveries of 2013 comes from reviewer Susan White who chooses a new tv crime series which is now available on DVD (if you missed it in its day-time slot).

Susan White's Favourite Discovery of 2013

My discovery of 2013 is The Doctor Blake Mysteries - an Australian series premiered in 2013 and shown on BBC1 in the afternoons - a real gem.

Official blurb:

Doctor Blake, a keeper of secrets, a solver of mysteries. 

The Doctor Blake Mysteries is an original, period murder mystery series, starring Craig McLachlan as the maverick town doctor Lucien Blake - a risk-taker, he's impulsive and not afraid to upset the status quo.

Doctor Lucien Blake left Ballarat as a young man. But now, he finds himself returning, to take over his dead father's medical practice. And one of the unwanted duties his father left him is the on-call role of police surgeon.

Set in the old gothic gold rush town of Ballarat in 1959. The wealth that built its grand architecture long gone - but not the mysteries, murder and deceit that linger beneath the surface of its faded glory.

Favourite Discoveries 2013 (3)

Today's instalment of favourite discoveries of 2013 comes from Amanda Gillies who also blogs and reviews at Old Dogs and New Tricks as well as at Euro Crime.

Amanda Gillies' Favourite Discovery of 2013

PERFUME, the story of a murderer.

One of my students recommended this nasty tale to me this year and I was very taken with it. I saw the film but also have the book, written by the German author Patrick Suskind and translated by John E. Woods, on my ‘to be read’ pile. The film was made in 2006, so it is very far from new, but it was new to me. Directed by Tom Tykwer, and starring Ben Whishaw, Alan Rickman and Dustin Hoffman, it is the story of a serial killer who has a superhuman sense of smell and is seeking to mix the perfect aroma and make it into the most exquisite perfume ever.

The killer, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, is born beneath a fish stall in a market and left for dead. His mother, who has had four other children and left them in similar ways, is found guilty of multiple infanticide and is hanged, so he ends up in an orphanage and then scratches out a living working as an apprentice for a tanner. His sense of smell is highly developed and he is able to use it to navigate his way in the dark. One day he comes across a most magnificent aroma – that of a young virgin – and in attempting to smell her properly he accidentally smothers her. This is the beginning of his search for the perfect scent. He soon becomes an apprentice to a famous perfumer but this is not enough for him as he wants to learn how to extract the scents from new and different objects. To fulfill his desire he travels to the city of Grasse, where he meets with extremely talented perfumers and starts to create the most perfect scent ever.

This movie looks at the many emotions that can be associated with smells and also the morality of the human spirit. It is quite disturbing – especially in terms of how you feel about Grenouille; who murders women for their scent yet you end up liking him! I am very keen to read the book as I am told it is even better than the film. If, like me, you enjoy movies that are a bit twisted and make you think, then you will love this one as much as I did!

Review: False Trail (Jägarna 2) DVD

False Trail, DVD, February 2013, Arrow, ASIN: B0091GYCXU

It has taken 15 years for The Hunters (Jägarna) director Kjell Sundvall and its star Rolf Lassgård to reunite for a sequel - False Trail (Jägarna 2).

The film, set in Sweden's Norrland, opens with a hunt being organised. The whole of the community including the police are involved but when the car of a young woman (Elin) is found abandoned nearby with blood in it, the hunt has to be called off. When no trace of Elin can be found, a murder investigation is begun and the local police  are swift to blame first her stalker and then an oddball who has a history of violence and whose fingerprints are found on the car. Erik Bäckström (Lassgård) is sent from Stockholm's National Murder Commission to assist in the investigation and is far from convinced that the police have the right guy and still no body has turned up.

Bäckström is returning to his home territory. His late brother's son Peter, is the stepson of the lead investigator Torsten and as Bäckström becomes more involved with the family he becomes aware that things are not what they seem.

False Trail is an absorbing thriller, reminiscent of Insomnia, in which the pace accelerates as Bäckström begins to get to the truth. He and the murderer (for a body is found eventually) have a tussle of wits with Bäckström the outsider finding it hard to be believed. For me this was a gripping watch, which held my interest throughout despite a two hour running length. It's not so much as a whodunnit but a will they get away with it as the viewer knows more than Bäckström. My only niggle is that the final confrontation seemed slightly over the top. There is strong language and a couple of particularly unpleasant scenes one involving an animal being shot and butchered and the other the discovery of a body. There is plenty of violence and bad language along the way as well as to be expected in a crime thriller. I also enjoyed seeing the Norrland countryside - lots of trees and a lake - which makes a change from an urban setting.

The DVD extra, a real bonus, is an interview between Barry Forshaw (our very own Petrona Award judge) and Rolf Lassgård. This is the first film I've seen Lassgård in, having not yet watched the Wallander and Sebastian Bergman series he's been in but every clip I've seen him in and including in this film he's always unsmiling and very serious but in this interview we get to see his charming, funny side and discover that he has played a mum in Hairspray!

DVD News: Unit One

Almost six years to the day that I first blogged about it, there is now a UK release of Danish thriller series Unit One. Whether this is due to the success of The Killing et al or the praise star Mads Mikkleson's recently received for films A Royal Affair and The Hunt it is welcome news even if the show is a decade old.

Unit One, Series One, is released today on DVD.

Unit One is a long-standing Nordic Noir thriller series that tells the story of a group of staunch crime experts from an elite unit within the Danish police force. We follow their fascinating yet frightening work in the Danish underworld and witness their unflinching commitment and affectionate solidarity when pitted against horrifying, yet all-too-real, examples of the extremes of human nature they face in the line of duty. Unit One is based on true criminal cases through the last 10 years.

Favourite Discoveries 2012 (6)

Today's instalment of favourite discoveries of 2012 comes from Lynn Harvey who blogs at Little Grey Doll as well as reviewing for Euro Crime. Lynn has chosen a DVD.

Lynn Harvey's Favourite Discovery of 2012

In addition to Euro Crime, I love animation – in particular adult or art-film animation. So I admit that I may be pushing the concept of "discovery" here toward that of positively "hunted-for". It's the DVD of Alois Nebel, a Czech feature length animation directed by Tomas Lunak and based on a trilogy of graphic novels by Jaroslav Rudis and Jaromir 99.

The film is set in 1989 at the time of the fall of the Russian-controlled Czech Communist regime. A man, who comes to be known as The Mute, crosses the Polish-Czech border and is hunted by the authorities. In Bily Potok, a remote village close to the border, Alois Nebel works as a dispatcher at the railway station. A withdrawn man, we see through his eyes a cross-cut of everyday life at the station with his childhood memories of the brutal, forced deportation of the local Sudetenland Germans in 1945. When Alois breaks down in the face of his own memories, he finds himself in a sanatorium sharing a ward with the mysterious Mute who eventually escapes from the asylum. Who is he? And why did he come to Alois' village? When Alois leaves the sanatorium he is forced to join the homeless and jobless at Prague Central Station and the rest of the film tells his story as he attempts to regain his sense of self and peace and return to Bily Potok – where The Mute makes a final appearance.

Rather than recreate the artwork of the original graphic novel the production team, which included the original graphic novel creators, decided to use the technique of rotoscoping which is an animation technique that builds artwork upon live-action film footage. The end result in Alois Nebel is a dramatic black and white animation that vividly catches the characters, landscape and sound-scape of both Prague and the mountainous Sudetenland region. A moving story of love and reprisal.

Here is a sample (subtitle free)

For those interested in animated crime feature films there are others to discover: Renaissance, 20th Century Fox DVD, 2006 is a black and white French sci-fi crime thriller; and on a lighter note, A Cat in Paris, a crime story for all ages, drawn animation, Soda DVD, 2012.

Read Lynn's Euro Crime reviews here.

Euro Crime's list of Czech crime fiction titles available in English.

DVD News: Once Upon a Time in Anatolia

I mentioned this film Once Upon a Time in Anatolia earlier in the year when it had a limited release. Like so many subtitled films (Headhunters, Silence) I wasn't able to see it at the cinema however it has just been released on DVD and it's on my library's catalogue so I've reserved it. As it's classed as "World Cinema" it bypasses the top-title two-day loan category (non-reservable to boot) and goes straight to 7 day loan (£1.50). This is particularly useful for Once Upon a Time in Anatolia which is nearly three hours long so will be watched over several evenings!

An epic and rigorous tale of a night and day in a murder investigation, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia is a beautifully photographed crime drama about police and prosecutors locating a buried body through one long night in the Anatolian steppes.

In the short prologue three men are drinking and talking. Then a convoy of cars is travelling around the countryside at night as one of the men seen earlier is trying to remember where a body was buried. After several false leads and a rest in a remote village, the body is finally discovered early the next morning. In the course of the long investigation the characters and hidden thoughts of the main protagonists are gradually themselves exhumed.

DVD News: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (remake)

The R2 DVD of the English language remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will be released on Monday.

The only special feature mentioned (on play.com) is an audio commentary with the director David Fincher.

I haven't seen this version yet but am vaguely curious. I will probably rent it from the library when it comes in.

DVD News: Those Who Kill

I confess I have this series stored on my Sky+ box, along with Borgen, Braquo and Montalbano!

It's recently been released on DVD, at around £18 online.

Criminal commissioner Katrina Ries Jensen and legal psychiatrist Thomas Schaeffer are part of a unique police unit investigating a series of gruesome serial killings.. In each case they face dangerous threats in the race to uncover the bizarre motives and patterns of the killer. Only once they have an understanding of the victims and of the killer's psychology can they hope to catch him.

Based on an original idea by best-selling Danish crime novelist Elsebeth Egholm, Those Who Kill is a gripping crime thriller that will keep you guessing.

Film News: Babycall

Norwegian thriller Babycall starring Noomi Rapace has just been released in the UK

Synopsis:
Anna and her eight year old son Anders are under the witness protection program following a difficult relationship with Anders' father. They move into a large apartment complex. Anna becomes overprotective of her son and even buys a babycall to keep track of him. Soon, strange noises from other apartments appear on the monitor, and Anna overhears what might be the murder of a child. Meanwhile, Anders' mysterious new friend starts visiting at odd hours, claiming that he has keys for all the doors in the building... Does this new friend know anything about the murder? And why is Anders' drawing stained with blood? Is Anna's son still in danger?



Trailer



Should you have difficulty tracking it down in your local cinema, it will be available on DVD on 4 June 2012.

Film News: Switch

Switch, a crime drama starring Eric Cantona and co-written by crime writer Jean-Christophe Grangé has just been released in the UK:

Synopsis from IMDB:
In Montreal, the unemployed fashion designer Sophie Malaterre is summoned by Claire Maras to show her work to her boss. When Sophie arrives in the company, Clare apologizes and tells that her boss is on vacation and will return only two months later. Clare invites Sophie to have lunch with her and tells Sophie about the website switch.com, where it is possible to switch houses with a stranger for vacation. Sophie seeks an apartment in Paris nearby the Eiffel Tower that belongs to Bénédicte Serteaux and they change apartments. Sophie arrives in Paris on Saturday morning and has a dream day riding a bicycle through the tourist area. However, on the next morning, policemen break in the apartment and arrest Sophie while she is having a bath. Detective Damien Forgeat interrogates Sophie believing that she is Bénédicte and she learns that a beheaded body was found in her room. Further, all the evidences of her life has been deleted and she can not prove that she is Sophie.



However in the unlikely event that Switch is not shown in your area...then it will be out on DVD on 9 April with the tag line:

"The Fugitive meets The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"...

The Silence - DVD Release

The Silence, based on Jan Costin Wagner's book Silence, was released on DVD yesterday in the UK. I am very intrigued to watch this to compare it to the book. The action has been switched to Germany from Finland and from the reviews the crime that opens the book is shown in a more explicit manner.

Euro Crime reviews of the book are here (me) and here (Mark).

Official blurb: 2 missing girls. Same place. Same time. 23 years apart. History repeats itself in this knife-edged thriller, which has been described as the natural successor to The Killing.

An ageing detective comes out of retirement in the hope of solving a missing girl case, which is believed to be connected to an unsolved mystery that happened 23 years ago. Over the long hot summer days, tensions start to reach breaking point as our troubled detective closes in on the deeply methodical serial killer.

A striking debut, The Silence follows on from European crime thrillers such as The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Wallander as it delves into the psyche of detectives and criminals to deliver a chilling story of murder and betrayal.

DVDs for your Wish-List

Despite being top of the charts for a while due to its success in Ireland, The Guard was only on for a week in my area and I was unable to get to a showing. However the DVD is released on 16 January 2012.

Blurb: The Guard is a critically acclaimed Irish black-comedy, where Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson, In Bruges) a small-town cop with a rather unorthodox approach to his police work must join forces with straitlaced FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle, Ocean's Eleven trilogy) to take on an international cocaine-smuggling ring.



Fed up with watching the same two Inspector Montalbano episodes on BBC4? Then here's some good news. 5 March 2012 sees the release of the first collection (R2) containing:

"The Snack Thief, The Voice of The Violin, The Shape of Water, The Mystery of The Terracota Dog. In Italian with English Subtitles"