Thursday 11 July 2013

VIKINGS & FORBRYDELSEN

Viking - A Tv serial about the historical Viking Ragnar Lothbrok

Forbrydelsen - A Tv serial about an investigation on the murder of a school girl

The last time I watched a TV serial could be probably Kairalee vilasom lodge, in DD in the 80's. Nowadays TV, for me, is only for football and may be an odd movie, once in a very very long while. Couple of years before I watched the full series of Faulty Towers,(which was from mid 70's), and realised that there are gems on TV, in Europe. I have watched Faulty Towers more than 10 times now.  I always thought I will try to find similar ones, but never really pursued, watched Blackadder, though. So it was just by luck, that I saw the cd of Vikings, at my cd friend, who had mistakenly placed this cd, amongst Hollywood section and if not for its cover, I would have completely ignored it. How lucky I was. The synopsis was very brief and I decided to take it only because of my interest in European history.

Vikings were Scandinavians, sea fearers, who raided across Europe and Asia, between the 8th and 11th centuries. This TV serial is an Irish - Canadian co production for the History channel. It follows the tales of Ragnar Lothbrok, the man who first sailed west, and was feared by European rulers. But this is not just a war story. It is a brilliant picturisation of Viking Ragnar Lothbrok, and through him, his wife and children and his brother and the others, the series takes us to a different period in history, quite a different world for us. But the characteristics of these historic people has been wonderfully sketched that we can feel them all. 

I am sorry, I dont have the writing capacity to write about this series. All I can say is, friends, please do not miss this one. There are 9 episodes and it might take some time for you to get into its feel, you will soon, most probably, latest by the middle of the second episode, and then its an incredible journey. I watched the whole cd, in two sittings, in two nights. If you have time, you might even finish it in a day - above 400 minutes, I think.

The only issue (?) was, the end of the Viking Season 1, the 9th episode, is terrifically unique. I was screaming, when I realised that the cd had actually ended and there is nothing more left, for it ended at a very important point in the story. It is indescribable boldness from the side of the director, Michael Hirst, to do so. Sure we will feel yearning for the rest. And that is exactly what has happened the world over. People are desperate for the second season. I cannot wait for another few months to watch the second season.

Right at the end, I started researching on Vikings and it lead me to something else. I already knew that Denmark makes excellent movies. Now I know, they also make the best thrillers/investigation dramas, for their TV.

I have started watching another series, Forbrydelsen  (The Killing) - and couple of episodes after I am stunned by the quality of this one. I read that it has been already remade in many other countries (of course, first by USA. BBC showed the original Dannish series with subtitles), may be it would come to India too. Real classic investigation. Unlike in Indian movies where a detective or lawyer explains everything to the viewer, the whole investigation process happens in front of the camera. (I think it was only in Yudham Sei, the Tamil movie, there was even some kind of attempt at this way of story telling, rather than everything coming out by dialogues). Forbrydelsen looks like a brilliant series and I am so glad I have discovered this one, thanks to Vikings.

If you are looking for torrents, make sure it is the original Dannish one, not the American remake, which is also named as Killing.My sincere thanks to internet, that I can watch all these pieces of art from distant world.