This is the third Varg Veum movie I've seen, and the first among the ones that were made for TV, and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised of the result.
The movie opens in Copenhagen, where Varg Veum is on a job tracking down the 16 year old daughter of a wealthy businessman to bring her home to her family in Bergen. The daughter has been into some tough environments, and when her 21 year old boyfriend soon turns up dead in a hotel room in Bergen, Veum soon ends up doing his best to protect the girl from the police, who regard her as the main suspect of the murder.
What I like the most about the Varg Veum movies, are the very stylish ways they open the movie, the beautiful sceneries we get of Bergen from different angles, and not least the music.
The openings create a very high expectation of what is to come in the movie. The dialogue is kept to a minimum during these first couple of minutes, very little is explained of what is actually going on, and most of the time we are just shown scenographic images of the surroundings of the private detective accompanied with main music theme. The music is quick and up-beat, the "Varg Veum" title that comes up is dark and mysterious-looking, and the Bergen weather is shadowy and cloudy (as always :)).
When it comes to the rest of the movie, the Bergen sceneries really impressed me this time. The director has actually managed to portray Bergen as a very big city -- which it is actually not. While Lonely Planet describes Bergen as a "sleepy university city", this Varg Veum movie has actually managed to portray the city as a major city with big roads. They film the one single snake-junction that we have in front of the main bus-terminal in a way that makes you think that we have several of them. At the same time, the movie combines this with the beautiful green, mountainous scenery that we have around the city, and the really lovely wooden houses we have in the city centre. This is more than enough to bring tears to the eyes of local patriots.
What is only OK about the movie is the plot. If you have seen too many Agatha Christie movies (or read the books), you will find the Varg Veum plots just plain entertaining. The most stimulating parts of the movie when it comes to plot, are the dialogues between Veum and chief- inspector Hamre. Hamre always hates it when Veum intervenes with his cases, and they are almost never on the same team. On the other hand, these parts of the movies are really good. Trond Espen Seim and Bjørn Floberg fit perfectly to their roles and the acting done by these two is great (in my eyes).
To conclude, if you are a Bergen patriot, this movie is a must-see. For other viewers, if you want an entertaining story, you won't be too disappointed.
The movie opens in Copenhagen, where Varg Veum is on a job tracking down the 16 year old daughter of a wealthy businessman to bring her home to her family in Bergen. The daughter has been into some tough environments, and when her 21 year old boyfriend soon turns up dead in a hotel room in Bergen, Veum soon ends up doing his best to protect the girl from the police, who regard her as the main suspect of the murder.
What I like the most about the Varg Veum movies, are the very stylish ways they open the movie, the beautiful sceneries we get of Bergen from different angles, and not least the music.
The openings create a very high expectation of what is to come in the movie. The dialogue is kept to a minimum during these first couple of minutes, very little is explained of what is actually going on, and most of the time we are just shown scenographic images of the surroundings of the private detective accompanied with main music theme. The music is quick and up-beat, the "Varg Veum" title that comes up is dark and mysterious-looking, and the Bergen weather is shadowy and cloudy (as always :)).
When it comes to the rest of the movie, the Bergen sceneries really impressed me this time. The director has actually managed to portray Bergen as a very big city -- which it is actually not. While Lonely Planet describes Bergen as a "sleepy university city", this Varg Veum movie has actually managed to portray the city as a major city with big roads. They film the one single snake-junction that we have in front of the main bus-terminal in a way that makes you think that we have several of them. At the same time, the movie combines this with the beautiful green, mountainous scenery that we have around the city, and the really lovely wooden houses we have in the city centre. This is more than enough to bring tears to the eyes of local patriots.
What is only OK about the movie is the plot. If you have seen too many Agatha Christie movies (or read the books), you will find the Varg Veum plots just plain entertaining. The most stimulating parts of the movie when it comes to plot, are the dialogues between Veum and chief- inspector Hamre. Hamre always hates it when Veum intervenes with his cases, and they are almost never on the same team. On the other hand, these parts of the movies are really good. Trond Espen Seim and Bjørn Floberg fit perfectly to their roles and the acting done by these two is great (in my eyes).
To conclude, if you are a Bergen patriot, this movie is a must-see. For other viewers, if you want an entertaining story, you won't be too disappointed.
