The scenic delight that is Fjallbacka in Sweden is the home of a famous writer and mystery hound Erica Flack (Claudia Galli). She seems to open up the apparant idyllic town and its surrounds, finding the real under that divine packaging. She find that it is a hotbed of murder, sex, adultery, blackmail and Nazi’s. 6 mystery films worth of this and so much more.
The Fjallbacka series was famous more for its disaperance of its director Daniel Lind Lagerlöf (I have linked this so you can check out this mystery worthy of an episode). The filming stopped for some time after he vanished, while scouting locations and as of October 2011, he was presumed dead. Now the series is famous for its leads uncanny knack of bumping off whole town loads of people. Like Jessica Flecther et al, when Ericka turns up, the said players know they are stuffed. A one woman apolcalypse who has been sent among a town of around 300 people.
Right to the important information and that which has made you want to read this piece. The initial 2 films are the best and as the series goes along it decreases in ability.As with some series, you have the up and down episodes but overall the films have a good foundation. The stand out film is The Hidden Child here but I warn the more observant viwer (ie you) that the use of history might make you question the timeline of mother and daughter. You will see when you watch and I suggest to you, suspend the disbelief here. Otherwise it will be a hard series to watch and an even harder sell later on.
The other thing about the plotting is that it is tight but not agressive. You will be able to relax into the series and not have to pick up hard plot points.The cast is all very good but Galli character grates a little in her constant over eager detective persona. She always runs to solve a mystery, even if she is not connected in a valid or valuable way. She should be working for the police and not be a (lapsed) stay at home mum. Visually the films are well produced, with sets dressed and costuming the crafted highlights. The direction can be said to be clean and it is tight in its execution. Compositions are well choosen and camera work is occasionally very fluid and beautiful but with the surrounds at their disposal it should be.The discs are split into 2 films each and no extras to give you a report on. If you like Nordic stuff that looks pretty but is not to hard on the mind…Well this is it.
