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Powerful

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

How sad is this?

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

I had not heard much about this one-off show other than it was by the maker of the original version of The Killing and that it had gotten good reviews from most critics. The manner of delivery is retrospective and almost entirely in the form of to-camera monologues by individuals, there is really only one scene where the characters directly interact and that comes right at the end. This means that, like most real life cases, you have the statements of those involved to go on and the writer makes this work really well, spinning perception to the point where you are not quite sure who did what to whom.As the case approaches we also get to see the manipulative nature of "justice"; the presentation, the little touches of coloring done by the lawyer and the way the facts are hard to get. It is a simple crime – a couple of sisters in a working man's club on their way to get matching, tacky tattoos but instead get picked up by a bloke and end up back at their rather dingy little flat, drunk, fighting and having fun. It is tawdry in nature and in a way is pretty representative of low-end crimes rather than the bigger complex affairs we see in season-long murder-mysteries. This does rather color the viewer but the film is careful not to judge the characters for where they are from, but instead lets them do the talking. The delivery is clever because it draws you in with different stories which are added to by the policeman, the lawyer, the mother, all adding perspective and opinion.The actual solution to the crime is satisfying but it is the total delivery that works so well. The cast are a big part of this working because they convince as characters – their anger, their tawdriness, their hate, their past hurts all seem part of them. Crome and Dempsie are both excellent in the two central roles and they hold attention effortlessly. Support from Pugh, Rushbrook, Dillane and the few others is almost as good and everyone gets the approach and follows the lead of Larsen and Jones. It is downbeat and it does deliberately lack the slickness of weekly crime dramas, but this is to its credit because the case is messy and isn't easily resolved.Well worth a look because it is engaging, intelligent, rewarding and grimly honest.

Much hyped and anticipated as the first production by "The Killing" director Birgir Larsen in English, I must admit I was bitterly disappointed by it.A prismatic narrative, similar to "Rashomon" and "Accident" in depicting a dramatic event from different perspectives, being the co-accused of the murder of a young girl after a drunken night goes wrong, the familiar Nordic Noir devices of unusual camera angles, well-lit city-scapes, new-age background music for atmosphere and naturalistic acting are rolled out again, but I was unmoved.For one thing, I didn't care for the characters, low lives all of them and watching their tawdry doings was akin to viewing rats in a barrel. I didn't like the acting either, as if staring at the camera and talking in monotone can be called acting.The denouement was underwhelming too, by which time anyway I was bored and couldn't care less. This programme was all flash and no content and was as entertaining as a dose of the measles.How do you say "The Emperor's New Clothes" in Norwegian?

Most murder mysteries begin around the time of the murder then follow the police as the question witnesses and examine clues and end when the culprit is exposed and arrested; the few that don't follow the trial and the truth will be exposed in court… this is not like either of those though. This one hour story takes the form of a succession of people talking directly to the camera; suspects, police, witnesses a barrister, a pathologist and the victim's mother. They each tell us part of the story; what they think happened or what they want us to think happened. We see neither the investigation nor the trial.The case involves the murder of Erin, a twenty seven year old woman who was battered to death with an Amaretto bottle. At first the only suspect is Stefan, an ex-squaddie who was arrested while driving off in her car in a drunken state; later it becomes apparent that the victim had a fight with Coleen, her sister in the pub earlier so she becomes suspect number two. Both Stefan and Coleen tell us their stories; each is plausible… just about. D.I. Sheehy gives his views of them and suggests what he things might have happened and when the trial begins Coleen's Barrister, Heskett Jupp, tells us what his strategy will be. As the story draws to an end one of the suspects will go to gaol and then we will finally see what happened on 'Day 0'; the day that Erin was killed.When I sat down to watch this I wasn't sure what to expect; all I knew about it was that it was directed by Birger Larsen; the director of the superlative Danish thriller 'The Killing'… this couldn't be like that though as it was one hour long rather than twenty. I don't think I'd want to sit through twenty hours of people talking to camera but as a one hour show I thought it worked very well; giving the proceedings a documentary feel. The cast did a solid job and felt real; I suspect this was helped by the fact that apart from Robert Pugh they were all unknown to me. Most of the programme was filmed in fairly stark rooms but we did get the occasional outdoor view and these were filmed in a way that gave a interesting feel to the setting; the city of Nottingham looked deep orange or even red in the various night time shots. If you enjoy murder mysteries and don't mind the large amount of swearing then you'll probably enjoy this.

This hour-long film was first shown at 10pm on BBC2 on Sunday 26th August. It was this particular broadcast that I caught to watch this finely crafted, impeccably acted and thoroughly unsettling drama. The film's director is Birger Larsen, who fans of Danish crime shows might remember as having directed the first few episodes of the first series of the classic "Forbrydelsen" (The Killing), as well as some of "Those Who Kill" (less of a classic, but no less engrossing). With him at the helm, "Murder" is imbued with a hefty Scandi-esque gloom, whilst also accompanied with an extraordinary visual style that far exceeds its small screen confines, but works just as well within them: night-time cityscapes aglow in neon become overcast in clouds the colour of blood; flashbacks are shown as if shot in grainy 8mm; and, most at the forefront of the visual style, is the fact that all the characters relay events to camera, directly to us. They use this to-camera style as an opportunity to give their side of the convoluted, complex and disturbing story that unfolds before us...even if not all the points of view match up...and even if some of the characters happen to not be telling the whole truth. In the end, your sympathies, opinions, predictions and - most crucially - your trust become tested at every turn. Now, in a way, "Murder" reminded me of the outstanding Japanese film "Confessions", which is no bad thing. I won't explain how. It's best left for you to find out, and discover exactly why. The two lead actors deserve a special mention, too: Joe Dempsie (great in "Game of Thrones," brilliant in "The Fades") plays a man seemingly destined for unending pain and injustice, whether he's dealing it out himself, or receiving it in kind. And as for Karla Crome, who plays the sister of the victim (though not necessarily the only one) of the story? My lord, if she does not get the golden future in acting she so utterly deserves, I will eat my hat AND my shoe. Before "Murder," I saw her in the also quite brilliant (but totally mental) "Hit & Miss", and with her performance in that and in this to go on, I must paraphrase Ollivander and say that we can expect great things from you, Ms. Crome...