tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post5284362396189395398..comments2024-03-18T10:29:46.055+00:00Comments on Ken Armstrong Writing Stuff: The Killing V The KillingKen Armstronghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-75026963878547182272012-11-17T15:28:12.627+00:002012-11-17T15:28:12.627+00:00Hi 'Anon' I think there is little doubt th...Hi 'Anon' I think there is little doubt that the original is the best. It is certainly the one that will live in my memory. Yes, if you have the opportunity, I would seek out the original and see what you think. Ken Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-28184009959221580912012-11-17T12:40:24.602+00:002012-11-17T12:40:24.602+00:00I am a late comer to this, having just finished th...I am a late comer to this, having just finished the first season of the remake. I've never seen the original series, and I am wondering if I should scratch the remake and switch to watching the original because I became really disappointed with the remake about 2/3 through the first season. The second season of the remake is even worse. The first season at least had intelligent characters and intelligent dialogue. The second season just plays like a badly written day time soap opera. Everything is melodramatic. Miscommunication and incompetence delays the investigation, rather than an intricate cover up. Should I watch the original instead?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-11016899133763995142012-09-03T23:11:56.143+01:002012-09-03T23:11:56.143+01:00I am watching both at this time and I am at the mi...I am watching both at this time and I am at the middle of both. Until now, I love both!! The atmosphere is maybe a bit darker in the Danish version but the emotion of the discovery of the body of the young girl and the pain of the parents is much more intense in the US version in my opinion.Pierre H. Reneveyhttp://pierrehrenevey.com/wpnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-81015687831521076512011-09-18T18:51:42.499+01:002011-09-18T18:51:42.499+01:00This is good, though, Hope. If you see it getting ...This is good, though, Hope. If you see it getting a little repeat, give the first episode a look, it's something different.Ken Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-42795786464882369332011-09-18T18:40:59.472+01:002011-09-18T18:40:59.472+01:00No fighting here. Never seen either. Simply didn...No fighting here. Never seen either. Simply didn't interest me.<br /><br />But now I understand what all the grumbling was I kept reading about in the form of, "What?! They can't do that!"<br /><br />Hollywood hasn't gotten a creative bone left in it's body. Now they're looking to recycle bad t.v. series from my youth as movies. Sigh.hopehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03306622656461205674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-68825566136145826162011-09-18T18:24:43.793+01:002011-09-18T18:24:43.793+01:00Me too. I thought he was very convincing indeed. T...Me too. I thought he was very convincing indeed. The furtive phone calls a high point.Ken Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-13031281655624796062011-09-18T18:02:25.951+01:002011-09-18T18:02:25.951+01:00I'm a political scientist by training - taught...I'm a political scientist by training - taught Uni politics for some years - so that's probably why the politics intrigued me so much. And I agree that the thread that gripped at the start of the Danish series was the family,and that thread ran through the whole thing. I thought the US makers did nearly as well - I was very ambivalent about the first episode until we saw their grief and then I was hooked. But I don't think they kept us hooked to the family anywhere near as well. And the scenes that worked best for me in the US version were taken directly from the Danish series, so much so that the whole scenes were virtually identical. These were early in the story - episodes 1&2 of the US version I think.<br />I have to confess that I was a bit irritated by the US episode you mention - I just wanted the drama to move back to the real story. Can't really say why I disliked it except that it seemed like a diversion. But the one thing I think the US version did better is Sarah's sidekick. Didn't like him at first but I think he grew as a character and by the end I was finding him really interesting - I thought he was the best thing about that Sarah episode.hareinthemoonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18247727945251329653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-7533882876415455472011-09-18T14:40:35.874+01:002011-09-18T14:40:35.874+01:00hareinthemoon: Thanks *so* much. This is kind of ...hareinthemoon: Thanks *so* much. This is kind of what I needed to hear - a reaffirmation of the good things about the Original.<br /><br />I agree on nearly everything you say, not the Politics, although Troels was a much-more engaging figure than 'that American' guy'. :)<br /><br />For me, the most-excellent part of the story (in both incarnations) was the slowly rising panic of the poor parents in episode one as they realised that something was terribly wrong. That convinced me. I thought episode 11 of the US version managed to recapture a little of that slow panic, except this time for Sarah, and empathy was further increased. I don't see American Sarah as nearly as dangerous as Danish Sarah. That was her strength; her unwillingness to use her looks and charm to forward her cause and her potential to always do more damage than good.Ken Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-91043264144718122392011-09-18T14:30:43.231+01:002011-09-18T14:30:43.231+01:00I'm interested by what you say. i've watch...I'm interested by what you say. i've watched both series, loved Forbrydelsen, want to love the US remake, but only liked it, rather than loved it.<br /> The problem for me with the remake is that it omits so much of what I loved about Forbrydelsen. Unlike you, I thought Pernilla was superbly acted, and while Mitch is fine, I think she lacks some of the best most complicated emotions of the Danish series. I was fascinated by the Copenhagen politics and find the US alternative frankly boring. I loved Sarah's complicated relationship with her mother in Forbrydelsen - but in the US version her mother is replaced by a social worker that we never really get to know. And in Forbrydelsen Nanna was so central to everything - we were constantly reminded of her in pictures, video. I don't think Rosie gestures anywhere near enough in The Killng.<br />But most of all what I loved about Forbrydelsen was the pace and the landscape. The Killing feels rushed when compared with it's Danish counterpart, so much so hatbI was releved the cliffhanger ending because I thought it was all being wrapped up much to fast with far too many loose ends left hanging. And Seattle just seems too miserable all the time - does it really ever stop raining there? The landscape of Copenhagen often reflected the mood of the story, but the landscape of Seattle as portrayed in the US series is endlessly dark, dank and miserable.hareinthemoonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18247727945251329653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-40873067401148209472011-09-18T14:26:37.985+01:002011-09-18T14:26:37.985+01:00Jamie: Let's face it mate, people who refuse t...Jamie: Let's face it mate, people who refuse to read subtitles *are* *really* missing out. Have you done 'The Secret in their Eyes' yet, for instance? I believe you have... memory is failing me.<br /><br />I'm going to go back to Let The Right One In when I can find it on BluRay. I saw it on Scifi channel first (with ads) next time I want to do it right. It's a top five movie for me.<br /><br />Series two of The Killing (Danish) is only 10 episodes long, apparently.<br /><br />Jim: I want to go, right now, and see Tinker Tailor... I am very excited about it. Like you, I've read all Smiley fiction and the Trilogy built to a great, earth-moving read for me many years ago.Ken Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-17511472645505032942011-09-18T13:11:30.377+01:002011-09-18T13:11:30.377+01:00We decided not to watch the remake so I have no op...We decided not to watch the remake so I have no opinion. The original was good and I couldn’t see what they might improve enough to justify the amount of hours I would have to commit to watching it. Remakes are always dodgy. Take, for example, the very faithful remake of <i>Let the Right One In</i> that Jaime mentions. Had I seen the American version, <i>Let Me In</i> I would have been quiet impressed by it but having seen the original I’m not quite so convinced. I’m looking forward to seeing the new version of <i>Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy</i> which is being directed by the same bloke who did <i>Let the Right One In</i>. Of course it has to stand up to the mighty BBC version and how can Oldman possibly better Alec Guinness’ ‘Smiley’ but then one had to wonder who could possibly do the Joker justice after the mighty Jack Nicholson took on the role and yet it was done. Unusually for me I’ve read all the Smiley novels, not just the ‘Karla’ trilogy but also <i>Call for the Dead</i> and <i>A Murder of Quality</i>, the first two appearances of the character and the later ones where he basically just cameos. Going back to <i>The Killing</i> I can’t say that Carrie and I were over impressed by it. It was good but I think we both preferred the Swedish <i>Wallander</i>. If you liked the Norwegian approach you should look out for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varg_Veum" rel="nofollow"><i>Varg Veum</i></a>. We’ve watched three of the films so far and he’s an interesting character.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-5120897989184018582011-09-18T12:45:38.333+01:002011-09-18T12:45:38.333+01:00Interesting and thoughtful stuff, Ken. Having not ...Interesting and thoughtful stuff, Ken. Having not seen the US Killing I can't really comment on this particular case. <br /><br />However, I think sometimes the people who laud an original series or film (especially one in a foreign language), and I would include myself in these, often do it as a reaction against those who would refuse to ever watch the original due to the presence of subtitles. If we tell ourselves that the original was far better, then we get that certain (unpleasant) smugness that those who won't bother to read subtitles are somehow missing out on something great. <br /><br />Unless that's just me of course - I was probably the same with Let Me In - it was not a bad film, but "I'd" seen the Swedish original and nothing from Hollywood could possibly touch a "work of art" from Europe. So, yeah, pure snobbishness in some ways, and maybe no better than those who refuse to read the words under the screen.<br /><br />I may have had a point when I started writing this comment but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. If I convert the comment to Danish though, that'll make me look clever, innit ;)Jamiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06683381598425799536noreply@blogger.com