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Click here to return to the main site. DVD Review
Beck is a procedural detective series from Sweden. The main character, after who the show is named, originally appeared in a series of ten novels written by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. The books detailed the life of a middle-aged policeman, divorced he keeps in touch with his daughter and grandson, but his real life is in his work. Although the stories have been filmed many times, even being adapted for an English speaking audience, the tales contained here represented part of a six season, thirty-four film collection, a few of which were released theatrically, most went straight to DVD. Beck: The Series: Volume 2 (2016) is bizarrely actually the sixth season in Sweden. Each episode covers one single story and runs to around an hour and a half. The two disc set contains four of the stories, Gunvald, were a journalist is found dead with no obvious reason; Steinar, where an unidentified body is discovered after a fire in a caravan; End of the Road, and an ex policeman is found murdered along with all of his family; and lastly, The Last Day, when a cop is shot and killed while chasing a speeding car. It’s pretty good, the language, violence and nudity means that they are unsuitable for a non-adult audience. Each story is presented in its original Swedish with burned in subtitles. Peter Haber is good as the lead character, but I can’t help feel that the gritty, uncompromising police procedural is starting to get to saturation levels. If it’s the sort of thing that would appeal, and you don’t mind subtitles, this still remains a well-acted set of television films. 7 Charles Packer Buy this item online
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