Saturday night has become Euro-crime night thanks to BBC4's showing a string of subtitled continental dramas; many of these coming from Scandinavia; after 'Wallender', 'The Killing' and 'The Bridge' we get a series of dramas from the pen of Arne Dahl
the first being 'Misterioso'
retitled 'The Blinded Man' here.
Set in Sweden the story opens with two Russians heading out to commit a bank robbery; one of them enters the bank and when he doesn't come out the other goes in after him and finds him lying dead on the floor with a dart in one of his eyes. Around the same time a string of apparently unrelated murders starts to take place; somebody is killing financiers for reasons that aren't immediately obvious. A special team is put together to investigate this crime; they include the series' protagonist; Paul Hjelm who was about to be suspended for shooting a hostage taker when he'd been ordered to wait for the experts to arrive. The team are divided in their theories about the crime and about the abilities of each other. As the investigation gets closer to the killer they find themselves in real danger; this is particularly true for one member of the team who finds himself alone against the Russian mafia; far from home in Tallinn.
When shown in the UK this film was divided it to two parts which suited the story as there was a natural cliff-hanger at that point. Having enjoyed the previous Scandinavian murder mysteries aired here I had high expectations of this and wasn't disappointed. The story was gripping; there was a good cast of characters and plenty of action; more than once it looked as if a member of the team might die in one case involving a crucifixion! Those attempting to solve the crime early on may be a little disappointed as the killer isn't introduced until the police have identified him. After this introduction to the team I look forward to watching further stories in the series.
Set in Sweden the story opens with two Russians heading out to commit a bank robbery; one of them enters the bank and when he doesn't come out the other goes in after him and finds him lying dead on the floor with a dart in one of his eyes. Around the same time a string of apparently unrelated murders starts to take place; somebody is killing financiers for reasons that aren't immediately obvious. A special team is put together to investigate this crime; they include the series' protagonist; Paul Hjelm who was about to be suspended for shooting a hostage taker when he'd been ordered to wait for the experts to arrive. The team are divided in their theories about the crime and about the abilities of each other. As the investigation gets closer to the killer they find themselves in real danger; this is particularly true for one member of the team who finds himself alone against the Russian mafia; far from home in Tallinn.
When shown in the UK this film was divided it to two parts which suited the story as there was a natural cliff-hanger at that point. Having enjoyed the previous Scandinavian murder mysteries aired here I had high expectations of this and wasn't disappointed. The story was gripping; there was a good cast of characters and plenty of action; more than once it looked as if a member of the team might die in one case involving a crucifixion! Those attempting to solve the crime early on may be a little disappointed as the killer isn't introduced until the police have identified him. After this introduction to the team I look forward to watching further stories in the series.