Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

I have written at length already about my ideas as they relate to international mystery shows. For those of us in the U.S. accustomed to Law and Order and CSI, with maybe a little Masterpiece Mystery thrown in for good measure, it may or may not surprise that many other countries have a robust tradition of detective and cop shows. Italy, France, Finland... The list goes on and on. Many of these shows are wonderful.Some of the very best of these come from Scandinavia. They include the omnipotent Wallander -- the mother of all mystery shows. But there are also less well-known series, like Beck. (I always have to laugh because evidently "Beck" is trademarked... I can't help but wonder how the internationally famous musician feels about that...).At any rate, Martin Beck and his compadres in the Homicide Division have been solving murders on television since the late 90's (there have been about 30 episodes made since then). The shows are "movie" length -- 90 minutes, so you have plenty of time to get thoroughly engaged. The stories are based on books by Mai Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö that I have not read (but admit I should). Thanks to the invaluable MHz International Mystery (and also my local provider, Comcast), I have watched several episodes.Beck (played wonderfully by Peter Haber) has a sidekick (of course he does!), Larsson (played by the smoldering Mikael Persbrandt), and where Beck is a pretty decent, well-intentioned chap (especially compared to some of his maladjusted counterparts in other Scandinavian series), his partner is a sort of Darth Vader to Beck's Luke. Larsson is the ultimate Bad Cop. He is bigoted. He's violent. He's snarky. He's funny and yet he's frightening. He does things cops shouldn't do. The discordance between the two characters is pitch-perfect, and adds to the fascination.The plots are very good indeed. The pacing is perfect -- not too frenetic, and yet not too languid. They are right in the Goldilocks Zone. But be forewarned that the stories can be extremely disturbing. For example, a baby in a bassinet is viciously dropped to her death from a balcony. I can't help but think in most U.S. shows, the threat of such a terrible death would be made, but the action would not occur. But here, we see it happen, and to be honest I'm pretty sure I wish I hadn't. The audience is in no way protected from the brutality.Amazingly, and unlike many of the other series out of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, there is some blessed comic relief provided in the episodes, in the guise of Grannen, Beck's bizarre (to put it mildly) next-door neighbor. I don't want to spoil anything about him for you here. So I'll just say if he doesn't make you laugh out loud at your TV, then you might need to work on your sense of humor.These are really quite good. If you're a mystery fan, they'll be worth your time to watch, and your money if you want to buy the DVDs. And, as always, thanks to MHz International Mystery for all you do!

the beck series are one of the earlier Swedish-cop-genre movies (yes these are technically movies) i watched each film so far and while some of the earlier movies did have some great stuff, such as dark and gritty atmosphere, suspenseful soundtrack and interesting story lines the second season had lost everything completely, the first season became a big hit and entered mainstream, so when they made the second season it became basically pg-13 family movies, the dark atmosphere was replaced with soap opera sets, the suspense soundtrack was replaced with generic and completely useless piano garbage, the story lines became dull and boring and its obvious they try to shove moral messages down our throats, having a moral message in a movie isn't wrong by any means, but when you force it, it breaks the illusion which is what happened here, but these movies makes money cause some people love bad movies, and Swedish film companies along with Germans finance about 100 000 movies of this kind in Sweden every month, it has gotten so far that no other movie genres exist in Swedish cinema anymore simply cause producers wanna make the same movie over and over again rather than trying something new and fresh, thus these movies have no more artistic value than a toilet roll (except maybe the first 2 or 3) so while i despise these movies i despise Swedish cinema even more, nowadays i only watch independent films from Sweden, i can recommend these movies to people who hate art in general, i recommend anyone who respects art to not support these movies, remember that supporting these movies kills Swedish cinema more and more. if you like these beck movies i highly recommend the works of directors Michael bay, ulli lommel and tommy wiseau, they are better artists than the beck writers/directors could ever dream of becoming

Excellent for this wonderful actress Sara Key. It s a pity we don t see her any more. Productor and director have to engage her ! we can see her in some famous movies, especially Varuhuset, TV serial saw by many people. Actress of theater she still one of the best actress in Sweden. Remember her in "Don Juana"...incredible piece. You know her as an actress from TV-productions and from films as well as performing on the stage. For many the impact of serials like Varuhuset and Rederiet make them easy remember you, but as an actress the work as with Brustna Hjärtan and Strindbergsbarnet is what you hold as precious moments. I work mostly in Stockholm, Sweden, but also travel for interesting work and spend a part of the year in Europe.

To be honest I haven't seen all the Beck movies in the series, which are 21 and counting, but the ones I've seen are well worth watching! I'm from Sweden myself and have a lot of thoughts, most of them negative, regarding Swedish movies. But Beck I like and that's quite an achievement from their part. The Beck series revolves around Martin Beck, Gunvald Larsson and their colleagues at the police force in Stockholm, Sweden. Beck is a divorced, middle-aged man while Larsson is young, forward and a quite violent man (against suspects that is). Together they make a perfect team, investigating crimes committed in Sweden, around Stockholm. The movies have a well written storyline, with diverse crimes, with no fear of showing brutal murders, horrible cases, or to go outside the Swedish border, making this series of movies great! Plot twists are only to be expected at the ending, making sure that everyone is kept in the dark of the outcome until the very end, which isn't always that easy to accomplish. The series of movies are well-known here for a couple of things; Gunvald Larsson's short temper, and his great sarcastic lines! The neighbor of Beck, who always seem to be on sick-leave - wearing a lovely neck-collar, and who always is willing to give Beck some alcohol. And last but not least; the great actors! Peter Haber and Mikael Persbrandt are brilliant in their interpretations of Beck and Larsson.Beck comes well recommended from my part!