Wonderful Movie

Just perfect...

Great Film overall

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

"The good old days give way to new ones, but things repeat themselves." As much as 'Matador' is a period piece about the time between 1929 and 1947, which is exclusively set in a fictional Danish town, it is really a universal timeless classic. It is about change as much as about anything else. People and families find together while others drift apart, children grow up while adults refuse to change and learn, morals and standards get rewritten and challenged, and political events come and go affecting everyone in their unique way, because the characters are not only the catalysts for change, they are also its manifestations. Whether they grow, adapt or just stand still – they are all testament to the changes that happen all of the time, and they are the heartbeat of 'Matador'. There are literally dozens of them, and while some take more of a centre-stage-position than others, everyone counts and is given enough heart and enough screen-time to matter. Even the characters, that start out a bit cartoonish, such as Maude or Mr. Schwann, become fully fleshed out over the course of the series. You'll find yourself sympathising with every character at one point or another, and, with one or two exceptions, will also find yourself hating every character for his/her actions at another point. Everyone has his own subtle arc, which is generally very well executed and stays true to life, although it might catch you by surprise. There's no black-and- white here, it's shades of grey. The writing is full of great little observations and the acting is always good enough to breathe real life into each and every character. All of this is done with a constant fresh dose of humour, great acting, excellent production, and at a great slow pace. 'Matador' is almost flawless and can hold its own with the greatest of TV shows produced all over the world. In fact, I have rated more than 200 shows, most of them highly critically acclaimed, and this is only the 3rd one I give the perfect 10 out of 10. Go watch it for yourself and find out why.

It is great to revisit the town of Korsbæk in 2007, approximately 25 years after it was first aired. The series is not only a truthful rendition of mid-century Denmark from 1929 to 1947, but also a documentation of Danish self-understanding in the 1980'es - at the time of Danmarks Radios broadcasting monopoly – and the series itself was, and still is, an integral part of the ongoing formation of the national self-understanding (of which we seem to have a LOT! ) Among many other things this series had a great impact on the understanding and self-understanding of gay men in Denmark. As it originally aired in the early eighties - the peak of the aids-epidemic - and connected themes such as solidarity in the face of oppression, helping those in need during the war, and the conflict between a relentlessly striving businessman and his gay son, the series undoubtedly raised both general awareness and the wider public support for the same-sex civil unions legislation, passed in 1987.

Nicolaj Laugesen of Copenhagen, Denmark wrote that the story is going on under the second world war. In fact it started in the beginning of the thirties. Mads Skjern met Ingeborg (the grown up daughter) at her parents home and her daughter Ellen. Mads and Ingeborg fell in love and got married later

A great story: Denmark before, under and after World War 2.