The Bridge *** (NR) This DVD set is a suspenseful 10-episode miniseries chronicling the efforts of Swedish and Danish detectives to catch a highly-organized killer, with an apparently twisted sense of social justice. He commands everyone’s attention by leaving what seems to be the body of a Swedish political figure on a bridge between the two counties, half on each side of the border. They soon learn that the lower half comes from a Danish woman who’d disappeared years before.
The killer makes bold public displays of other targets and agendas, while ad hoc partners from both sides of the border team up to lead the chase. The Swedish cop, Saga (Sofia Helin) is brilliant and attractive, but apparently limited in emotional connectedness and social savvy by some form of Asperger’s Syndrome. The Danes pair her with Martin (Kim Bodnia), who has far better people skills, but a mess in his personal life, struggling through multiple marriages, and children from each. Ten hours of subtitled crime fare may seem daunting, but it’s worth the time investment. The scripts are complex and suspenseful, with plenty of twists and turns along the way. The series mixes action sequences with the quieter aspects of police work, adding a suitable proportion of the principals’ personal lives to engage viewers with both characters and plot. There’s even some comic relief to be found along the way.
If the premise seems familiar, that may be due to its having been adapted for domestic TV, shifting the initial victim’s placement to the U.S./Mexican border, with significantly different story arcs and character development. If you saw our version on F/X, it won’t telegraph the content of its European ancestor. Both series share another fact. This set aired in 2011; a second season followed two years later. The second year of our basic-cable adaptation begins in July. More problems starting on those pesky bridges on two continents in four languages.