The mini-series based on Norwegian mystery writer Karin Fossum's books about police detective Konrad Sejer, is without a doubt the finest Norwegian show of its kind ever to grace the small screen.
This is largely due to the fact that Fossum is a master at blending credible stories and situations with - at times - tense excitement, thus building up to a finale that really packs a wallop! It's more in the tradition of British shows like "Inspector Morse" than the action-filled US productions we're normally used to. Whoever came up with the idea of casting Bjørn Sundquist in the lead should also be commended. Being perhaps the finest Norwegian actor of his generation he would be many Norwegians choice for such a great role, and therefore there would be no surprise if the producers went with a completely different actor. Thank God they didn't. Sundquist is brilliant as the aging, lovable police detective with a room in his heart even for the most hardened criminals. He is one of those few actors you not only hear or see, but you can actually sense what he's thinking. Author Karin Fossum couldn't have hoped for a better actor to play her fictional hero.
The two Sejer-productions made for television (there was a 1999-movie as well, "Evas øye") does however have one minor fault: at times the editing and the sound-work are not on par with the quality of the material. I can not help but think this is a fault on the channel producing "Sejer": NRK. They've been around for over 40 years, and have this stupid law that if you're producing you MUST use your own employees, in stead of hiring fresh new talent from outside the NRK-system. Thus resulting in having old veterans of the network working on a talk-show one week, and then going to work on a production of this magnitude the next week! And how about shooting it on *film* in the future? It would be nice to avoid the look of a cheap tv-production. This is clearly grade-A material and should be treated this way! I find myself both commending NRK for taking on the huge task of realizing Fossum's Sejer-books, but at the same time longing for outside talent (not including it's great actors).
To date there has been one feature film with Sundquist as Konrad Sejer: 1999's "Evas øye", and two mini-series: 1999's "Sejer - se deg ikke tilbake" and 2002's "Sejer - djevelen holder lyset". The latter is without a doubt the finest of them all, with Jorunn Kjellsby turning in an acting tour-de-force as Irma Funder, a gripping mix between your lovable aunt and Kathy Bates in "Misery". On february 20th a new Sejer-series premieres on NRK ("Sejer - elskede Poona") and never in my life have I ever looked more forward to a Norwegian-produced drama-series!
