Department Q: The Keeper of Lost Causes (2013)

Police inspector Carl Mørck is put in charge of a department of cold cases, joined only by his assistant, Assad. They dig into a case about a disappeared woman.

Director:

Mikkel Nørgaard

Writers:

Jussi Adler-Olsen (novel), Nikolaj Arcel

Stars:

Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Per Scheel Krüger, Troels Lyby

3 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nikolaj Lie Kaas	...	Carl Mørck
Per Scheel Krüger	...	Anker
Troels Lyby	...	Hardy Henningsen
Øyvind B. Fabricius Holm	...	Død mand
Søren Pilmark	...	Marcus Jacobsen
Divya Das	...	Nyhedsvært
Anne Bærskog Hauger	...	Viggas Rasmussen (voice) (as Anne Hauger)
Fares Fares	...	Assad
Sonja Richter	...	Merete Lynggaard
Rasmus Botoft	...	Tage Baggesen
Patricia Schumann	...	Søs Norup
Marie Mondrup	...	Helle Andersen
Mikkel Boe Følsgaard	...	Uffe Lynggaard
Kenneth Carmohn	...	Mand på færge
Michael Brostrup	...	Børge Bak

Storyline

Chief detective Carl Mørck and his assistant Assad become involved in a five-year-old case concerning the mystery of politician Merete Lynggaard's disappearance - a journey that takes them deep into the undercurrent of abuse and malice that lurks beneath the polished surface of Scandinavia.

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Plot Keywords:

missing person | copenhagen denmark | hyperbaric chamber | walking in on sex | woman on top | 

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Taglines:

A missing politician, a case reopened.

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Denmark Germany Sweden Norway

Language:

Danish Swedish Arabic

Release Date:

17 June 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Department Q: The Keeper of Lost Causes

Filming Locations:

Bredeneek, Rastorf, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

EUR5,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$13,656,380

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zentropa Entertainments20, Film i Väst, Zentropa Entertainments

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

D-Cinema 48kHz 5.1 Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Carl) and Sonja Richter (Merete) play husband and wife in the third season of The Killing (2007).

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Goofs

The leader of the sanitarium tells the two main characters that Uffe was 8 years old when he had his brain injury in the car accident. But we are also told that Uffe was born on the 10th of may 1982 and that the accident, that gave Uffe his brain injury, happened on the 23rd of December 1988, making Uffe 6 when he got his brain injury.

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Quotes

Lasse: [repeated shouted lines] CLEAN THE SCREEN WINDOW MERETE

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Connections

Referenced in Kvinden i buret: Ulykken (2014)

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Soundtracks

5 Om Morgenen
Written by Nicholas Westwood Kidd (as Kidd) and Eloq (as Eloq)
Performed by Nicholas Westwood Kidd (as Kidd)

User Reviews

Definitely a moody, slow-burn Police Drama/Thriller... Rewatchability: High Blu-ray: Very Good A:9 V:9

There really isn't a lot for me to add to what others have commented so far, at least the ones who DID like the movie...

As others have mentioned, the plot and overall story are fairly simple, but at the same time the way it is put together and the way the 2 policemen proceed through the case do indeed draw you into the film and skilfully ratchet up the suspense and tension as the story unfolds. The movie itself is well made and the acting by the two principles works well along with the tone of the film. There ARE other movies like this that I happen to like better, primarily because they were perhaps a bit more stylish and the stories were more complex and intriguing. The movies similar to this that I liked better happened to be foreign films (to me) Both are French. One is the very intriguing 'CRIMSON RIVERS' which has two cops investigating some unusual circumstances involving strange happenings and deaths surrounding a prestigious school. The other is the VERY stylish and slightly Science Fiction flavoured 'CHRYSALIS' which is a very sharp looking film that has some nice twists and turns involving memory and identity. This movie here isn't as stylish and is pretty straight-forward in the sense that they are trying to figure out what really happened to a woman in a five year old suicide case. BUT... the story IS very good and well done though...

Since this is clearly the first in what likely will be a series of films featuring these two policemen working old cases (cold cases?) it sets the stage well in letting us get to know more about them and particularly why the more unfriendly cop is the way he is. What I appreciated about this movie was that they didn't overdo the characterizations like they easily could have done. They gave the main cop just the right tone of disaffection and dourness, but they didn't try to slam you over the head with it. What I also liked about this movie was that although it did present some uncomfortable situations (well, ONE, primarily), it wisely kept those elements restrained and didn't push it like so many do nowadays so freely and quite gleefully. For THAT I am thankful because I personally do NOT at all enjoy elements in films that glorify or greatly emphasize people's sadistic cruelty to others. Just not my thing... Make no mistake though, there IS a bit of that here, but being that I don't usually care for things like that, I felt that they kept an effective balance in depicting it.

I'm thinking that future films with these two characters will likely be even better because now the stage is set and they will probably be able to do a lot more with the stories and the characters as time goes on.

I would recommend this film IF you like slow burners that are not particularly flashy, but if you like ones that DO have a pretty good palpable sense of tension and suspense as the story unfolds. If you don't expect it to be TOO detailed or complex and you can just sit back and enjoy a good Police Procedural, you should find this one pretty entertaining.