Red_Grim_Grumble Reviews

Altes Geld (2015– )

Old Money, New Problems

[9/10 · 17 February 2017]

Gotta love the Germans for finding a new and extreme way of tackling an ancient dilemma. Who does the dying family patriarch leave his money to? The moneybags in question is Rachensteiner(Udo Kier), the head of an Austrian "commission" whose elaborate business arrangements seem to extend into both legal and illegal territory. Real estate dealings are mentioned as much as cocaine shipments. The clash of old world standards with new world thinking is a theme throughout the series. His second(trophy) wife never criticizes the means in which her lifestyle is maintained. But when her expiring spouse bothers to explain himself to the help, that draws her ire. Rachensteiner's plight might not be new, but his solution is. It seems that with a new liver he would easily recover from his two types of Hepatitis. So he lays out the standards for his estate to his family and anyone that will listen: Whoever supplies him with a healthy liver will get the entirety of his fortune.

The problem with that formula is that most of this old baron's children are too aloof and idealistic to care for the money. His daughter Jana is an avant-garde modern artist that views her life as bit of a performance piece. She friends thousands of people on Facebook, yet has tried to kill herself 14 times. Her only interest in the family reunion is trying to pull her brother back into her twisted romantic clutches. Jakob is the younger of the two boys that Rachensteiner envisions as heir to his throne. But, just like Michael Corleone before him, has no love for the family business. He is more interested in doing humanitarian work in Africa than rescuing his father. It's only his girlfriend that first introduces the moral relativism of sacrificing one African life to save thousands with the money. The only offspring with any financial incentive is the older brother Zeno, a type of Falstaffian tragedy in motion. Drinking too much, gambling too much, and carrying on an affair with his step- mother he seems to be too self-destructive to ever live long enough to inherit. But perhaps his Serbian wife and her ex-convict brother can prove up to the task.

Fortunately there are all sorts of minor characters and devious subplots that keep this series running at a frenetic pace in multiple directions at once. This show has so much personality that even the supporting characters to the supporting characters are interesting. There's the executive assistant who is really a ex-journalist seeking revenge, Jana's boyfriend of convenience who is really a cop looking to bring down the family business, an eccentric dog-trainer that frequently proves he's more than he appears, a priest-like underworld gambler that takes all of Zeno's money and gives it to charity, and a rival party leader that would normally be strong- armed if he wasn't recording his every social interaction. That's not even including the less than capable henchmen that try to carry-out their missions with their limited capacity.

Yet all of these unique characters with their own conflicting motivations combine into what can only be described as a sublime black comedy. There is enormous entertainment value in a narrative that doesn't play it safe at all, and careens towards its own delightfully disturbed ending regardless of who is hurt in the process. Behind all great fortunes lays a great crime. And when that fortune is in Austria it comes from the greatest crime of them all. Making this family among the greatest criminals of all. They are old money and they are not going anywhere.

Mar de plástico (2015–2016)

Ocean of Conflict

[6/10 · 2 January 2017]

The title "Sea of Plastic" refers to the vast white tarps that make up the myriad of greenhouses in the fictional city of Campoamargo, which translates to "bitter land". The area used to be little more than desert until these structures made it one of the most profitable farming communities in Europe. But that type of development is never without cost. All this plastic produce requires labor which means an influx of immigrants and rising racial animosity from the locals. All these male workers leads to the development of shady secondary industries like strip-clubs and prostitution. Then there are the few savvy businessmen that take advantage of every aspect of this new economy, becoming the new oligarchs, and certify it by acquiring their own blonde Russian trophy wives. It's this stew of resentment that is set to boil when a ghastly murder occurs. Ainhoa, the mayor's daughter, wasn't just beheaded but completely exsanguinated so that her blood could be released from the sprinkler system in one of the ubiquitous vegetable tents. Such a gruesome opening scene makes the viewer think that this is the beginning of a grisly series of serial killings, or that this will be a thoroughly morbid crime-noir. Yet the show doesn't deliver on the dark tone that it opens with and instead unfolds as a colorful, brightly lit, casual who-done-it. At times resembling a high-rent telenovela. But to be fair this series is less about the murder and about the community that it took place in.

Heading the investigation is Héctor Tarancón a veteran detective who is just barely containing his PTSD after recently returning from combat in: Afghanistan? Yes dear reader, I did look it up. Spain actually contributed as many as fourteen hundred troops to the ISAF, and even suffered 102 casualties. However most of those were do to aircraft incidents, including the 62 who died in a plane crash on their way home. Unsurprisingly that is not what haunts Héctor. His nightmares are occupied by a confusing combat incident in which his best friend Pablo died, but of course not before he could implore his buddy to take care of his widow and child. Now he has returned home to wrestle with that military cliché while solving a high-profile murder. Considering the fact that the victim's father is the Chief of Police you'd think that this investigation would merit untold amounts of manpower and pressure, but Héctor is allowed to conduct his case in a routine manner with only a few detectives. One of them is Lola Requena, shunned in her own community because becoming a member of the Civilian Guard is unforgivable to her clan of gypsies. Yet another sub-set of this uneasy mixture of people that grows more agitated whenever the evidence points one way.

Usually in a series like this there is no shortage of suspects because so many people had reason to want the victim dead. Yet it seems that Ainhoa was liked by everyone and any suggestion that one segment may have been involved in her death leads to a rash physical conflict among groups. Between these tribal confrontations and a murderer knocking out anyone who gets close to the truth, there is no point in the series in which one character isn't nursing a wound. But it is in these fractures of the community where the story really emerges as the different groups learn to appreciate each others common humanity. Ironically enough the character that achieves the most growth is the one with a swastika tattooed on his chest. Initially he was enraged that his ex-girlfriend Ainhoa was dating a black migrant from Guinea. But the circumstances of the drama constantly force these two to deal with each other, and what he thought was her betrayal can actually be an endorsement of his character. Watching these flawed but earnest young adults evolve into their societal roles with a compassion lacking in the previous generation is a rewarding series of its own. So much so that you sometimes forget that the show is about catching a murderer. It's in combining the two stories that the series falls short. The moving human drama doesn't quite fit in between the criminal procedure and suspect of the moment formula. In combining the two it dampens both stories and drags on too long. Every episode lasts a confounding 70 minutes which leaves you anticipating the end even more than the plot twist. That being said there is more good than bad in the show and it did hold my attention enough to watch the entire season, I just don't think I'll be watching the second one.

(On the off chance that anyone from Netflix reads this, the English language subtitles could use a second pass. There are multiple incorrect translations and misapplied pronouns.)

The Break (2016–2018)

Broadchurch in Belgium

[8/10 · 24 December 2016]

The similarities are unavoidable. A recently disgraced big-city cop moves to a small town just in time to lead an investigation in a rare murder. With a resentful less-experienced partner he uncovers a lot of uncomfortable secrets about a community in which anyone can be a suspect. But a show doesn't have to be wholly original to be good. Just look at the two separate high-quality adaptations of the Danish series "The Bridge". Besides all a mystery series has to deliver is: an identifiable victim, plenty of suspects, and multiple twists. On these three fronts "La Treve" fully succeeds. Not to mention it does plenty to distinguish itself from that similar BBC series. Surprisingly it has an even darker view of humanity. As the unstable detective pessimistically asserts to his underling "Anyone is capable of murder". A point that is driven home hauntingly by beginning nearly every episode with a different character's nightmare of how they might be involved. Not to mention the fact that the entire series is told in retrospective from a mental hospital, where the main character has found himself following the events of the story. Yoan Peeters was a detective on the rise in Brussels until he got four members of his squad killed when he ordered them into a drug den without waiting for back-up. Like everything else in this series it is much more complicated than it first appears. But with that cloud hanging over his head he returns to his childhood home of Heiderfeld, with his sullen daughter who missed the big city even before she left. He hasn't even reported to work yet when the overwhelmed young detective Sebastian Drummer conscripts him into helping with a just discovered dead body. Most of the force has never dealt with such a situation and they need help. This series makes a better case than most crime shows about how resources and finances dictate the level of police-work. When it looks like this was a suicide the Chief cancels an autopsy, not because he's trying to cover anything up, but because the town can't afford it. The unspoken villain of the series is poverty. Poor economics has forced many in this simple town to succumb to various forms of corruption. The only dependable income for some residents seems to come from strong-arming farmers to sell for the new electric dam or throwing a soccer match to benefit mob gamblers. The latter of which may have contributed to the murder of the preeminent defender of the local club. Seen only in video messages to his family and the aforementioned dream sequences his name was Driss Asani, a drafted prospect from Africa; and as you may have guessed his death doesn't stay ruled a suicide. Yoann's detective acumen finds more than enough evidence of homicide and even more possible suspects. For a quiet rural community it certainly has more than it's share of decidedly modern eccentrics. Peeling away the placid exterior of the community certainly reveals a lot of shady characters that are not eager to share their secrets with the police. But does having something to hide automatically make someone a murderer, as the amphetamine-fueled Yoann too often accuses. Or are they all guilty of feeding a growing monster of corruption that would eventually require a human sacrifice for their collective sins. Yoann's investigation creates much more damage than it ever does justice. It leaves no one unscathed, especially himself. But this unflinching look at the desperate people created by desperate times does prove that his cynical observation was correct. Anyone is capable of murder.

The OA (2016–2019)

Taking TV to the next level!

[9/10 · 17 December 2016]

Although it will invite comparisons with "Stranger Things". This series does so much more than that conventional fantasy/horror show. In some ways it does more than anything before in this genre. While the idea of a long missing character mysteriously returning as a different person, is not new. What's different is that this series actually delivers on the larger promise of her enigmatic behavior and obsessive quest. It's in the long format of a TV show that this narrative is able to slowly suspend your disbelief in ways that no movie ever could. The story carefully pushes the viewer further and farther with each episode. I found myself unable to stop watching. Not because of some contrived cliff-hanger, not because of some imminent plot development, but because I had no idea where this was going to go next. Like one of the 5 people OA has assembled to reveal her story to, the audience is slowly taken from suspenseful curiosity into mind-blowing science fantasy. It's less a series, than a journey. Not surprisingly the ending is already breeding its detractors. It would certainly appear silly to anyone that didn't know what was going on. But it does show you that the bond forged between the unlikely friends is still strong, and that every bit of this fantastic tale could still be true.