I'll have to disagree with you on this because I've been enjoying the
series. I don't think you get a good sense of it just off the first
episode. Now to be fair I haven't watched the Danish version because
the asshats do this thing when they get the right to keep it blocked in
the US. By now it would have made total sense to have the Danish
version version of "The Killing" on Netflix WI but noooo.... "gotta keep
'mericans from seeing the original and besides it's got subtitles!" I
can't image how HBO can improve on the UK series "Utopia" and I bet it
won't be displayed on the action canvas of scope.
On 08/30/2013 03:25 AM, turquoiseb wrote:
I finally got around to watching the first episode of the American
remake of one of the best TV series in recent years, Denmark's
"Bron/Broen." Other than sharing a title ("The Bridge") and a basic
plotline, the two series seem to have little to do with one another. One
was brilliant, the other (you can guess which one) is a plodding ripoff
that proves that the only exception to the "Don't ever bother watching
an American remake of a good European TV series" rule is still "The
Killing." The Americans didn't embarrass themselves *too* badly with
that one; with "The Bridge" they do. But most Americans will never know
this, because due to lawyers and copyright assholes, they'll probably
never get to see the original.
But I don't want to appear too negative, so I'll spend a little time
talking about what I liked about the US version. So far, the highlight
for me was getting to see El Paso and Juarez again. I spent my senior
year of high school there, on both sides of the border, so it was good
to see that environment again. That's it, the entirety of what I liked.
It's not even that I don't like Diane Kruger in the lead role. She's
easily as beautiful as the actress in the Danish series, and she appears
to be trying very hard to fill some big shoes. And, if you had never
seen Sofia Helin's performance in the same role, you might actually be
impressed by Kruger's. She tries her best to emulate Helin's, but
therein lies the rub. It's an emulation, an "imitation" of a person with
Asperger's. Sofia Helin did her research, and *became* a person with
Asperger's. Kruger is doing an imitation of another actress.
The actor playing the Mexican cop is good, but he's stuck being a
stereotype surrounded by other stereotypes of Mexican cops and villains.
Every ounce of subtlety has been drained from the plot and his role in
it. Important plot points from the original were deleted for no reason,
with no regard to whether they were important or not. I assume that they
were deleted primarily to cut running time so that FX could squeeze in
more commercials.
I also hated the portrayal of Juarez as a "dangerous place," repeated
over and over and over, as if the point *had* to be made for American
audiences stupid enough to want to go to another country. Yes, these
days (due to drug/gang violence) it *is* a violent place, but the
heavy-handed racism really isn't necessary; it's pandering to the
existing beliefs of a racist country to sell commercials.
Suffice it to say I won't be watching. If you are, and are enjoying the
series, sorry for pissing in your punchbowl. But if you ever get the
chance, you might try watching the original. Your punchbowl is full of
Kool-Aid, sweetened with aspartame; the original was filled with fine
champagne.
