Arne Dahl - The Complete First Season - DVD

Content: With his novels about the A-Group, a special investigation unit of the Stockholm police, the literary scholar and author Jan Arnald under the pseudonym Arne Dahl has enjoyed great success and won several awards. So a film adaptation of the book series was a natural choice. Under the series title Arne Dahl, the first five books have now been filmed as an international co-production. Two versions were made for the Swedish market: a two-hour version that was shown in cinemas and a three-hour version that was shown as a two-parter on television. So far, five film versions have been shown in Germany, which have now also been released in a DVD complete box set. Here, in contrast to the two previously released individual boxes, all five episodes can now be seen in both the shorter and the three-hour television format:

Case 1: Misterioso

After a robbery at "Sydbank" in the small Swedish town of Avesta, a bank robber is left for dead, a long dart piercing his eye. There is no trace of the perpetrator, there are no witnesses. The case cannot be solved at first.

Independently, the team tries to find out who the next victim could be - who urgently needs to be protected. But the perpetrator is one step ahead of the police, and so they are unable to prevent the fourth murder. Viggo Norlander, frustrated by the lack of investigative success and too much work on his desk, follows a trail towards Estonia. The cartridges used in the murders come from the arsenal of the so-called Juri-X gang. Norlander takes unnecessary risks and is tied hand and foot by the gang in an old factory building. He returns injured and shocked, but overall safe and sound. At least he has found a lead: All the victims were on the board of a company apparently connected to the Juri-X gang.

Meanwhile, in Stockholm, three high-ranking businessmen are murdered in quick succession. Jenny Hultin, the head of the Supreme Bureau of Investigation, assembles a special unit called the A-Team for the occasion. This includes Paul Hjelm, who is not promoted for his heroic efforts in a hostage situation, as might have been expected, but instead faces an internal police committee. Hultin saves him from imminent dismissal. The A-Team also includes computer expert Jorge Chavez, police veteran Viggo Norlander, free thinker and family man Aarto Söderstedt, pragmatist Gunnar Nyberg and excellent thinker and interrogation specialist Kerstin Holm. Together they feverishly search for a motive for the three murders. There were loose business connections between the victims, and it turns out that they belonged to the same lodge society - but this only brings the investigation forward slowly. (Text: ZDF)

Case 2: Bad Blood

Jenny Hultin's team receives an alarming call from the USA: a Swedish journalist has been discovered murdered in a broom closet at Newark Airport. The method of the crime points to the "Kentucky Killer", who has been wanted since the 1970s. Apparently, this one has boarded the plane in identity of the Swedish journalist and will land in Sweden shortly. Immediately the team leaves for the airport, but it is impossible to spot the culprit in the group of arrivals.

The CIA contacts Hultin and informs that the Kentucky Killer has never been apprehended and that the prime suspect, Wayne Jennings, died in a car accident over 30 years ago. After a hiatus, the murder spree continued, so Jennings was no longer a suspect. The method is gruesome and was used by Americans during the Vietnam War: Small forceps are jammed through the victim's neck, vocal cords, and spinal nerves.

The investigators work at full speed, but must watch helplessly as there are more victims. Paul and Kerstin focus on the US. The house where Wayne Jennings lived is still there. From Sweden, they get a live stream of the CIA searching the house and finding a torture room in the basement. Paul suspects that Wayne Jennings may have a son who is carrying on his father's deeds. However, the search for him is initially fruitless.

At the same time in Sweden, Erik and Justine Lindberger, both employees of the Swedish Foreign Ministry, are hiding three refugees from the Arabic-speaking world on Gotland. Erik is murdered in the same gruesome manner as the victims before. Suspicions grow that the Lindbergers are hiding Palestinian terrorists. The team continues to grope in the dark, feverishly searching for a connecting trail to the previous crimes. Shortly after, first a young man is found shot dead, then another torture victim, in and outside the warehouses of the computer company LinkCoop. Gunnar contacts the company's head of security, Daniel Brink.

Then the detectives discover that the Kentucky killer probably faked the accident back then and is still active. It is still a rocky road for the commissioners until they can catch the killer, uncover the identity of Jennings' son and rescue the fugitives - not terrorists, but victims of American torture. (Text: ZDF)

Case 3: Wrong Victim

The A-Team gets back to work: a Swedish car with three occupants has exploded in Holland: Karsten Mollström, his girlfriend Susanne Hörnfeldt and their daughter Lena are killed instantly. The A-Team finds out that the explosives used point to the Eskadron Gang, a Dutch gang specializing in drug trafficking and art theft. In addition, the colleagues get a tip that Karsten Mollström is said to have been working as an undercover agent in Sweden. Mollström had been assigned to watch David Billinger, one of Sweden's biggest drug lords, who hides his real sources of income behind posh restaurants. So is Billinger behind the murders?

Meanwhile, Sonja and her boyfriend Jovan, both waiters at the Goose restaurant in Stockholm, learn that there is to be a major financial transaction, ostensibly to purchase a Miró. Sonja spontaneously decides to take the money and flees with Jovan. Billinger, who initially doesn't know who stole from him, gets into enormous trouble as a result. His restaurant blows up, and it turns out that the same explosives were used as in the first case. Badly injured, Billinger's brother Sverker arrives at the hospital. Billinger confronts him, and he learns that apparently Sonja, his daughter, fled with the money.

At the same time, Sara Svenhage, who has landed at the Reichskriminalamt in the pedophilia department, is investigating a child porn ring. She joins the A-Team when she tracks down a perpetrator on the Internet whose profile can also be seen in connection with her colleagues' case.

Jorge Chavez, who has discovered the Eskadron Gang's hideout in a hotel room in Stockholm, investigates on his own, putting himself in great danger. He is overpowered and shot. (Text: ZDF)

Case 4: Rosenrot

A policeman shoots an African immigrant who is to be deported from Sweden. Kerstin Holm is assigned to interview the policeman, who turns out to be her ex-boyfriend Dag Lundmark. During a break in the interview, Lundmark disappears without a trace.
Meanwhile, a burglar breaks into an apartment where he finds a dead body with a suicide note. The letter leads to two more bodies in a swamp in Värmland. The A-group discovers a connection between the two murders, which are linked to espionage in the international pharmaceutical industry.
Kerstin Holm tries to track down Dag Lundmark on her own. Suddenly she realizes that he has stumbled upon a terrible secret and is just waiting for her to find him, which she succeeds in doing in the end. (Text: ZDF)

Case 5: Deep Pain

In "Deep Pain" a complex series of murders of international proportions keeps Stockholm special investigators Kerstin Holm and Paul Hjelm on their toes. There's a long needle stuck in his head: it's a chilling, calculating murder perpetrated on the renowned Swedish Nobel Prize nominee. But why must the almost ninety-year-old die in such an agonizing way? And what is the connection between his death and that of a horribly mutilated corpse that Paul Hjelm and his team discover in Stockholm's Skansen amusement park? There is only one lead the investigators can follow: Epivu. The dead man from Skansen scratched this strange word into the ground - and the other victim also seemed to have known these letters. (Text: ZDF)

Criticism: Although all five film adaptations offer extremely exciting entertainment and come up with well-drawn characters, Bad Blood and Rose Red are undoubtedly the s of this first season. Overall, it can be stated that despite some admittedly somewhat tame moments, the longer versions are without a doubt the better versions of the films. Because even though the cuts have been made very carefully and there are no annoying logic holes, you can still tell that something is missing from them. Because of that, the clichés, from which especially Misterioso can't completely get rid of, have a much more negative impact than it is the case with the long versions. The family problems of the main investigators, in this case with Paul and his wife, which later extend to their son, take up too much of the first film, which in the end clouds the overall impression, which in itself is very positive, at least a little.

Therefore, the long versions are definitely preferable, as they can spend more time on character development in addition to the actual investigations, and can shed more light on the impact of the dedicated police officers' work on their private lives. A good example of this is Rosenrot. This case affects Kerstin Holm (Malin Arvidsson) very personally in a very special way. This simply comes across much more intensively in the long version than in the TV version. In any case, the films derive their appeal from the fact that in addition to the extremely exciting stories, the investigators are also interesting and complex characters with many strengths, but also very human weaknesses. The fact that the criminal cases sometimes seem a bit contrived and that some clichés are used doesn't really weigh negatively.

For this, again Deep Pain is a very good example. This case, at the end of which the future of the A-group is completely uncertain, is not only set in Sweden, but in numerous other parts of Europe (including Germany). There really is no sparing of stereotypes. And yet the whole thing works, is extremely exciting and rousing. This is not only due to the atmospheric production, but also to the good development of the characters, in whose fate one participates as a viewer only too gladly.

Due to the extremely sympathetic drawing of the main characters and their sometimes very entertaining interactions, as well as due to the engaging atmosphere, the films offer extremely good entertainment. In addition, despite small lengths, the stories are so excitingly implemented that even the small weaknesses hardly change anything. Especially the end of the first part of the long version of Bad Blood is such a grippingly staged cliffhanger that you change the DVD in a few seconds to see as soon as possible how it continues.

So the Arne Dahl films do not revolutionize the genre, but enrich it with really very worth seeing contributions. Luckily, three more films have already been shot and will be seen in Sweden in 2015. Let's hope that fans in Germany do not have to wait too long to see how it will continue with the A-Group and whether it will still exist in its original cast at all.

Picture + Sound: The A-Group may determine on DVD in good picture and sound quality. While there are some minor point deductions in overall sharpness in the darker sequences, the visuals are otherwise convincing with good coloration du a decent level of detail. The Dolby Digital mix makes the dialogue sound well intelligible from the speakers. A few well-implemented sound effects provide good surround dynamics throughout the otherwise rather unspectacular proceedings. Good!

Extras: Unfortunately, the box has no bonus material to offer!

Conclusion: The first five Arne Dahl film adaptations around the Stockholm A-group offer exciting entertainment for all fans of sophisticated Nordic crime series. All five novel adaptations are absolutely worth watching due to the sympathetically drawn main characters, the decent level of suspense and the engaging atmosphere and can play off all these strengths perfectly, especially in the long versions. The lack of bonus material can also be forgiven. Therefore applies, with small deductions: Absolutely recommendable!

Source: Sebastian Betzold / Inhaltsangaben: ZDF