Brokenwood - Murder in New Zealand - Season 1 - DVD

Content: New Zealand - The land of Kiwis and Hobbits. Idyllic landscapes shape the image of a country where there can be no crime after all. Or? Far from it. As there are always mysterious deaths even in a quiet provincial town like Brokenwood, Detective Sergeant Mike Shepherd (Neill Rea) comes from the big city to help his local colleagues with the investigation. His first case may be an apparent suicide, but Shepherd isn't so easily fooled. With his unconventional methods and not always appropriate humor, he gets to the bottom of Brokenwood's murderous side. At his side is young policewoman DC Kristin Sims (Fern Sutherland), who is considerably younger than Sheperd's beloved car, but who proves time and again to be a helpful and determined foil to the older cop. Together they must investigate wine cellars, golf courses and alleged hunting accidents - yes, even in the New Zealand idyll, cops have their hands full.

Brokenwood - Murder in New Zealand is like The Hobbit without the dwarves, lead writer Tim Blame describes the entertaining crime series. But a sort of New Zealand equivalent of Inspector Barnaby is perhaps more accurate - even if Neill Rea's outfit is also a little reminiscent of the immortal Inspector Columbo. As an investigator with a penchant for country music, black humor and old cars, Rea is just great. Watching him go about his sometimes somewhat unusual investigative methods is just plain fun. This pleasure is, of course, enhanced by the fact that he has been given a completely opposite character in the form of young Kristin Sims.

Surely, this is a stylistic device that is readily adopted, especially in crime series, but it works well time and time again. The first four episodes begin with rather unusual deaths. A body is discovered in hundreds of litres of wine or in the middle of a golf course. This doesn't seem shocking, but rather amusing in a slightly morbid way. But even if the series has comedic features, the suspense is not neglected. The familiar path of investigations in series like this one, where a main suspect is often revealed very quickly, only to eventually lead to a completely different culprit with some unexpected twists, is also committed here. Nevertheless, the entertainment value of the series is consistently on a high to very high level.

As you can see, Brokenwood - Murder in New Zealand is now really not a prime example of originality. But the New Zealand crime series is a good example of how well-drawn main characters and a good mix of humour and suspense can serve up old familiar fare in a fresh and extremely entertaining way. If you can't get enough of traditional crime fare served with a slight wink, this is definitely one to grab: worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The beautiful landscape shots come off atmospherically thanks to good overall sharpness and a coherent color scheme. Slight picture noise can be spotted in darker scenes, but otherwise the picture quality leaves a really good overall impression. The Dolby Digital 2.0 mix is restrained, but transports dialogue, music and the soundscape well from the boxes of the home TV system. Good!

Extras: Bonus features on Disc 2 include interviews with Neill Rea and Fern Sutherland (approx.5:28 mins), who talk about their roles and preparations for filming, and lead writer Tim Blame (approx. 5:21 mins), who provides general background information about the series and its creation. Not really much, but not uninteresting.

Conclusion: Brokenwood - Murder in New Zealand is top crime entertainment with wonderfully quirky deaths, a likeable investigator duo and appealing local colour. The mixture of humor and suspense works and gives crime fiction fans a kind of New Zealand equivalent to Inspector Barnaby. The first four cases of Sheperd and Sims are accompanied by some interesting interviews on the double DVD. All in all: absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp