Commissioner Lund - Complete Box (DVD)

Film: Commissioner Lund said goodbye to her viewers after three haunting cases in a haunting finale at the end of 2012. Despite a US remake, novel and audiobook, the conclusion of the third season marks the true end of the successful crime series. Thrillers often lose their appeal after the first viewing, as the suspense virtually vanishes into thin air as soon as the culprit is known. But the three seasons of Commissioner Lund - The Crime are much more than simple crime fare. The stories take place on several levels, are gripping and intense and therefore offer the best entertainment even if you already know the series and thus the perpetrators. For fans, the DVDs of the series are therefore an absolute must. For those who don't yet own the individual season boxes, the neat complete box set now offers a particularly attractive way to get this outstanding piece of top Danish TV into your home.

Season I

Her first TV case from 2007, Sarah Lund (Sofie Gråbøl) is preparing to leave Copenhagen as she plans to move to Stockholm with her son and fiancé. Her final task is to train her successor Jan Meyer (Søren Malling). The disappearance of 19-year-old schoolgirl Nanna Birk Larsen provides the perfect opportunity for a smooth handover of the baton. But when the girl is found dead and leads to the campaign team of liberal politician Troels Hartmann, who is running for mayor, Lund's departure is postponed until further notice. This is because the case continues to grow in scope, opening up more and more chasms. While Lund and Meyer try not to lose sight of the clues in the ever-widening circle of suspects, the dead schoolgirl's father is driven to the brink of vigilante justice out of desperation. But this is far from the most dramatic part of the investigation...

Season II

Two years have passed since the murder of Nanna Birk Larsen was solved. Inspector Sarah Lund has been punitively reassigned to the countryside as a consequence of her conduct during the investigation, where her skills are all but unchallenged. But after the murder of a lawyer in Copenhagen, Lund's former boss Lennart Brix (Morten Suurballe) asks for her help. A good move, as it soon turns out. Because at the latest, when a second body is found, it becomes clear that this crime is much more than a simple murder. Lund has to investigate not only in military circles, but also in the highest political circles, as it seems to be a case of terrorism or an act of revenge, which can be traced back to a bloody mission in Afghanistan. But as is often the case, the detective encounters a wall of silence rather than cooperation and soon there is the next victim...

Season III:

Commissioner Sarah Lund has had enough. After 25 years in the police service she wants to be transferred to the internal service, in order to be able to repair thereby perhaps also finally the disturbed relationship with her son Mark (Eske Forsting Hansen). The discovery of a dismembered, tattooed corpse near Copenhagen harbour is to be her last case. Her new, still very young colleague Asbjørn (Sigurd Holmen le Dous) is surprised how listlessly the legendary Sarah Lund devotes herself to the investigation. Even when two more bodies are found on the ship Medea lying off the harbour, the whole thing is a simple routine case for Lund, to which she doesn't have to devote much commitment. But that is about to change...

At the same time, Prime Minister Kristian Kamper (Olaf Johannessen) is trying to secure re-election by making an alliance with the shipping and oil company Zeeland, guaranteeing that the company will keep its base in Denmark and not move it to China, as large parts of the board are planning. Robert Zeuthen (Anders W. Berthelsen), chairman of Zeeland, agrees to this alliance. But then his daughter Emilie is kidnapped, which seems to be directly related to the murders on the Medea. Now the case takes on a whole new significance and a real race against time begins for Lund. Together with Mathias Borch (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) from the Danish intelligence service PET, with whom Lund was involved at the police academy, the commissioner dives into a web of political intrigue and dark crimes, which seems to be too entangled to free little Emilie from it alive...

Commissioner Lund - The Crime offers a very complex plot with numerous secondary characters in all three seasons. Keeping track of that definitely demands the viewer's full attention. Admittedly, here and there, especially in the longer first season, there are a few moments that drag on a bit. But overall the stories, which besides the actual murder cases also deal with corruption in politics and the police, terrorism, abuse, racism or family discord, are first-class suspense television from the first to the last minute with great actors, intelligent scripts, an authentic-looking set and atmospheric music. Time and again it becomes clear that the many successful individual aspects here mesh like cogs and make the series work as a whole.

In the end, however, what really sets the series apart is its main character, superbly embodied by Sofie Gråbøl, and the transformations she undergoes over the course of the three seasons. The Sarah Lund that the viewer meets at the beginning of the first season, who shows a lot of happiness and looks forward to a harmonious future with her son and fiancé, has hardly anything in common with the woman at the end of the series. The creators have created a character who is not a superhuman, but who is drawn by her work. And so she really has nothing left to lose at the end, which ultimately leads to a very intense finale. The last minutes of the series might divide the minds. But the end will leave no one cold guaranteed.

Kommissarin Lund may be over, but fans will certainly have their pleasure in this very special series for a long time, and this good complete box is of course very helpful. If you don't know Kommissarin Lund yet or don't have the DVDs at home, you simply can't miss this box: absolutely worth watching!

Picture + Sound:The technical realization of the three seasons is on a decent TV level, showing good overall sharpness and atmospheric coloring especially in the bright scenes. In the darker sequences, however, some noticeable weaknesses become apparent now and then. Here, the image often appears a bit grainy, and the contrasts leave something to be desired. The audio is available in a decent stereo mix for season 1, both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo 2.0 for season 2, and only Dolby Digital 5.1 for season 3. All audio tracks convey the dialogue well intelligibly and powerfully from the speakers, with the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix only the ambient noises and minor sound effects coming across a little better. Good!

Extras: In addition to the familiar extras such as a making of, interview and casting scenes for season 1 and more interesting interviews for season 2, the total box has some more goodies to offer all fans. In addition to an extensive interview with leading actress Sofia Gråbøl, there is also the soundtrack to the series, an exclusive audio book sample on CD and an excerpt from the book on the first case. And as a very special extra, the box also includes Lund's Norwegian sweater as a small felt pendant for the keychain.

Total: For three seasons, Inspector Lund has offered all fans of Nordic suspense crime fare at a very high level. Sofie Gråbøl has continued to develop the multi-layered character, which eventually leads Lund to the decision she makes in the season three finale, bringing this series to a very intense conclusion. A great mix of classic crime thriller, political thriller and deeply human drama that should not be missed by fans of Danish suspense TV, but also by all other lovers of first class television productions. Absolutely recommended!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp