Commissioner Lund - The Crime Season III - DVD

Content: Commissioner Sarah Lund (Sofie Gråbøl) 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 finally also 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) of the Danish intelligence service PET, with whom Lund was involved at the police academy, the commissioner plunges into a web of political intrigue and dark crimes, which seems to be too entangled to free little Emilie from it alive...

With this third season, Commissioner Lund says goodbye to her viewers. But until the gripping finale, Sofie Gråbøl once again delivers proof of why her Sarah Lund was one of the best investigators in recent television history. Gråbøl's acting makes the headstrong detective a highly complex and interesting character, which is somewhat masked by her indifference to the case at the beginning of season three. But the deeper she is drawn into the kidnapping, the more the complexity of her character is revealed, culminating in a very intense finale. Opinions may be divided on the final minutes of the series. But the ending is guaranteed to leave no one cold.

Supported Gråbøl is again in season 3 by a very good ensemble, where many of the actors are far more than simple supporting actors. For in addition to Lund, characters such as Prime Minister Kamper, Zeeland chief Robert Zeuten or Matthias Borch are also important figures in the cleverly constructed chess game, which, like Lund, are also drawn very intense and multilayered. And that is exactly what makes a lot of the special charm of the series.

The great ensemble is supported by first-class directors and an engaging camera work, which alone lifts this series above the usual TV level. Only the many too-dark sequences, where the viewer has difficulty following the action, are a bit distracting at times. But apart from these minimal points of criticism, the set, the atmospheric camerawork and the purposefully used music make it clear that the makers here really tried to achieve the highest possible quality in every aspect.

However, the success of a series like Kommissarin Lund of course also depends decisively on the story, especially when it is not dealt with in one episode but has to carry an entire season. Admittedly, now and then these last episodes show some little hangs. Especially the conflict between Lund and her son seems a bit too cliché. Only in the finale it really gains in importance, but until then the scenes in which Sarah is bombarded by Mark with never-ending accusations seem a bit dragging. But in the almost ten hours of this season, such small lengths hardly weigh negatively. Overall, suspense, surprising twists and interesting subplots dominate, leaving little room for boredom.

So the departure of Commissioner Lund leaves fans with one laughing eye and one crying eye. The high quality of the series, maintained throughout the three seasons, more than satisfies all fans of Nordic crime fare. However, the end seems to have come too soon considering the last minutes of the series. But as the saying goes, better an ending with horror than horror without an ending. And therefore there is a deserved for the last appearance of Sarah Lund: Absolutely worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The technical implementation of the series is on a good TV level, although especially in the darker sequences some minor weaknesses are noticeable. Here it comes again and again to smaller blurs or slight image noise and also the contrasts can not always convince here. Otherwise, the picture is able to capture the atmosphere of the series well, especially with its reduced color scheme. The sound is a decent Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, but is dominated by the very frontally mixed dialogue for long stretches. True surround moments are few and far between, with smaller ambient noises and sound effects providing a bit of restrained movement to the tonal proceedings every now and then. Good!

Extras: Unfortunately, the DVD box has no extras to offer.

Conclusion:Commissioner Lund says goodbye to her viewers on quite a high level. Sofie Gråbøl shines once again as the headstrong investigator, supported by a no less convincing ensemble of top-notch supporting actors and superbly constructed scripts. The ending is not without controversy, but definitely leaves a lasting impression. If you liked the first two seasons and generally have a soft spot for Nordic crime fare, you simply can't pass up this box set. Absolutely recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp