A lot has changed since the mid-2010s, but one thing that has remained reassuringly steadfast is the ability of Nordic noir to draw us in with mind bending plots, grizzly crime scenes, tangled backstories and brooding atmospherics. So much so that a new streaming platform, Viaplay, has launched, specialising in Nordic noir, alongside an exciting offering of films, TV dramas and comedies, and live sports including La Liga and the United Rugby Championship.
Fans of the genre have come to expect a compulsive, sometimes delectably gruesome alternative to the more placid whodunnits of yore. Compared with your Poirots, Jessica Fletchers and Columbos, the heroes of Nordic noir are fully immersed in the world of the dark crimes they are investigating, and the grim misdeeds aren’t treated as a one-off to be solved in one fell swoop as much as a symptom of a wider social disease. Here, crimes are committed because of a world in which mankind can be cruel and vicious; because of the machinations of politics, and our dislocation from one another. For this reason, Nordic noir tends to portray the world around the detective heroes in some detail, giving us industry, family, local nightlife, and politics. The detectives are creatures of their environment.
But what defines Nordic noir? How does it differ from other crime genres, and when did it come about? Many cultural commentators trace its origins to the work of writer Henning Mankell, whose Wallander books have been notably adapted to the small screen, both in Mankell’s original Swedish and in English, with Kenneth Branagh in the lead role as the eponymous detective in the English-language version. Wallander, a social misfit who overeats and drinks too much, and whose marriage has broken down, was an unlikely lead character for a crime series – but readers and later viewers were taken by the realism and forthrightness of the Wallander worldview. Perhaps audiences were tired of kooky detectives, twirling their metaphorical moustaches at a crime scene. At any rate, he embodied the new type of detective ushered in by Nordic noir.
The Swedish actor Rolf Lassgård played Wallander between 1994 and 2006, and also appeared as a police officer in the Martin Beck TV series based on the Nordic noir books by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. Beck, like Wallander, is an antihero – a man prone to illness, and unhappily married (he later divorces and ends up in another unhappy relationship). Lassgård now appears in Jägarna, as the maverick crime-solver Erik Bäckström, a new iteration of the Nordic noir genre.
From its early origins, Nordic noir has evolved to encompass a number of highly acclaimed books and TV series, sharing a few particular characteristics. Usually, the central character tasked with getting to the bottom of the crime is socially awkward, and it is often the case that this ineptitude places them in a better position to understand the criminal mindset. These characters put their family and social lives on the backburner in favour of tackling a crime that they cannot escape. In the world of Nordic noir, ambiguity reigns supreme, and it is perhaps one of the pleasures of the genre that characters excelling in one particular domain are shown to fail so supremely in other areas of their life, such as relationships or personal hygiene.
Another distinctive hallmark of the genre is its tendency towards the gruesome and gnarly. Perhaps aligning itself with audiences’ increasing fondness for true crime, Nordic noir doesn’t shy away from depicting violence and disturbing imagery. It’s not used as a shock factor (although it can be), but because the genre’s commitment to the real and truthful is steadfast. Finally, Nordic noir carries a stylish sensibility, an immediately recognisable house style, with immaculate set design and a chillingly dark aesthetic: rain, shutters, a grimy bathroom. That style sets the tone for programmes that are typically upfront about humanity’s darkest urges and worst instincts, in a world where people relate to each other haltingly.
Three to watch on Viaplay:
There are countless series to get stuck into on Viaplay, but for the purest distillation of the genre, get cracking with these three classics …
Jägarna
After his celebrated turn as Inspector Wallander, Rolf Lassgård is back as Erik Bäckström, a remote, idiosyncratic detective brought back into the fold by a series of chilling events, and what appears to be an unfolding conspiracy. Helping his nephew, Peter (Johan Marenius Nordahl), Bäckström cuts a wild, lonely and unconventional figure as he attempts to uncover the truth.
Face To Face (Forhøret)
Face to Face begins with a startling premise: when investigator Bjørn is called on to identify the body of a young woman, he is horrified to find his own daughter lying on the autopsy table. The coroner considers the death a suicide, but Bjørn refuses to believe that his daughter has taken her own life. As the evidence begins to point towards murder, a furious and grief-stricken Bjørn begins to revisit the last day of his daughter’s life, sending this loose cannon of a man on a whirlwind journey through the night. Here, he meets people who each meant something crucial to his daughter, revealing a network of truths, lies and crimes woven into her and Bjørn’s own life. In order to understand his daughter’s death, Bjørn must confront himself and come face to face with the unavoidable truth.
Acquitted
Aksel Borgen is a man on a mission. His determination to clear his name of the murder of his girlfriend 20 years before brings him back to his home town in the rugged mountainside backcountry of Norway. Although technically acquitted of the murder, Borgen knows that not everybody was convinced of his innocence. As much as getting to the heart of the crime case, Acquitted is interested in taking the pulse of a community. As the crime case propels the show, this in-depth examination of distrust and fear is backed up by stunning landscape photography.
What will you be watching as the nights draw in? Head to Viaplay where the gritty detectives and grim misdeeds of Nordic noir will keep you on the edge of your seat
