Erbarmen (2013)

Erbarmen: Directed by Mikkel Nørgaard. With Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Per Scheel Krüger, Troels Lyby, Øyvind B. Fabricius Holm. Police inspector Carl Mørck is put in charge of a department of cold cases, joined only by his assistant, Assad. They dig into a case about a disappeared woman.

“Caught the Danish premiere yesterday with a friend – going in without much in the way of expectations.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;m still in the process of reading the book, which I think is a fine crime/thriller/drama – but not much more than that. Not sure what all the fuss is about – but maybe the latter half of the book will make that clear.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eInevitably, there are significant changes from the source – most notably the protagonist Carl Mørck being significantly younger in the film. But Nikolaj Lie Kaas does a fine job portraying the jaded and highly sarcastic cop despite his age, and heu0026#39;s a reasonable fit for the part.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFares Fares plays Assad, the upbeat immigrant counterpart to Mørck – and heu0026#39;s the standout in the film, if you ask me. Heu0026#39;s a pitch-perfect match for the character in the book, and he manages to give the part warmth, machismo and endearing humor all in one package. Pretty much exactly as I imagined him – and that includes his physical appearance.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe character of Merete Lynggaard is played by Sonja Richter – and Iu0026#39;m not sure what to think of her portrayal. Itu0026#39;s for certain that sheu0026#39;s done a great job with her physical appearance – which changes during the film, to a degree not unlike the well-known extremes like DeNiro in Raging Bull or Christian Bale in The Machinist. Not quite that extreme, but probably the most significant physical change Iu0026#39;ve seen in Danish acting. Thatu0026#39;s commendable, of course, but I honestly donu0026#39;t think sheu0026#39;s a good fit for Merete as described in the book. Itu0026#39;s mentioned several times that sheu0026#39;s almost divine and irresistible in her beauty and charm.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI imagined her as having much more presence than Sonja, I have to say. Overall, Iu0026#39;ll give her a pass because of the work she put into her body for the film – but I would have chosen someone else for the part.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs for the film itself – it obviously skips a lot of detail, but thatu0026#39;s to be expected. I did miss some of the interplay between Mørck and his boss (played by Søren Pilmark) and they didnu0026#39;t do justice to his relationship with Hardy, his crippled-by-gunshot best friend (Troels Lyby).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut beyond those omissions, I found the experience very engaging and quite faithful to the book. The atmosphere is very strong – with great photography and lighting. It has a very suitable Noir feel throughout – and I particularly liked the music, which did a great job of setting the dark tone.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe locations are strong – and I must admit that the police station and its u0026quot;Afdeling Qu0026quot; basement looked more or less just like they did in my mind when reading.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe buddy cop partnership of Mørck and Assad is spot on – and has a great combination of humor and subtle mutual respect. The banter between these two guys is definitely the high-point of the film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;m not going to spoil anything – so it will suffice to say that the ending is good and extremely tense.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eEssentially, itu0026#39;s a great adaption – and I donu0026#39;t think they could have done much better, given the nature of film and the limited run-time.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt probably bears repeating that Iu0026#39;m not a major fan of the book (based on the first half) – and as such, I might not be invested enough to notice all the flaws. So, take that into account when reading this review.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI hope Iu0026#39;ve been helpful ;)”