Nobel

When I finished watching the last episode, I told myself, Nobel is a clear four-star. It is such a clear four-star that it is the best and purest four-star I have ever come across. But then I thought why not give it a fifth star. I couldn't find anything wrong with it. Nobel has eight episodes, so it has a clear beginning and end. And as for the subject, it offers a completely perfect conspiratorial probe into the world of intelligence, espionage, and Norwegian foreign policy. It's not unnecessarily exaggerated like the Americans tend to do, and in addition, in the first half of the series, two storylines alternate - one from Afghanistan on a military mission and the other in Oslo, during which the main character returns home to his family from the mission. Moreover, the actors are fantastic. There are my beloved Tuva Novotny, Aksel Hennie, and Anders Danielsen Lie, who together form the best acting trio in a long time. Towards the end, I had a little feeling that the marital discord was a bit out of place, but in the end, I have to admit that the epic conclusion completely perfected it all. Emotional testosterone sprayed in all directions. Nobel is simply a giant experience. Another notch in Scandinavia's list of all the good things that have come from their film industry. Plus, with the support of the Czech Republic, because the interiors of the government buildings in Oslo were filmed here. For me, definitely a top series and something I can't help but recommend. (03/11/2020)

Take "Postbrody's" Homeland series, adapt them in the spirit of John le Carré's newer novels and shoot it as a slow reserved documentary in the style of Tobias Lindholm. This is the impression this series would like to make and surprisingly, it really works to a large extent. It addresses current issues (oil, Chinese investment business, the Middle East conflict, a pragmatic approach to the Taliban's role and traumatized soldiers during and after the mission, political plots, playing with fire and much more), but not black and white or cheap (not surprisingly, this is completely the same team that was behind The Saboteurs). Which will please you even more because at the core it is still primarily a thrilling thriller, which could take even a lot less complex breeding ground and focus on authenticity. However, there´s one problem arising from this, it´s when here and there something is captured in a non-complex way (or it resorts to genre cliché), then it´s even much more obvious. Undoubtedly, it has more than just one issue, it could be told in fewer episodes (especially it could be edited at first, it really starts only from the third episode on) and some story lines could be omitted or, on the contrary, more space should be devoted to them. But still, it's all the acting is brilliant and it is sometimes damn exciting. The risky step with including current topics has paid off, they are not funny, and moreover it is rather nice and can do without strong words and gestures, which is the result of a non dull military-political drama-thriller, which relies as much on the main characters as on its course. PS: It was also filmed in the Czech Republic, so domestic locations here pretend to be Norwegian; especially in the first episode, the Prague Congress Centre disguised as the opera house and the ministry in Oslo make Czech viewers slightly smile. (26/01/2017)