This Icelandic thriller is going very well on BBC4. A young man's girlfriend is caught in a fire. Seven years later a mutilated torso is found in the harbour of a small town as a Danish ferry docks. Then the weather turns really, really nasty. It's well paced, claustrophobic, packed with twists and red-herrings and hugely enjoyable. On iplayer and released on blu by Arrow in April.
And another show added to my 'to buy list'! What do you think would be a good price-point?
Quote:
[Show spoiler]
Here's what you need to know about the Icelandic crime-drama "Trapped"
By Staff |Feb 10 2016
Trapped is set in a small, unnamed fishing village in East Iceland, and follows the investigation of the murder of an unknown man found in the ocean.
The Icelandic crime-drama Trapped (Ófærð) has gained international popularity after having been picked up by BBC Four, RTÉ2, France Télévisions, and German broadcaster ZDF. The series premiered on the National Broadcasting Service, RÚV, on 27 December 2015.
Trapped is set in a small, unnamed fishing village in East Iceland, and follows the murder investigation of an unknown man found in the ocean. Shortly after the body is discovered, a blizzard hits the town, making the only road in or out impassable and therefore trapping the residents – and murderer – inside the village.
The series is produced by RVK Studios, a production company owned by internationally acclaimed director Baltasar Kormákur.
According to newsagent Vísir, roughly 5 million people in France tuned in to watch the first episode of Trapped when it aired on Monday on France Télévisions.
Here’s a list of things you need to know about the popular series:
1. The series was filmed in the fishing village of Siglufjörður, North Iceland. Ironically, the cast and crew were left “trapped” in Siglufjörður numerous times during filming due to severe weather and heavy snow. Some outdoor scenes were filmed in the Eastfjords.
2. The series cost around 1 billion ISK (6.430.454 euros), making it the most expensive Icelandic television series to date.
3. The Norræna ferry featured in the series does exist. The ferry sails between Scandinavia and Iceland, docking in Seyðisfjörður, East Iceland. Around 1,100 passengers arrive with Norræna weekly during high season.
4. The pool party scene was filmed in the old Hafnarfjörður swimming pool, in the Reykjavík suburb of Hafnarfjörður.
5. Actor Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, who plays the role of chief police officer Andri, has been increasingly in demand for international projects. He played the role of the drunken helicopter pilot in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and starred alongside Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in the HBO television series True Detective. He also starred alongside Liam Neeson in the film A Walk Among the Tombstones. Last year, he signed up to play a giant in Steven Spielberg’s adaption of the Roald Dahl classic The BFG.
6. Producer Baltasar Kormákur became a household name after making it big in Hollywood. He has directed such films as Contraband and 2 Guns, both starring Mark Wahlberg in the lead roles, and Everest.
7. Baltasar Breki Samper, who plays the character Hjörtur Stefánsson, is Baltasar Kormákur’s son. He studied acting at the Icelandic Academy of the Arts.
8. Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir, who plays police officer Hinrika, is a well-known actress and comedian in Iceland. She portrays Sjöfn in the award-winning film Fúsi (Virgin Mountain), directed by Dagur Kári.
[Show spoiler]It’s hard to believe but Icelandic drama Trapped comes to an end this weekend. The Guardian called it the unexpected TV hit of the year, perhaps referencing its own reluctance to cover it on a weekly review basis. But a big hit it has been, and certainly up there with other Nordic titans like The Bridge and The Killing in terms of quality and intrigue. And now it comes to an end. Because there will be a double bill lots can and no doubt will happen before we reach the end and I’m pretty sure there will be plenty more twists and turns. So now seems like as good a time as any to review where we are and who the suspects (currently) are. Siglufjörður may be a small town, but there’s a lot going on…
It’s easy to forget that after everything that has happened in Siglufjörður – murders, avalanches, suicides, illicit sex, lots and lots of weather – we started the whole story off with a tragic tale of two young lovers, Dagný and Hjörtur, enjoying a beer and a smoke in an abandoned factory. Only one of them escaped with their lives, and the scarred Hjörtur has been carrying around crushing guilt and bitterness ever since. So let’s start there, shall we?
Hjörtur
He survived the fire that killed his soulmate but was held responsible by Dagný’s family, especially Eiríkur, who – until Andri’s intervention – struggled to move on from his daughter’s death. Hjörtur was a suspect because he was on the ferry that chugged into Siglufjörður, his general outsider status and the fact he knew victim Geirmundur. He seems to have been crossed off the suspect list and is currently preparing to leave the town, and his rites of passage – the journey from bad boy to forgiven misfit – is now seemingly complete. But is there a final twist in his story? I’m not so sure.
Eiríkur Davidsson
Lest we forget, there are three murders to solve in this show. In our interview with writer Clive Bradley, he stated that everything goes back to the original fire at the very start of the series. At the end of the very last episode, however – episode eight – we saw Andri fish out the key to third murder victim Hrafn’s shed from his father-in-law’s pocket. It presented Andri with an awful situation – the man whose house he lives in, the man who’s grandfather to his kids, and the man who’s father to a wife he’s hoping to win back, is now a major suspect. Let’s think hard about this. The shed (and Hrafn) was razed by a fire. So was the factory where his daughter died. Could these two incidents be linked? Could Eiríkur – who was told by his wife to let the anger he felt towards Hjörtur – have been holding onto that same anger because he was angry at himself for causing the fire? But if he is linked to the Hrafn murder, why did he do it? And if he was the man behind the factory fire, why did he do that?
Guðni and Leifur
The slick-haired, slightly swarthy (at least for an Icelander) hotel manager has already been implicated in the people trafficking operation, and is best mates with fish factory manager Leifur. Together they visited Sigurður before he scarpered and commented after his death that at least he was not a worry anymore. They were in cahoots with Hrafn, too. What does this all mean? It probably means that they’re running the town and the port with aplomb and making a nice little earner from the people trafficking business. The fact they’re very much pro-Chinese development only deepens suspicion on these two. But the question remains: why kill Geirmundur? And if they were involved, why kill their colleague, Hrafn?
Kolbrún
Hrafn’s widow could well have killed her husband, and, frankly, we wouldn’t have blamed her. Especially after the verbal and physical abuse he meted out to her on a regular, humiliating basis. Why did she take it? The inference is that she was content to take his abuse in return for all the privileges being a mayor’s wife brings with it. But did she finally snap, realise she couldn’t take it anymore and at least conspire against her husband? When Andri visited her in episode eight and left her house, a male figure emerged from the shadows. Who was this? Perhaps she’s in cahoots with Guðni and Leifur, and like a Shakespearean play, usurped her husband and instigated his demise. After all, she’s very pre-Chinese development and obviously stands to profit, somehow, from the deal going through.
The rest
Elsewhere… will we see Rögnvaldur – the voyeur in the wheel chair – again? And what about Hinrika’s husband, Bárður? There are cracks in their relationship and perhaps there’s more to him. Unlikely, as he seems like a decent sort. And finally, there’s Agnes’s new boyfriend Sigvaldi. He’s been a bit of a peripheral figure. Is there more to come from him?
I may have got lots of this wrong and left some things out. Let me know what your theories are in the comments.
Just found out about this show on the Viceland channel....heck, just found out about that channel too!
All caught up, and after The Missing, this might be the 2nd best show on TV currently.
I might have to import the U.K. BD, as I doubt this will get a US release.
Awesome news! Hopefully a US rebroadcast isn’t far behind!
I'm hoping a UK Blu-ray release from Arrow happens. Foreign-language TV shows being released on DVD and Blu-ray by Arrow seem to have been very light of late. I was hoping a UK label would release a series shown last year called Rebecka Martinsson: Arctic Murders on Blu-ray.
I'm hoping a UK Blu-ray release from Arrow happens. Foreign-language TV shows being released on DVD and Blu-ray by Arrow seem to have been very light of late. I was hoping a UK label would release a series shown last year called Rebecka Martinsson: Arctic Murders on Blu-ray.
Arrow have released the 2nd Season of Trapped/Ofaero on DVD only unfortunately.
Watched season 2 over the last few days on Prime, this might be a better season then season 1 in my opinion. Great acting, great suspenseful plot, definitely worth checking out in my opinion.
The second series/season of Trapped is getting a Blu-ray release in Germany by Studiocanal, but I have my doubts it will have English subtitles. I hope it does though.
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Trapped/Ofaero
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Trapped finale: A review of the suspects
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