A religious drama based in Denmark, regardless of the quality of a lot of Danish series, definitely sounds like a tough sell, and had I remembered much about it before watching it I may have delayed that moment even further. But right from episode 1 you are thrown into a moral maelstrom which takes in the frontier between religious awakening and madness (are they the same? The series does not answer, only explores, and never in a patronising way), family secrets, filial duty, love and its limits, cultural encounters, in such a way that you really do not know where it might go next. In other words, it's dangerous, because it will shake your faith in everything, including your own belief, or lack of it.
Of course, without the incredible writing and performing it would be nothing, but on top of that it looks and sounds absolutely beautiful, with a couple of near-death sequences which are so moving it would give hope to the most ardent atheist.
Perhaps a tonic for our troubled, spiritually empty times; if not, 'just' an exceptional drama, with fully rounded characters who you never stop empathising with. I can only speak of series one, but I would sum that up as stunning, and I am measuring my words.
Of course, without the incredible writing and performing it would be nothing, but on top of that it looks and sounds absolutely beautiful, with a couple of near-death sequences which are so moving it would give hope to the most ardent atheist.
Perhaps a tonic for our troubled, spiritually empty times; if not, 'just' an exceptional drama, with fully rounded characters who you never stop empathising with. I can only speak of series one, but I would sum that up as stunning, and I am measuring my words.