mrsammyboas I managed to watch around 2 and a half episodes before clicking it away. Wasted nearly three hours of my life right there. It is absolutely disgusting. From the moment on it feels like some horrible episode of the Tudors or something. Some horrible rape scenes, sex with animals and what not. Absolutely disgusting. I would rate it with a -10 if I could but unfortunately a 1 was the lowest.

johnbirch-2 It is fascinating, and maybe instructive, to see how non- Scandinavian/Danish reviewers tend to give this series several stars more those for whom the series was made.For a non-Dane who had never heard about this... well, let's be honest, footnote in European history, I found it very brilliant. Not for me concerns about historical accuracy or whether this general was actually where he was shown to be. Like I care, to be honest. What I got was a multi-pronged love story, some political intrigue, villains who were as black as they dressed, and - as others have said - battle scenes are quite simply some of the best I have ever seen. Breathtaking, terrifying, stunning.Yet again Denmark is made to look ravishing by the Danish production team. I mean, wow, is this an amazing looking country or what? My list of "places to visit in Denmark" grew with every episode.However it was at times confusing and on several occasions I was running for a map - and come to that the Wikipedia pages about the war - just to try to work on what the heck was going on. And it has to be said that the villains really were over the top villains (though maybe the Prime Minister really was this barking?). And at times I mistook Danes for Germans, because both were subtitled identically (and Danish and German sound quite alike). And it was not quite sure that the framing with the modern day pair really worked - it was just too predictable and unoriginal and really no needed. So this was not perfect, but its was still very good.And it was great to see most of the cast of "Borgen" turn up again, slightly more odd to see at least one of the main locations turn up too - but I guess they only have so many places they can use.Overall - another hit from Danish TV. How do they do it?

mygibbo Some of the negative criticism of the series is wide of the mark. The series had me hooked right from the outset. It is lyrical, well-paced story-telling, focussing on character and ideas. There are no caricatures here. The political ideas are played out through the interactions of an excellent ensemble cast, including most of the faces we have come to love in Nordic Noir. The split time sequence shows how the past influences and shapes the present and how people here and now can learn from their past. There is a joy and élan about the epic's opening which prepares us for the shock and disillusion of war. I have only seen two episodes so far, but it has me hooked. Viva Scandinavia.

michael-albertsen I'm one of those people that don't enjoy overt manipulation - and I prefer a balanced approach when it comes to portraying characters and I need a plausible setup, before I can invest myself in what happens on screen.I do enjoy experiencing something significant and then being allowed to think for myself, when reflecting upon what I've been exposed to. In this case, it's a TV series that certainly could have been significant, even profound.Sadly, the only profound thing about it is how blatant it is in its absurd treatment of human beings and supposedly historical events involving these cartoon characters.The budget is huge for a Danish production, and the good news is that it shows. It's remarkably well-crafted in terms of aesthetics. It looks and sounds fantastic - and you can clearly see where Bornedal excels in that way.He's an excellent director when it comes to setting up a scene or how to create an emotionally powerful moment, using slow motion and the appropriate music. He's also capable of extracting a lot of raw feeling from his actors. In fact, he must be so good at this, that they forget how to turn it off again, and to behave like plausible people.As such, the problem is that he doesn't seem to understand the economy of emotions and the impact they can have if handled with less spelling them out, and more letting them build over time without even talking about them.This was evident in "I am Dina" - and it's even more evident now, considering the change in material, which should have been treated with more subtlety.You DO NOT evoke a more powerful response through oversaturation. Instead, you evoke fatigue. Real human beings don't emote with such power with every sentence they speak - and we don't actually spout commanding exposition for each moment that passes by.Sometimes, less really IS more - and you don't have to use a sledgehammer to make pain clear to the audience.Personally, I don't understand why you'd take on a historically significant event such as this war - if you're not going to treat the people involved with respect. If you're going to talk about something that actually happened, then please start out by understanding something about human nature when depicting the key people involved.People don't reside in little boxes called "good" and "evil". We're a bit more complex than that.Monrad being borderline retarded, crawling around naked on the floor - and his "muse" being this completely powermad evil witch hypnotizing him into submission is a bit much, no? As far as I know, there's absolutely nothing in history about Heiberg to suggest she was anything like that. If you want a character to serve your cartoon version of reality - at least use a fictional person.So, how about taking a deep breath and attempt a bit of slight subtlety next time. It might actually work better. Did we really need to see theater-blood on his hands when war had been declared? Are we THAT incapable of seeing what's going on, Bornedal?Didrich? Is there a single moment in the series where his eyes aren't flooded with tears of pain - and does he ever cast a look at another person that isn't full of burning jealousy and hatred?Treating your audience with that kind of hand-holding simply isn't necessary.The less said about telepathic lover communication and hypnotic veteran soldiers, the better.As for the actual historical events, I can't speak about them in a very informed way. I simply don't know enough about this war. I can only hope they've researched them a bit more than they've researched real human beings.But since the people involved clearly aren't being depicted as real people - I have to wonder how much of the events being shown is useful in terms of relaying historical fact.But then again, this is just entertainment right? It's the American standard of using real history as "inspiration" and that's good enough, right?Wrong. Not to me, anyway.If you use a real event this important, please treat it with some respect for the facts.Otherwise, make something up and be clear about wanting to entertain rather than inform. As in, don't make it about a real war and pretend that the people involved are all caricatures from a fairy tale.Unfortunately, even as entertainment, this wouldn't work as anything but a farcical display of near-constant extreme human behavior.If you're a very young person looking to be told how to feel and to be grossly misinformed about human behavior, it's not bad - I guess. It's like a roller-coaster of emotional peaks and valleys if you can turn off your brain.It's clear that Bornedal is in complete denial-mode after the massive criticism this show has received on a national scale, and I can sympathise with him. But, as harsh as it might seem, there's a really good reason it hasn't been received very well.If you're an adult looking for something relevant to real life, steer clear.