The movies based on Gunnar Staalesen’s series of books about the Bergen private eye Varg Veum are great. The movies are Norwegian with English subtitles. So far 2 sets of DVD’s have been released.
Please note that the movies are in Non-USA format, and that you need a DVD-player that can accommodate the format (or can play the movies from a PC!).
Varg Veum Box 1 – 3-DVD Set (Bitter Flowers/Sleeping Beauty/Yours Until Death)
These movies are based on the books with the original titles Bitre blomster, Tornerose, and Din til døden.
Format: NON-USA, PAL, Region 2.You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada.
LANGUAGES: Norwegian and Danish
Subtitles: English, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish
Format: WIDESCREEN (1.78:1)
Special: 3-DVD Box Set with Interactive Menu and Scene Access.
Actors: Anders Dale, Anders Hove, Bjørn Floberg, Endre Hellestveit, Kathrine Fagerland
Directors: Erik Richter Strand, Ulrik Imtiaz Rolfsen
Short synopses:
Bitter Flowers (Bitre blomster) is about a man who vanishes without a trace. His lover, a married, successful politician, discreetly contacts PI Varg Veum for assistance. Varg finds her lover murdered, and the politician’s husband is arrested for the murder. However, Varg accuses the police of judicial murder, and gets involved in an international murder case branching out far beyond the Norwegian borders, with characters who would not shy away from any methods.
Yours Until Death (Din til døden): Here Varg Veum finds himself in the midst of a divorce with ramifications outside of the ordinary, ranging from car theft, murder, jealousy and robbery. The film is brilliantly set off, with some very skillful plot twists early on (including a fine scene inside a garage and an excellent segment with Seim, Mestad, Bergmann and Lullau). There is a lot more style and flair in the conduction of Din til døden than in the two prior films, and Richter Strand shows a delicate blend of tones throughout the film’s different parts. Pleasing is also the increasingly tightknit and wonderfully acted relationship between Veum and Hamre. Seim and Floberg are absolutely magnetic together, and the subdued ending does wonders to an otherwise somewhat predictable final clear-up.
Varg Veum Box 2 – 3-DVD Set (Fallen Angels/Kvinnen i kjøleskapet/Begravde Hunder)
All the technical specifications are the same as for box set I.
Actors: Anna Bache-Wiig, Bjørn Floberg, Endre Hellestveit, Fridtjov Såheim, Iram Haq
Directors: Alexander Eik, Morten Tyldum
Short synopses:
Fallen Angels: This is the second 
Kvinnen i kjøleskapet: (The Woman in the Refrigerator) This is well-paced and cleverly constructed installment in the Norwegian detective series about Varg Veum. This time he has to deal with half a woman’s body in a refrigerator and a suspicious disappearance of a brilliant process engineer in the lucrative oil business. Trond Espen Seim propels the plot forward with unassuming relentlessness and Bjørn Floberg provides witty and implicit support by his side. Alexander Eik’s film is notable for a strong and emotive performance from Christian Rubeck and real human destinies in the midst of the traditional crime denouement, but unfortunately there are also the odd overdone plot twists and some overly recognizable narrative development. With that said, there is no doubt that director Eik handles it all elegantly. And he also shoots the most scenic Veum so far.
and 
.
{ 0 comments… add one now }