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I like both Bron/Broen and the US version of The Bridge. I haven't had a chance to watch S2 of Bron/Broen yet, though.
Forbrydelsen is on my "one of these days" to-watch list. I liked The Killing (US) for the most part (it was far from perfect), but people always say the originals are better. I've read a bit about some of the other shows on your list, but haven't seen any of them. Wallander and Annika Bengtzon have been in my Netflix queue forever.
Due to the popularity of The Bridge season 1, I think season 2 will be shown soon in at least the UK and then released on DVD there. Scandinavian series are more marketable in the UK and Australia than in the US and North America in general.
And in countries that has a tradition to dub literally everything that is not in their language, foreign series and movies are much more marketable, like for example in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Russia, Ukraine and Poland, some of the biggest countries in Europe. For them it's the same as watching an American or British series, since everything foreign (including English ones) are dubbed in their languages. Infact there is alot more Germans who watch Wallander than Swedes.
So it's not only in English speaking countries that people are intolerant towards foreign languages and subtitles, the biggest countries in mainland Europe are like that as well. Except that in those countries they have found a way to show foreign films and series and still having the audience entertained, by dubbing everything which is widely accepted by the audiences there.
And not only the big European countries, but also smaller ones like Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Belgium (French, in Wallonia), Austria (German) and Switzerland (German, French and Italian) prefers dubbing instead of subtitles.
Scandinavia/Norden and the Netherlands is one major exception of this in Europe, here we have a tradition to subtitle everything instead, including English language films and series that of course are foreign to us. I would say that the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands are the most tolerant to watching foreign language films and series considering that more than 90% of things shown on TV here are not in our own languages, but is foreign (mainly English, but also French and German) and with subtitles in the local language.
Last edited by Helsingborgaren; 11-21-2013 at 09:37 PM..
Okay, then I think you can rule out all Scandinavian crime series since not any of them are spoken in English. There is no English-speaking Scandinavian countries, in case you didn't know.
It's all about training. In my country every non-Swedish movies and tv-series is foreign and therefore subtitled (e.g English language movies and series with Swedish subtitles), so we have became fully accustomed to watch pretty much everything with subtitles except Swedish language movies and tv-series, which are relatively few (this is a very small country, only 9 million lives here).
I would say that about 90% of everything shown on TV here is American and British movies and tv-series, in English with Swedish subtitles. When you get used to it, there won't be any problems.
I dont even think of the subtitles when I watch something because I am so used to it, and anyone can get used to it if they really try and really wants. You are REALLY missing out some of the best films and series ever made by avoiding everything that is not in English.
I can just imagine how much I would miss if I avoided everything that is not in Swedish.
All this is probably true. But I have vision problems (macular degeneration) and quite frankly reading anything is a problem. Sometimes I spend too much time on the computer and feel I am going blind. So watching something on my nexus or TV actually gives my eyes a break.
The version of Wallender stared some guy I actually recognized--maybe kenneth somebody? can't remember his name. Wanted to continue with him as much as have it be in english.
The version of Wallender stared some guy I actually recognized--maybe kenneth somebody? can't remember his name. Wanted to continue with him as much as have it be in english.
Kenneth Branagh. Fun fact: Tom Hiddleston was in the cast of Wallander before he was famous. When Branagh directed the first Thor movie, he liked Hiddleston so much that he gave him a part.
There have been three three-episode seasons of English Wallender, so if you've been streaming them you've seen them all. According to the web, there will be one more season.
I loved the UK Walldender series and am looking forward to the next season. At least, it was filmed in Sweden.
Sutitled programs won't work in the US. Our viewing habits are different. We often keep the TV on as background noise or we have the TV on while multi-tasking-reading, housework, computer surfing, talking on the phone, doing homework. I wonder how many Swedes even need the subtitles since so many are fluent in English.
Something that we have in the US that you don't are dozens of Spanish language stations and they are not subtitled. There are so many people in the US who do not speak English (Russian, Spanish, Chinese, etc) and they wouldn't be able to read English subtitles either.
Due to the popularity of The Bridge season 1, I think season 2 will be shown soon in at least the UK and then released on DVD there. Scandinavian series are more marketable in the UK and Australia than in the US and North America in general.
And in countries that has a tradition to dub literally everything that is not in their language, foreign series and movies are much more marketable, like for example in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Russia, Ukraine and Poland, some of the biggest countries in Europe. For them it's the same as watching an American or British series, since everything foreign (including English ones) are dubbed in their languages. Infact there is alot more Germans who watch Wallander than Swedes.
I lived in Germany for several years and I hated the dubbing! It was very jarring to watch familiar American shows and the characters would have voices that didn't sound remotely like the actors. The original German shows were pretty horrid across the board too.
A non-crime Danish series I can recommend is Rita. I found it on Netflix and it's a very good dramedy. I am ok with subtitles, I enjoy foreign movies. I even had to turn on subtitles for a British film the other night because of the strong dialect and poor audio quality.
I loved the UK Walldender series and am looking forward to the next season. At least, it was filmed in Sweden.
Sutitled programs won't work in the US. Our viewing habits are different. We often keep the TV on as background noise or we have the TV on while multi-tasking-reading, housework, computer surfing, talking on the phone, doing homework. I wonder how many Swedes even need the subtitles since so many are fluent in English.
Something that we have in the US that you don't are dozens of Spanish language stations and they are not subtitled. There are so many people in the US who do not speak English (Russian, Spanish, Chinese, etc) and they wouldn't be able to read English subtitles either.
Scandinavians and Dutch probably won't need any subtitles for English language shows, but it's habit and tradition to subtitle everything in Sweden, including movies and series that are in a slightly different Swedish dialect, or even Norwegian, which is almost the same as Swedish. Same goes for the rest of Scandinavia and the Netherlands.
People are used to subtitles here, and they actually find it more relaxing. I have no problems whatsoever to watch something in English without subtitles, but if there is Swedish subtitles on a DVD I still watch it with subtitles out of pure habit.
Another main difference between how TV series are in the US and Scandinavia is that in the US, a TV series is made to fit several commercial breaks, and episodes are not very long if you remove the commercials. In Scandinavia, TV series episodes are usually 60 or 90 minutes long without commercial breaks. They are usually produced by the local state owned broadcaster (SVT in Sweden, DR in Denmark, NRK in Norway, YLE in Finland and RUV in Iceland), and since there is no commercials on the state owned channels there is no need for commercial breaks.
These broadcasters are financed with a TV-licence fee that everyone who owns a TV or computer has to pay, so it's usually very good quality on their shows. In the Scandinavian countries we basically have public service TV who produces HBO quality series, for these reasons.
Last edited by Helsingborgaren; 11-22-2013 at 04:23 PM..
Good informative thread--can't rep you again, Magnus, but your explanation of the subtitles tradition is great.
Getting back to your original list, I guess I'm the only other one who is a Beck fan! One of the best crime series ever. The only thing I can compare it to is the old US series Homicide--gritty, but with characters who are all pros on the outside and vulnerable humans on the inside.
The Bridge season 2 just ended in Sweden, Denmark and Finland, and will end in Norway and Iceland tomorrow. It was excellent, just as good as the first! Hope that it won't take too long before our British and Australian friends gets to see it.
Talking about non-English language crime series, I just started following the Welsh language series Hinterland (Y Gwyll) via the S4C channel website, through British VPN since I live in Sweden. Looks very promising, and feels very inspired by it's Scandinavian counterparts. Also reminds you that there are other languages than English spoken in the British Isles.
Thanks for posting the link. Unfortunately, it isn't working for me. I wonder if it's one of those streams which will not function for computers with an American IP address.
Thanks for posting the link. Unfortunately, it isn't working for me. I wonder if it's one of those streams which will not function for computers with an American IP address.
Costs $7 for a month, but you can also re-register the free trial with different email adresses. You cannot watch clips or videos and clips on BBC and S4C if you live outside the UK, unless you use a British VPN.
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