Another great tv show from the UK, a clean-cut “Whodunnit” with two perfectly cast lead detectives, the grumpy and secretly handsome mastermind investigator from Scotland with a dark past (David Tennant), and the pudgy local gal with a conscience and a social network to maintain (Olivia Colman). Not much to say about it but that the way the investigation goes is rather run-of-the-mill, with attention wandering from one suspect to the next. But the show makes it clear that it also deals with reality, and with the cruel realities in small communities such as Broadchurch. If you are under suspicion of having killed a child or committed another atrocity, the community turns against you, and most likely in a way that cannot be fixed (ask Mads Mikkelsen’s kindergarten teacher in “Jagten”, he can tell a story about this). “Broadchurch” does not paint this over, it puts it at the heart of the story, which is more about how intrusion disrupts this community, and how dynamics shift with these disruptions. A place like Broadchurch, this becomes very clear, can be a very rough place to live, despite all its natural beauty. It’s the people…
Funny note on the side: a US network will adapt this for the American audiences… because it is assumed that FOX audiences are too stupid to understand English or Scottish?? Any expectations about how the edge will be taken off this great show in the process are allowed…
thomas4cinema 