Ole Christian Madsen (director)
Arrow Films (studio)
Cert 15 (certificate)
360 min approx (length)
22 June 2015 (released)
12 June 2015
This gripping Danish TV-series from 2000, now available as the complete series in DVD format, is set in post-war Copenhagen and is primarily based on the 1949 Edderkoppesagen novels by Hans Scherfig. Dealing with the shady business that was the black stock market, murder, smuggling, pimping and corruption in the highest echelons of society, The Spider provides an intriguing insight as to what went down in Denmark at the time.
Central figure is young and idealistic reporter Bjarne Madsen (Jakob Cedergren), who writes for a left-wing, liberal Copenhagen newspaper. Despite his ambitions to be an ace crime reporter, his editor appoints him to less significant assignments. However, Bjarne has a will of his own and will go on his mission to get ‘the bad guys’ no matter what. Soon, he finds himself in cahoots with the newspaper’s senior crime reporter who cannot help but to give the younger man his grudging respect. Suffice to say, there will be consequences to pay!
Enter Svend Aage Hjalmar (Bjarne Henriksen), Denmark’s answer to Al Capone who pulls all the strings. Hjalmar and his cronies have their dirty fingers practically in every Danish pastry. During the course of his investigation, young Bjarne makes the acquaintance of wealthy entrepreneur Georg Vanbjerg (Flemming Enevold) who constantly the wool over his ingenious eyes and continuous to impress him. As if Bjarne’s work life isn’t complicated enough, his private life is equally turned around with the arrival of his elder and estranged brother Ole (Lars Mikkelsen), a former Nazi collaborator who has apparently seen the error of his ways and now tries to make good by opening a jazz club in the city… being an avid sax player himself. Soon enough, the to brothers are at loggerheads when they seem to fall for the same woman – the attractive actress Lisbeth Gordan (Stine Stengade) who just happens to be the daughter of the high-ranking Ingvar Gordan (Peter Steen) who himself is in alliance with the nasty Hjalmar. As the plot thickens, Bjarne and his wild, troublesome and fun-loving brother find themselves dealing with a hell of a lot more than they bargained for!
Incidentally, Hjalmar’s character is loosely based on the historical figure of Svend Aage Hasselstrom, a Danish car dealer who, together with comrade-in-crime John Linde was THE man behind the enormous Danish black market during and after WW2, commonly referred to as ‘Spider Matter’.
The performances are top-notch, in particular Jakob Cedergren as ambitious reporter Bjarne and Lars Mikkelsen as his troubled older brother Ole deliver the goods in flawless fashion! Further mention must go to Bjarne Henriken’s chilling portrayal of criminal mastermind Hjalmar, a character devoid of any scruples and morals, and Flemming Enevold in the part of the manipulative charmer Vanbjerg who turns out the biggest scoundrel of them all… and I don’t think I am letting the cat out of the bag here!
The Spider is impressively shot and great detail to attention has been paid, evoking a realistic retro-feel, while the complex plot resembles indeed a spider’s web. Well worth checking out, and so engaging you’d hardly notice the series is subtitled!