Nordic Noir

Nordic Noir

5 Episodes

The dark cloud of disillusionment that spread across international screens in the wake of World War II didn’t spare the land of the midnight sun, as evidenced by this selection of stylishly shadowy, ripe-for-discovery crime dramas from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Precursors to the Scandinavian crime-fiction boom, these moody thrillers—including Edith Carlmar’s twisted melodrama Death Is a Caress, the first Norwegian film directed by a woman; and Hasse Ekman’s daring mystery Girl with Hyacinths, fascinating for its taboo-breaking queer themes—imbue noir fatalism with a stark social realism and brooding psychological depth befitting the homeland of Ibsen and Strindberg.

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Nordic Noir

5 Episodes

  • Nordic Noir Teaser
    01:17
    Nordic Noir Teaser
    Episode 1

    Nordic Noir Teaser

    Episode 1

  • Girl with Hyacinths
    1:29:53
    Girl with Hyacinths
    Episode 2

    Girl with Hyacinths

    Episode 2

    Directed by Hasse Ekman • 1950 • Sweden
    Starring Eva Henning, Ulf Palme, Anders Ek

    One of the most acclaimed Swedish films of all time (heralded as a masterpiece by no less than Ingmar Bergman), this moody, masterfully crafted psychological mystery unfolds in a tantalizing series of CITIZEN KANE...

  • Death Is a Caress
    1:32:37
    Death Is a Caress
    Episode 3

    Death Is a Caress

    Episode 3

    Directed by Edith Carlmar • 1949 • Norway
    Starring Claus Wiese, Bjørg Riiser-Larsen, Ingolf Rodge

    Not only the first Norwegian noir but the first Norwegian film directed by a woman, Edith Carlmar’s dark, simmering psychological drama centers on the torrid relationship that develops between a hun...

  • Two Minutes Late
    1:41:28
    Two Minutes Late
    Episode 4

    Two Minutes Late

    Episode 4

    Directed by Torben Anton Svendsen • 1952 • Denmark
    Starring Poul Reichhardt, Grethe Thordahl, Astrid Villaume

    The streets of postwar Copenhagen become a shadowy labyrinth of suspicion and danger in this taut, atmospheric thriller. Poul Reichhardt stars as Max, a philandering husband whose wife (...

  • Hidden in the Fog
    1:28:35
    Hidden in the Fog
    Episode 5

    Hidden in the Fog

    Episode 5

    Directed by Lars-Eric Kjellgren • 1953 • Sweden
    Starring Eva Henning, Sonja Wigert, Hjördis Petterson

    Strikingly shot in inky chiaroscuro, this stylish, twist-laden mystery—something like a Swedish riff on Otto Preminger’s noir classic LAURA—features a striking performance from Eva Henning as (w...

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