The Grave

This century, a Scandinavian crime drama has become a sign of quality where felonies are closely related to human relation issues and harsh natural environment. Even when crimes and their solutions can be a bit "far-fetched", then characters and methods are always realistic - the policemen and their outfit do not resemble a model agency.

As I somehow watch Graven after its loose sequel Morden, I had some picture of the team members already, but it was still good to follow how people so different and with complicated nature/background can be joined to work together with the aim to solve a horrible crime. Above all, it was thanks to their leader Cege Ljung whose diplomatic skills were often impressive - in spite of personal issues back home... He was well performed by Kjell Bergqvist, but still, for me, both his character and performance were overshadowed by Göran Ragnerstam / Claes Grimme and Jens Hultén / Theo Koders, with their minimalist approach even more impressive. To add the venue and locality, diversification of the crime development - and you get a versatile drama focusing both on the crime itself and personal issues of all persons involved.

Perhaps the number of episodes and/or their length could have been smaller, but thanks to suitable mood and good acting, no blah! feeling comes up. For bigger clarity, it is still advised to watch Graven prior to Morden.

This series had me hooked from start. Its really dark and beautifully filmed. Usually I don't like Swedish crime series that much. (Like Beck) I often find them silly, and the acting too theatrical. This series is different. The acting is excellent. I saw the first episode by mistake, when i was flipping among the channels. I just couldn't stop watching it, because i had no idea what it was about, and the way they introduced the different characters, i was never sure whether they were good or bad or whatever. It had the feel of a slow paced horror movie or something like that. I especially liked the creepy family living in the cottage nearby the grave. Really wonderfully weird characters.

This is an amazing crime story for many reasons.

The plot is very gripping from the start, truly intriguing until the end.

In the first twenty minutes of the first episode the table is set, so as to say, and all the pieces are in the right place to start the race.

I will not go into spoilers here. To be vague enough, there is a quite mysterious and eerie crime to solve, which must be kept away from public knowledge for as long as possible, and a team of tremendously skilled but complicated people who join their talents to investigate it---using a boat (!) as both lodging place and police headquarters, offshore the site of the crime.

Living together gets hard, as private and professional matters get entangled, and old, rancid relationships surface among some members of the team. The crime proves to be bigger and deeper as the episodes pass by, and there is a climactic finale at the end. The whole narrative arc of the story takes 8 episodes, so it could be thought of as a mini-series.

In terms of storytelling, the narrative is fantastic. The characters are wonderfully written, not just sketched but developed in depth, although their backgrounds are presented drop by drop, and so the questions do not only refer to the crime itself, but to the people who have to solve the case.

The performances have to be credited to a cast of brilliant actors who master their craft. I also found the direction compelling, with suspense, insight and subtleties in equal doses, and a rich, bold use of cameras and perspective. I really liked what they did, cinematographically speaking.

I will try to watch Morden, which is a sequel with the same characters. If Morden is as good as Graven, I will have a great time indeed!

I was impressed by the high rating and read the 3 other reviews; so i watched the 2 first episodes and was utterly disappointed! The story is told in a way that is so unbelievably messy and confused, that i totally lost all interest in the characters and the plot! In the first episode nothing really happens but a hodgepodge of characters - all rather dark and unpleasant - appear; and nothing else is told about the crime in itself and who is who. The second episode was even worse! . . . Also i DO NOT believe that for a major crime this poorly bunch of people could ever be selected to work on a case of this magnitude!

I admit i stopped watching after episode 2!

If you like decent crime stories - like Morse, Frost, Silent Witness - i recommend you avoid this one!

If you are a crime thriller addict like me then you must see this. Gripping story line, thorough methodical detective works, getting personal with the characters, it has all! I really liked the character Cege, Kjell Bergqvist, I have not seen more of him in thrillers though. But Göran Ragnerstam (Claes) is wonderful as usual, he did great also in Jordskott which is a fantasy thriller. But considering meaningful detective crime thrillers like Broen, Wallander, Arne Dahl, Beck, True Detective,Kvinden i buret, Fasandræberne, En pilgrims död, Unit 1 etc. this is one of the very best, never a dull moment with Swedish thrillers. Graven - 10/10 from me! Now will start watching the sequel - Morden (2009).