THE DEPARTMENT Q TRILOGY: Jussi Adler-Olsen and Nikolaj Arcel's top-notch Danish police procedurals hit home video

Better by some distance than the much-vaunted and hugely-successful Scandinavian behemoth, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series, the three full-length films that comprise the current DEPARTMENT Q series (named for a newly organized "cold case" division of a Danish Police Department) are tighter, more focused, less florid and bizarre than that popular Lizbeth Salander trilogy. (Of course, those very negatives are seen as attributes by those of us who love Ms Lizbeth.)

As adapted from the novels by Jussi Adler-Olsen by Nikolaj Arcel (shown at right, who also wrote the original Dragon Tattoo film, as well as directing and co-writing the Oscar-nominated A Royal Affair), the trilogy has two directors: Mikkel Nørgaard (who helmed the first two films) and Hans Petter Moland (the last of them). So dark and driven are all three, however, that I don't think viewers will notice much difference in style. Molan's movie takes longer to click into gear. From there onwards, it moves like a house afire.

Each tale told by each film is complete unto itself, but I would suggest beginning with the first, THE KEEPER OF LOST CAUSES (Kvinden i buret), as it introduces us to the characters and to this new bureau, Department Q, and to its first "case" -- looking into what was ruled a suicide but now begins to looks more like a "missing person." Here, as in each of the films, motive is as important as all else, and as we learn details of the characters of each of the antagonists, it is difficult not to feel some sympathy for them, even if we cannot excuse their actions.

In "Keeper," we also learn of the problematic victim and her history, as our two protagonists, Carl (a terrific job by Nikolaj Lie Kaas as the troubled, driven and socially awkward  detective) and his new assistant, Assad (the fine Fares Fares, of the Easy Money series, who can quietly handle some of the team's toughest problems). These two are not your usual police procedural protagonists. Carl is heroic, all right, but he is as apt to get beaten up and thoroughly shamed as anything else. But he endures and drives forward.

Movie two is titled THE ABSENT ONE (Fasandræberne), and it is the longest and, for me, the best of the three. Dealing with bullying and entitlement and how these can grow into horrific behavior if not blocked early on, the movie watches as high-school-age kids go from beating their peers to worse, until one of them can no longer handle it all. She, Kimmie, is at the heart of this tale, and Danica Curcic (below) brings her character to splendid, dark life.

We are allowed much less empathy for the villains this time around -- Borgen's Pilou Asbæk  and Men & Chicken's David Dencik -- for they are upper-class nasties who seem not to have learned a thing from any of this, except to push harder, stronger and longer into death/destruction. The plotting is twisty, the investigation smart but believable, and the outcome awful, moving, and with a keen, deep sense of justice for all.

A CONSPIRACY OF FAITH (Flaskepost fra P), the final film in the trilogy, makes a good capper, as it delves into the subject of religious faith -- the belief in which sets off the terrible tale told here, while also making it possible for this film's villain (himself an abused product of faith gone haywire) to do and even get away with his awful deeds. This theme also gives us a chance to observe Assad's Muslim heritage, as well as Carl's complete lack of religious faith. (The dark ironies ever-present in these films shine through with an icy light.)

That villain -- played with stunningly cold reserve and sharp, surprising strength by Pål Sverre Hagen (above, right, of the Kon-Tiki remake) -- proves a formidable character, a man apparently unfettered by most of the feelings that might trouble the rest of us.

The scene of the disappearances -- children have gone missing -- is a countryside community of some visual beauty (unusual for this series), but what we learn of those children and their religiously stifled parents is enough to put us off "god" for good. Though this final film is slow to reach blast-off, once it does, you will be as breathless, frightened and maybe a tad hopeful as you were with the preceding installments.

For folk who love police procedurals, I would consider Department Q a "must." And if you've been somewhat disappointed with many of the other procedurals you've already seen, give Carl, Assad and these dark, Danish movies a shot. They're likely to be habit-forming.

From Sundance Selects/IFC Films, after a very limited theatrical release, the series hits DVD (with each film on a separate disc but in a single package) this coming Tuesday, December 20, for purchase and/or (individually) for rental. The three films can also be seen currently (in high def!) via Netflix streaming.

Stellan Skarsgård shines, scowling, in the Moland/Aakeson SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN

What a presence, choose from any movie in which he deigns to appear, has Stellan Skarsgård! This unusual actor -- he of the firmly under-stated performance and increasingly jowly visage (on poster, right, and in several shots below) -- has, to my knowledge, never given a bad performance, even in crappy movies like Angels and Demons or silly ones like Mamma Mia! (that explanation point is the film's). The fellow turns 60 this year and has 109 roles to his credit, but I doubt that he has ever been better than he is in A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN, the new Norwegian film cogently directed by Hans Petter Moland (shown below) and written -- very well indeed --
by Kim Fupz Aakeson.

By any standard, this is a good movie, but Skarsgård gooses it to near-greatness. You can't -- you don't want to -- take your eyes off him. For every moment he's onscreen (which is most of the movie), each tiny expression and bit of feeling he unearths is so right and meaningful that you would be marveling, were his work not so un-showy. As the movie proceeds, you realize he's good; after the fact, upon some reflection, you know he's great.

A Somewhat Gentle Man is what you might call a deadpan gangster comedy, and you'd be right -- except Skarsgård is so quietly alive that he lifts the film out of that overused, deadpan genre. In it, he plays Ulrik, a guy who, in the first scene, is being released from prison by a surprisingly kindly guard who clearly cares about Ulrik and wishes him well.

Back in the "free world," our hero almost immediately confronts the film's best running joke -- from which Moland and Aakeson get maximum mileage. The smoking ban has clearly come into effect since Ulrik went to prison, and his quest for somewhere, anywhere, to have a cigarette proves a consistent, under-the-radar delight.

Information/exposition -- involving family, employment and exactly why our guy went to prison in the first place -- is doled out in small, smart, realistic doses. By the time we know the whole story, so firmly are we in the hands, heart and soul of Ulrik that we'll follow him anywhere.

Anywhere includes a sparkling-clean diner attended by his ex-wife (two photos above); shabby accommodations provided by his gangster boss -- of which the boss' very imposing sister (above) is now Ulrik's landlady (their sex scene is one for the books); a job at the car repair shop that comes complete with sad and sexy office worker (trailing a nasty, brutish husband) and a boss who spurts out philosophy in great indigestible chunks; a high-rise weapons dealer and his "little person" assistant (below); even a moment spent in a baby-supply store that should leave you grinning.

If the film's climax seems a tad too easily achieved, everything else about this movie works beautifully. Especially Skarsgård. Supporting performances are fine, too -- from the gangster boss played by Bjørn Floberg (above, right, whose sense of entitlement makes your typical American haute-bourgeoisie seem a piker by comparison) to Jorunn Kjellsby, who, as the landlady, balances buried pain and sadness with some terrific, over-the-top humor.

A Somewhat Gentle Man, from Strand Releasing, opens Friday, January 14 in New York City at the IFC Center. Further playdates, through March and as of now, include:
1/28 - Nuart Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
2/4 - Ritz at the Bourse - Philadelphia, PA
2/17 - Wadsworth Atheneum Museum - Hartford, CT
2/25 - Kendall Square - Cambridge, MA
3/4 - E Street Cinema 8 - Washington, DC
3/4 - Lagoon Cinema - Minneapolis, MN
3/18 - Varsity Theater - St. Louis, MO
3/25 - Chez Artiste - Denver, CO
3/25 - Ken Cinema - San Diego, CA