Those Half Hidden 2009

Those Half Hidden 2009
4h | Drama | TV Mini Series

Storyline:

The story of “The Half Hidden” is like a tapestry, in which the threads run obliquely between four different families in two different decades. Weaving recurrent patterns, the story unfolds upon the loom of our vulnerability in lives that are as brittle as the morning ice. This is the story of those who survived, and this is the story of those who did not survive.

The half-hidden, Jonas Gardell engaging depiction of a number of people in the two eras. The script, brilliant acting and strong efforts directed by Simon Kaijser da Silva quickly made the half-hidden to a cult series – one of the most unpredictable, most poignant and breathtakingly exciting ever shown on Swedish television.

User review:

This 4-part mini-series follows the fates of three families in Sweden between 1970 and today, and intertwines everything in their lives from inadequate parenthood, growing pains, homosexuality, alcoholism, neo-nazism, to the devastating heritage of religious bigotry. Mainly shown from the children’s point of view, as its title memorably refers to old time family portraits that depicted both living and dead family members.

Scriptwriter Jonas Gardell’s trademark dark topic themes (that certainly keeps the anguished drama tradition a’ la Bergman & Lars Norén alive) are given a vibrantly moody and emotionally charged treatment, for sure. I guess I could have a go at the one-sided, all-male gender child- and teenhood perspective, but I won’t… Told in one of those frantically paced time-overlapping storytelling styles, it keeps the uncertainty hovering and the cliffhanger addiction flying between the episodes, (despite a somewhat unnecessarily solemn tone) to find out exactly how things hang together from past to present.

Although the content may be not too original, it’s still pertinent, and when handled as strongly and sensibly as this by director Kaijser, I don’t really mind the message repetition at all! Wonderfully acted, mainly by its youngster cast, plus an uproarious performance by Dencik as a mentally abusive husband/control freak. Excellent production values, too, although some uneven make-up qualities distract the eye…

Director: Simon Kaijser
Writer: Jonas Gardell
Stars: Bruno Årfors, Anna Littorin, Ulf Friberg
Country of origin: Sweden
Language: Swedish

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