REVIEW: ‘Keeper of Lost Causes’ begins thrilling ‘Department Q’ trilogy
The Keeper of Lost Causes, the first film in a Danish crime trilogy, is a mixture of Sherlock Holmes and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Nikolaj Lie Kaas plays Carl Mørck, a homicide detective who has been reassigned to cold cases in the basement because no one wants to work with him. His new partner is Assad (Fares Fares), and the two make an unlikely but useful partnership. Carl is a brooding, introspective type, someone who bucks the police leadership to find the true killer. Assad takes a softer approach, realizing that sometimes it’s best to play the good cop to Carl’s bad cop.
The two should be pushing papers in this “Department Q” of cold cases; however, Carl has a novel idea: Why not solve a few? Their first one is an apparent suicide of a woman who allegedly jumped off a ferry to her death. Carl doesn’t think so because this woman, Merete Lynggaard (Sonja Richter), also brought her brother, Uffe (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard), on the boat. Uffe has a dissociative disorder, and Merete is not only his sister but caretaker and best friend. Carl doesn’t see why a woman about to commit suicide would bring her brother along for the trip. This gets the two detectives thinking, much to the chagrin of their higher-ups.
Mikkel Nørgaard films the 96-minute thriller in a slick manner, using music to heighten the emotion and seamlessly transitioning between the present day and the time when Merete was on the ferry boat. His film is largely anchored by the towering performance of Lie Kaas as Carl. The actor doesn’t smile. He doesn’t show emotions. He doesn’t get along with anyone except his old partner, who is still in a hospital following a tragic ending to their last case. Carl is also estranged from his family, and I’m sure if one looked in his refrigerator, there would be the requisite takeout food that’s two weeks too old.
Richter is nicely cast as Merete. She gives the character empathy and a realistic side, grounding her as a good person caught up in a horrible situation. Fares is a perfect partner for Carl. The actor is able to play off the steely looks from the main character and offer his own interpretation on the best way to solve these cold cases.
Yes, The Keeper of Lost Causes follows many of the genre conventions; however, the director and actors use these tropes well and give them meaning. There’s a real energy that is achieved in the case, and the police work is done with a realistic flair. There aren’t excessive montages, and time jumps feel well earned and move the narrative along. The movie might follow the tried-and-true rules of police procedurals, but it follows these rules quite well.
The final third of the film is nail-bitingly intense, and that’s mostly because the director, working off a script by Nikolaj Arcel and the original book by Jussi Adler-Olsen, lets the audience see the villain and what is happening on the other side of the investigation. This revelation doesn’t spoil anything about the narrative; if anything, it gets the viewer more into the story by seeing the final goal of where Assad and Carl are headed.
The Keeper of Lost Causes is a solid thriller with better-than-expected performances. The movie, along with its two sequels, will be screened for the first time in the United States at the IFC Center in New York City. The three films join a week of programming that looks at “new Nordic noir.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
- The Keeper of Lost Causes
- 2013
- Directed by Mikkel Nørgaard
- Written by Nikolaj Arcel; based on the book by Jussi Adler-Olsen
- Starring Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Fares Fares, Sonja Richter and Mikkel Boe Følsgaard
- Running time: 96 minutes
- Not Rated
- Rating:
