Analysing Thrillers - Nordic Noir

Nordic Noir, or Scandinavian Noir, is a Scandinavian crime fiction the compromises the genre through the use of a realistic style, and a dark, morally complex mood. It is simple and precise, and stripped of unnecessary words. One critic stated that "Nordic crime fiction carries a more respectable cachet... than similar genre fiction produced in Britain or the US."

One of the most well known Nordic Noir films is 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo', and recently Nordic Noir TV series have been aired on the BBC and ITV, including 'The Bridge'.


The Killing

The Killing (Forbrydelsen) was originally a Danish police procedural TV series, later adapted into the US version. BBC 4 aired the subtitled series on the 19th of November 2011. Vicky Frost, from The Guardian, said that The Killing "paved the way for a wave of subtitled European crime dramas" in the UK, and the series proved popular.

The key things in the trailer that I felt made it fit the thriller genre are:

• Dark lighting
• Fast paced with heavy bass music directing the cuts
• Action filled plot points to interest the audience
• A blue-grey colour scheme with a contrast of yellows and reds, the colour saturation being drained
• A dramatic voiceover with no dialogue from the characters 
• Range of shots [close up, mid shots, wide shots, long shots]
• Rural, abandoned locations
• "20 days to catch a killer" - raises questions for the audience, creating suspense and curiosity, and indicates the overall pace of the series

Jordskott

Jordskott is a Swedish TV series similar to The Killing, and was aired in the UK on 10th of June 2015. It was shown on ITV Encore.

The key things in the trailer that I felt made it fit the thriller genre are:

• Again, a blue-grey colour scheme appears and the colour is drained overall, however there is use of harsh white lighting, as if to "shock"
• No audio or dialogue as well, instead a track of Swedish electronic music which is similar to the opening song used in True Detective
• Range of shots used including aerial shots, high angle shots, close ups, long shots, mid shots
• Fast cuts in time with the music again
• Focuses on the plot through the imagery of the news articles to spark interest

The Bridge

The Bridge is a Swedish and Danish production, first aired in the UK on 4th of January 2014, again on BBC 4.

The key things in the trailer that I felt made it fit the thriller genre are:

• Western inspired music
• Blue-grey-green colour scheme with drained colours and reds as a contrast
• Harsh lighting is also used, like in Jordskott
• Fast cuts
• Range of shots including close ups, long shots, PoV shots
• Focus of the camera on an object in the foreground/background with the subject out of focus