The Keeper of Lost Causes (2016)

Simply A Masterpiece

Pretty Good

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I saw this on a rented DVD in 2014. Felt like writing a review before i watch two of its sequels. The plot - After a raid gone wrong that resulted in the death of one of his team and the paralysis of another, a homicide cop Nikolaj Lie Kaas has been kicked to the basement aka Department Q to tie off five years of unresolved cases along with an inexperienced assistant called Faras Faras. They wind up pursuing the case of a high-ranking female politician, a supposed suicide whose body was never found. In short this is Scandinavian Noir. The acting of the two leading detectives is assured and the cinematography is compelling. It is a perfectly adequate crime thriller that will appeal to fans of this genre. The Keeper of Lost Causes is genuinely gripping, even though the direction is fairly standard and the main plot elements are predictable. Fans of The Treatment, Marshland, Memories of murder, Headhunters, Insomnia, True Detectives - S1 will definitely enjoy this.

It disturbs me to often find I'm not a targeted viewer for many contemporary films and gain little for the time I invest in them. But then I'm not easy to satisfy. I'm a critical viewer. Perhaps it is unlikely that one can truly engage with a thriller and remain a critical viewer? But it has not always been this way. The 'suspension of disbelief', an absolute requirement in any fiction, that allows us to follow the story rather than see actors acting roles, is what makes thrillers thrilling. And some are truly that, at least on their first viewing. However in these times directors seem to have largely abandoned the need to raise, at least, my heartbeat and "The Keeper of Lost Causes" is a perfect example of that genre. Scandinavian 'noir' has gone very grey and formulaic. I thoroughly engaged with the original "Pusher" but that was in 1996 and Danish directors have grown old and rich from their early successes and rarely keep their form, and genres themselves degenerate. I recently watched "Farewell, My Lovely" from 1975, itself a jaded copy of an original noir and "The Keeper of Lost Causes" has much similarity. A cold case, an isolated detective down on his luck and lottery winning coincidences which are central to the rather basic narrative. Both are technically well made but hardly thrilling and have been created hot, or growing colder by the year, on the financial trail of better offerings. "Chinatown" (1974) and all the earlier modern Scandinavian crime back to "Smilla's Sense of Snow" in 1997. Watch it and criticise. Then look into the archive and experience some real, "old fashioned", film noir. But even then there was good and bad. It's about being a critical viewer.

I have very mixed feelings about this movie. There are a lot of pros: 1) Great cast. Assad's optimistic character was a great contrast to Carl's brooding and tormented one. The two leads were perfectly cast for their roles and had good chemistry. The brain-damaged brother was great, as well.2) Fast moving: Overall, the movie moves fairly quickly - although, I don't mind a slow-moving drama.3) Raw and emotional: These characters have been through so much, you really feel for them. The brother, Carl, Merete, Carl's partner, even Assad (we know something happened for him to end up working with Carl, we just don't know what).4) Well written: We learn why the psycho targeted her and why he went after others. The storyline comes together well and everything eventually makes sense.Cons: 1) Some scenes were just too sadistic for my taste, but I can't dock points from a movie just because my personal taste does not run to sadistic scenes. The plyer scene? What's up with that? Was it really necessary? 2) They choose Merite out of all the cold cases to start with because apparently, she was "so pretty". This is mentioned several times in the movie where reference is made to her beauty. I hope if I ever go missing, my picture looks good.I guess that is all - so overall, more pros than cons. If you can deal with the sadistic aspects of it (after all, it does deal with a psychopath), it is a good movie. Some of the scenes with poor Merite were near impossible for me to watch. But I knew it was a dark movie going into it.

The point that I should start is the official title, "The girl in the cage", I prefer by far the worldwide title since it focus more on the protagonist (has an off-topic: the Italian title makes it sound like a documentary). If you like the old drama/mystery/crime movies like I do, you will love this one, doesn't add really nothing to the gender, but it's so well produced and the acting was on point, got to love when you see an actor, Nikolaj L. Kaas in this case, waking up in a realistic way, the mood of the whole movie brings you to that slow passing detective drama, rare in our days, with all the CSI around, and ends up with a very thrilling ending.TL;dr - Noir nordish mood crime/drama