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Netflicks series: Lilyhammer

Steve Van Zandt reprises his Silvio character (the same character but not?) who rats on the mob and asks to be relocated in Lillehammer in Norway because he saw the Olympics there. You have the cultural differences Norway vs. mob. This is a series and I've watched 2 shows. Funny and interesting.

Review from LA Times linked below:

Created and written by Anne Bjørnstad and Eilif Skodvin, with a third writing credit going to Van Zandt himself, "Lilyhammer" is from the Norwegian point of view a fish-out-of-water story as seen by the water. It's a Norwegian story, with Norwegian issues Frank is used to highlight. Among other things, he's an immigrant in a country where immigration is a subject of great controversy and a lawbreaker in a land built on rules and regulations. (The Norwegian premiere was held up nearly a month while the show was scrubbed of illegal product placements.) Only the first hour was made available for review, and it remains to be seen whether Frank's flexing of New York muscle — which, initially at least, he uses more to restore order than to create chaos — will enrich or corrupt his new community. And, of course, what the community will do to or for him.

For American viewers, Van Zandt is, of course, a surviving fragment of "The Sopranos," while his Frank is one of our beloved fictional types, the capable, independent outlaw. The Norwegians are the foreigners here, and Norway the foreign land. But that remoteness is part of the show's appeal: The gorgeously rendered low skies and low sun, the crepuscular Northern light and snow-packed streets, the profusion of parkas and reindeer sweaters, the wintry hush that wraps the unhurried yet often suspenseful action are part of what you're paying for, should you choose to pay for it. (I note that the music is by Frans Bak, who scored AMC's"The Killing," another cold-climate tale.)

Bumbling about in thick clothes, listening to tapes that teach him the Norwegian for "Sorry, we are out of bread" and "I have no mittens," Van Zandt — who reliably lightened the tone at"The Sopranos"— turns in a charming, semi-sweet performance as a person not quite starting fresh. It is less work than you might imagine to accept him as a leading man, and he's more relaxed here than on his previous series, typically hunched shoulders and strenuously downturned mouth notwithstanding.


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Topic - Netflicks series: Lilyhammer - Daryl Zero 21:06:06 03/20/12 (8)

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