Bob and I watched International Mystery last night. International Mystery features made-for-television mysteries produced in European countries. Needless to say, the programs have subtitles. They used to be hard to read or dubiously translated, but lately their quality has improved; however, the policy of blurring out ALL nudity -- even classical statues -- is still there to annoy the viewer. Other than that, I have no gripes; in fact, International Mystery is my favorite program. I happily watch Swedish, Norwegian, French, German and Italian detectives solve crimes in their various countries.
Recently, they've introduced two new series that transcend borders in rather peculiar ways. One is the Van Veeteran programs, based on books by the Swedish author Hakan Nesser. These mysteries take place in a mythical unnamed country that is a pastiche of Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany. The detective seems slow-paced and folksy, a perfect Dutch stereotype, but the stories are bloody and melodramatic in true Nordic fashion. I must confess that they don't really do it for me. I like my mysteries to be rooted in an actual time and place.
The other series is Italian, at least on the face of it. The books feature Guido Brunnetti, a Venetian police inspector, but they're written by Donna Leon, who is American though she's lived in Italy for years. The television series, however, is a German production -- so we see the characters living in Venice, but talking in guttural German. Leon chose to sell her series to the Germans because she wanted to preserve her anonymity in Italy; however, the characters look and act German rather than Italian, which detracts from the credibility of the locale. Still, it's a good series.
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