CASE HISTORIES

Great characters, stories, setting. All so very satisfying.

I originally saw this on Masterpiece Mystery and really enjoyed it. I particularly liked the converging plot lines and the inspired casting. After ordering the DVD set and watching the six episodes (the original Brit series was shot as a six part 1 hour TV series, but shown on PBS as two edited 2 hour episodes) my opinion was reinforced with the observation that the major ingredients of a successful series had been met. If it was intended just to be a one off cinema production I would have given it 5 stars. However, if viewed as a longer term series it has some problems.I can't think of one Brit crime series that has gone on to achieve broad popularity that doesn't have the lead protagonist ensconced in a structured environment or "family". Morse, Lewis, Barnaby, Foyle, Rebus and Frost all had a support system where they could play against their "intellectually inferior" co-workers or rail against the constraints of their organization. Sherlock had the same in his Watson and Poirot had his "posse" of hanger-ons. American crime shows are even more locked into this formulae; just witness NYPD Blue, Law & Order, The Closer, etc. If you go back in time to where televised "Private Eye" fiction was more the norm that it is today even the self employed P.I. had his stable screen family to keep him grounded or, at the very least, dealing with conflict issues that added to the character and subplot of these serialized scripts (Rockford/Magnum). However, those PI feature length films that starred the lone wolf rarely made the grade. Witness the great literary detectives of the 50's and 60's, Lew Harper and Travis McGee. While the books were serial best sellers for the authors (Ross MacDonald & John D. MacDonald) the movies were mediocre at best. What's good on the written page doesn't always successfully transcend to television or the movie theatre.That said, the Brodie character is hanging out there pretty much by himself and I'm not sure that a long distance daughter and ex wife, plus a love hate relationship with his former boss is going to cut it. They need to come up with a buddy, a stable but competing love interest, or some other friction inducing device and then establish a more fixed narrative as to how he has landed where he has in order to sustain this as a series in the future. A Tony Horowitz penned prequel that goes beyond the constraints of the Kate Atkinson novels might be just the ticket. If this is to be an ongoing series I hope year 2 will tell us more about Jackson's past and thereby insure his future. If they can bridge that divide the series has the makings of a first class production.And just an aside regarding Jason Isaacs portrayal as Jackson Brodie; how inept does the James Bond franchise look for not wrapping this guy up as the next 007? He's the first actor since Sean Connery that could wear the role like Savile Row suit and add another decade to a flagging series.

Edinburgh, Scotland . Two sisters are cleaning out their Dad's house after his death. Amelia asks, "What are we going to do with Daddy? Burial or cremation?"Julia tosses a coin and smiles, "Burn the bugger."But the jokes end when they open his desk drawer and find a stuffed animal that no one has seen since 1981, when it was supposed to have disappeared with their little sister Olivia.In the first case of the series, they hire Jackson Brodie, P.I., to find out what happened to Olivia 30 years before.Brodie is an ex-cop with a weather-beaten face that gets bruised up a lot. The most common comment made to him is, "You look like crap." He is persona-non-grata at the police precinct, except for DI Louise Munroe. Now that is complicated. Not only that, he has a young daughter, Marlee, who is the love of his life, and an ex-wife, Josie, who isn't."Case Histories" is character-driven rather than forensics-driven. Because a lot of time is spent on Brodie's personal interactions and stories, the feel is more that of a drama than a mystery series. There is occasional humor, but not the one-liner laugh-out-loud kind. The case states it "contains violence, nudity, sexual situations, graphic images and coarse language." It is definitely more R-rated than a "Midsomer Murders" or "Miss Fisher", but not as R-rated as "Harry".The six episodes in this Complete Collection comprise two series. Series One originally aired in June 2011 and Series Two aired in May 2013. Altogether, they total 620 minutes, or over 10 hours of entertainment. The DVD set presents the show in 16:9 widescreen. English subtitles are available on the episodes and on the one Bonus Extra.Bonus "Behind the Scenes" (15 minutes) Commentators include Jason Isaacs (plays Brodie), Kate Atkinson (author), Helen Gregory (producer), Amanda Abbington (plays DCI Louise Munroe) and Kristy Mitchell (plays Josie Brodie, ex-wife).Kate Atkinson wrote a total of 4 books starring Jackson Brodie. Three of those books were adapted for these 6 episodes. Isaacs says: "At the heart of it is a man sorting other people's problems out and kind of ignoring his own."Brodie to Marlee: "Basic interrogation fact –people, when they're remembering, look up to the left. And when they're inventing, look up to the right."Happy Reader

The first episode was confusing, but as I got into the series, I found it interesting.

Filmrise really sucks. After each ad it starts buffering I have to close out and restart and it never starts where it left off and I have to sit through the ads again. I had issues trying to get the close captioning to work so I could understand the nuances of the dialect. I don’t have these issues with other programs. It makes it really hard to watch the program .

No gun violence as I recall, the detectives being unarmed. There are no over the top gory scenes. The detectives are quite ordinary people who have their own personal problems. The scenery is one of the best aspect of the show--especially if the viewer lives elsewhere. The crimes are hard to puzzle out--lots of suspects--thus the suspense remains to the end. It's a pleasant after dinner show. One episode is enough before bedtime. We watched Detectorists before this show. Terrific, lovable series. But if you're in to solving crimes without a lot of violence, then Shetland is a great series.

Die DVD enthält sechs einstündige Folgen, von denen jeweils zwei auf einem der Romane von Kate Atkinson basieren. Während die erste Story noch verwirrend war und zu viele kleine Handlungsstränge aufgenommen wurden, "glättet" sich das später und die Folgen konzentrieren sich mehr oder weniger auf einen Fall, was mir stringenter und besser vorkam. Markenzeichen dieser Serie bleibt jedoch, dass alle Erlebnisse gegen Ende zusammenlaufen und jede Figur etwas mit dem Fall zu tun hat. Manche Figuren sorgen für trockenen, bissigen Humor - beispielsweise Brodies Assistentin Deborah. So weit, so gut.Die Figur des Jackson Brodie ist der typische Hardboiled-Detektiv, der einsame Wolf mit versteckten und unterdrückten Gefühlen und weichem Kern - er kann niemanden abweisen, der um seine Hilfe bittet. Seine Kindheit wurde von einem traumatischen Erlebnis überschattet, das ihn heute noch massiv verfolgt (für meinen Geschmack etwas zu massiv in Filmminuten ausgedrückt). Ich finde die Figur etwas zu stereotyp. Die Handlung zeigt gelegentlich logische Schwächen, beispielsweise scheint Brodie mit Adleraugen ausgestattet zu sein, denn er erkennt winzige Kleinigkeiten auf große Entfernungen. Alles in allem sind die Geschichten aber spannend und die Darsteller sehenswert (einige sind bereits aus "Sherlock" bekannt).

Habe mir diese DVD gekauft, da ich ein mega großer Jason Isaacs Fan bin. Da es bis dato Case Histories noch nicht in Deutsch gab, ich aber nicht länger warten wollte, habe ich mir die DVD gekauft.Nach schnellem Versand aus Groß Britannien kam sie an und wurde direkt geschaut ! *__*Was soll ich sagen? Toll ! Einfach Toll ! Ein Muss für jeden Jason Isaacs FAN ! Werde mir die DVD nun nochmal in Deutsch kaufen, da mein Englisch zugegebener Maßen ziemlich miserabel ist und Jason Isaacs doch sehr nuschelt :D

J'ai lu tous les romans de Kate Atkinson, et j'avais peur d'une version TV qui ne s'en tiendrait qu'à l'intrigue et ne pourrait pas traduire le ton original et l'humour dont les livres sont bourrés. Sans compter les multiples citations poétiques.Effectivement le film est différent. Les histoires sont à peu près fidèles aux romans - pour ceux qui les ont lus - et les personnages aussi; seul Jackson Brodie(interprêté par l'excellent acteur Jason Isaac) a une toute autre envergure dans ce DVD. Sa personnalité est plus affirmée et pour tout dire, il a moins l'aspect de 'loser' que sous la plume de K. Atkinson ! Mais sans doute ça n'aurait pas bien passé à l'écran. Dans les films il est donc installé comme détective privé à Edimbourg, et est sollicité par tous ceux qui recherchent un enfant ou une femme perdue - ou bien un assassin jamais retrouvé - parfois depuis des années. Ils ont tous perdu espoir en la police et s'adressent à Jackson Brodie qui est étrangement doué pour retrouver les personnes disparues, fussent-elles mortes et enterrées.En tant qu'ancien policier, il a gardé des liens avec ses ex-collègues qui l'aident parfois - surtout le détective Louise Monroe avec qui il entretient des relations ambigües. Il reste également attaché à son ex-femme et passe le plus de temps possible avec leur fille Marlee (jouée par une petite actrice adorable), quitte à l'amener avec lui lorsqu'il part interroger des suspects!Pour les personnes ne connaissant pas les romans, peu importe, la série est passionnante. J'ai adoré découvrir Edimbourg, la campagne écossaise, les bords de mer et l'accent des acteurs comme l'attachante Reggie.Pour ceux qui connaissent les romans ce DVD reprend donc les enquêtes des 3 livres :- La souris bleue (Case Histories)- Les choses s'arrangent mais ça ne va pas mieux (One good turn)- A quand les bonnes nouvelles ? (When will there be good news ?)La V.O. est un avantage, bien entendu, vous ne voudriez pas manquer la voix du séduisant Jason Isaac...

A real rock and roll hero, hy Jackson, lisez et faites lire Kate Atkinson !See you in hell !