Mammon
Starring Jon Øigarden, Terje Strømdahl, Ingjerd Egeberg, Alexander Tunby Rosseland and Anna Bache-Wiig.
SYNOPSIS:
A newspaper journalist revealing fraud in a large multinational company, finds his family involved, ruining his career, family relations, and entangles him in a following mystery.
The latest in the ‘Nordic Noir’ imprint of Arrow Films, Mammon a Norwegian TV drama recently shown on Channel 4 in the UK.
Following the uncompromising and idealistic journalist Peter Verås (Jon Øigarden) as he attempts to solve the intricate mysteries involved in a web of government wide fraud and financial crime, the series is a thoroughly compelling look into the world of greed and avarice.
Tapping into a rich vein of political intrigue and the contrasting elements at work in both family and national exploitation, Mammon takes a typically Scandinavian approach to the crime thriller genre. Comparisons with The Bridge and The Killing et al can of course be drawn (especially with all the classy apartment and restaurant interiors on show!) but the series looks to the States (as most of Scandinavian TV initially did) for specific inspiration. Films such as The Firm or 1970s Hollywood films such as the The Conversation share a similar sinister conspiratorial edge.
The show pays the viewer off in dividends for following through with the complex and multi-layered narrative. Tying in the seemingly incongruous threads is an art-form, and one that this series manages a lot better than many. Anyone familiar with a newsroom will recognise some of the quirks involved in the development of a story and the choices, both legal and moral, that need to be made at points. The series captures these quandaries to sold effect, producing a show that is as rewarding as it is demanding.
Robert W Monk is a freelance journalist and film writer.
