Butler's Cinema Scene

Sidse Babett Knudsen, Pilou Asbaek

“BORGEN”

If like me you are inclined to view contemporary American politics as a terrifying shitstorm, there’s some comfort to be had in the excellent Danish series “Borgen,” a sort of “West Wing” for a multi-party society.

Take comfort in the knowledge that things could be even crazier.

The central character of this 2010-2013 series (its two seasons are now streaming on Netflix; a third reportedly is on the way)  is Birgitte Nyborg (Sidse Babett Knudsen…she played “Westworld’s” top exec in that series’ first season).

Birgitte is a forty something politician, wife and mother whose centrist party grabs enough parliamentary seats in an election to form a new government. That means she is poised to become her country’s first female prime minister.

Thing is, Denmark (like most European nations) relies on coalition governments made up of representatives of two or more parties.  Whereas Americans have only to choose between Democrats and Republicans, Danish voters have a slew of ideologies to select from.

If you’re going to rule in Denmark, you’ll spend much of your time compromising with smaller fringe parties — like the Greens —  in exchange for their support. This is achieved by handing out plum assignments in the various ministries.

And while performing these in-house acrobatics, a leader like Birgitte must fend off the advances  of far right-wing parties currently out of favor.

Complicated? Yeah, but show runner Adam Price and his writers are so good at setting up the lay of the land that it’s easy to pick up on the subtleties of Danish politics.

Just as important, “Borgen” (that roughly translates as “the Castle,” the Danes’ nickname for the building in Copenhagen holding the country’s executive, legislative and judicial branches) is packed with terrific characters to whom we get mightily attached.

Knusden’s Birgitte is a fantastically compelling figure, a whip-smart politician struggling — not always successfully — to balance her duties at the Castle with her family life. Not to mention the near-constant pressure to stuff her ideals and act out of sheer convenience.

Cracks soon appear in her seemingly rock-solid marriage to Phillip, a professor of economics (Michael Birkkjaer). Equally frustrating is the toll her job is taking on the couple’s children, a teenage daughter (Freja Riemann) who slips into depression and an angelic tweener son (Emil Poulsen) who inexplicably begins bed wetting.

Essentially “Borgen” asks if it is possible to hold positions of great power without compromising one’s principles or doing irreparable damage to those you love.

Birgitte Hjort Sorensen

Two other characters carry equal weight with Birgitte. Katrine Fonsmark (Birgitte Hjort Sorensen) is the Barbie-ish  news anchor for one of Denmark’s TV networks.  She’s unwilling to be dismissed as a pretty face; the series follows her career into political reporting and commentary, a newspaper gig and even government service.  Here again, her road is cluttered with compromise.

Rounding out the trio is Kaspare Juul (Pilou Asbaek… you’ll recognize him as “Game of Thrones'” scheming Euron Greyjoy), a political “fixer” and Birgitte’s main confidant. A practitioner of pure Machiavellian ruthlessness, he’s forever being reined in by his more principled boss.

While these three form a dramatic triangle at the center of “Borgen,” the joint is crawling with interesting characters.

In the media there’s the TV news director (Soren Malling) whose youthful idealism is rapidly crumbling under the pressure of ratings and corporate dictates.  And for pure villainy it’s hard to get past Peter Mygind’s Laugesen, a politician-turned-newspaper publisher who oozes suave intellectual nastiness and journalistic mercilessness.

“Borgen” is crawling with subplots and plenty of sex…much of it out of wedlock. There are moments — particularly in Season 2 — when things get a bit soap operish.

Yet the performances, direction, writing and breakneck pacing meld so seamlessly that the Missis and I went through 20 hours of episodes in just a few days. We’d get up in the a.m. and ask each other: “How soon can we start watching ‘Borgen’?”

It’s that addictive.

| Robert W. Butler