We've been watching Danish crime drama The Killing over the last couple of weeks. A 20-part series, focussing on a solitary murder investigation, it's both gripping and macabre. But we tend to spoil the lugubrious tension by shouting "turn the fucking lights on" at the TV every five minutes. Even the daytime scenes are shot in locations where, seemingly, light cannot penetrate. On the odd occasion chief inspector Sarah Lund finds herself in a room with a window, the set designers have covered it up with newspaper. On the plus side, the dark, shadowy setting makes it really easy to read the subtitles.
I'm beginning to think this aversion to daylight might be some sort of Scandanavian affliction. Here's the latest video from Lykke Li - an acoustic take of album track Jerome, shot in black and white in a room with no discernible illumination. Oddly unsettling.
