torsdag 22 december 2016

JOHAN FALK SERIES PART 20: THE END



Previously on Johan Falk:

The mole was revealed to be Lasse, one of the more harmless, less violence prone individuals of GSI.
But still a lot of stuff is revealed. Thje organisation is showing its real face and are gunning for Johan and his family.

Plot:

At the same time as Johan is hiding his family from teh Russian mob,   coordinated efforts are being made into shutting down their foes from Moscow. We learn that the Organisation taht ahs been a constant threat throughout is a much bigger one than expected. Even part of the events  leading back as far as Johan Falk#2: Executive Protection.


Jibber jabber:

In discussing the finale on facebook ,a lot of people seem to focus on the exact events of what happened. The ending is somewhat ambivalent. They speculate whether Johan is alive or not.And that is fine. It is a lot of fun speculating on the end. All power to you. But I might figure a different, more symbolic approach. As we get closer to Christmas we might want to look closer to miracles or stuff like that

One interesting comparison can be made to Russia. We can perhaps see Russian orthdoxy religion pervade the world of  Johan Falk, as he finally redeem himself for his previous isoation, to sacrifce hmself for the greater good. On Christmas Eve nonetheless as the whole thing from Zero Tolerance started. The entire sereis started on that day and ends on it in a great symbolic way. It started with Falk saving his step daughter. And The End  ( well) ends with him saving his step daughter and her child. Very symbolic that the series ends on Christmas and that birth is given.

Within Russsian Orthodoxy isolation and  seclusion are considered heretic practices. or unapproved of Falk redeems his soul by sacrificing himself for a greater cause.  He starts out as a lone wolf in Zero Tolerance  but gradually throughout the series assimilate himself in society. 

Remember Lasse? He himself , a victim of GSI, was confronted at one point with  orthodox catholic religion. And it may have struck a chord with Johan in the end, because it might have been leading him into a similar course. Now we actually might see some Russian attitudes seeping inside Swedish mentalties in which we may havbe never seen before. People who sacricifce themselves, see themselves as obsolute for the greater good. Lasse  hanged himself, Johan, he may have survived, we don´t know , is though highly indebted to a higher cause. His life for the survavl to the family.

It is interesting to note that some of the more pivotal moments in  the series Johan spends on his back. 

The opening of the GSI series, but also the end of The Third Wave and The Child Infiltrator. Holding Ola, playing with him in GSI. Saving one of the young perpetrators from being  shot in The Child Infiltrator, saving a pregnant Helen in The Third Wave after being shot in the head.









Several sequences in these films symbölizes pivotal moments in Johan Falks life are being spent on his back.

And the last and most important scene of his life is played out as his step-daugher is giving birth as he is being tortured. Symbolic to say the least. On the verge of death as someone is on the verge of giving life. .












This shows poignancy to his suffering. Johan gives up his life for another. Life is given birth as another is offered. Very ritualistic. And Johan finally sacrifices himself for the greater good which brings his story into full circle. In Zero Tolerance he was the isolated shell of a man. And in Russian ortodox religion. isolation is a sin as I have previously mentioned. And now in  that regard he has truly emerged as a man as who symbolicly finally relinquuished his isolated position  and brings order and stability back to the family.

In Russian literature there is a archetype called the superfluous man. It is a certain type of individual who is unable to create any changes in society.. Johan is the american type of individual lone ranger trying to get the job done on his own. But he fails . Crime continues to exist throught the series, there fore he never amounts to much change. The only change he can contribute  is the one in his own vicinity. He manages to save his step daughter through torture. But at the same time bring down the organization through his sacrifice. So for the first time his crimefighting has had greater effect than usual.  

It is a bit of a reach, but that shell of a man that we previously knew has gone trough twenty movies to redeem himself and proven himself from going through from isolation to assimilation. Johan Falk is now truly one of us as he sacrificed himself for the common good, the family. The collective. And the future.

I  like the idea of noticing or intepreting ideas that may or may not intentionally have seeped into the series.  Some of the outside influences that is part of the franchise.  Like; the Estonian lullaby that is introduced in Executive Protection  and keeps recurring musically throughout the series as well as other melodic motifs in the music that are "Russian" or at least "slavic" especially in this third season. with tracks like Kavkaz and the haunting Eg Er Riddarrinn . These musical motifs, I think give some gravitas to the stuff that I have mentioned above.

Also the philosophical ideas of crime/punishment/redemption that stems from orthodox religion introduced in Operation Nightingale, and how it might storywise work itself into on a deeper level throughout the story and try to give the work a  meaning  below the surface level is also something I have come to appreciate. I might be full of shit in these last few paragraphs for this final installment. It´s not exact science. It is an intepretation, should be taken as such,  and as I said I like to give meaning to films that deserve it. And I think in this instance this series is definetly worth it.

Wrap up:

Regardless, of the fate of Johan Falk, his memory lives on not only in the  heart of his loved one but also in the heart of us action fans. Even though we may never see him again, his work lives on in these twenty films. And for new generations to enjoy.

Thank you Mr Johan Falk for all these years!

https://open.spotify.com/track/0jZbXKH4agpFSDI1PuhMXo

The End.


tisdag 13 december 2016

JOHAN FALK SERIES PART 19: LOCKDOWN



Do not read the following unless you want the entire shit being spoiled for you. You have been warned!


Previously on Johan Falk:

A mole exists within GSI. Who is it, and will anyone find out? Does it relate to anyone Johan knows? We finally find out


Plot:


One of GSIs most loved and respected  gets gunned down by the mole. The police station enters a state of lockdown; which means the building is closed until the perpetraror is captured. And he does.

It turns out the mole is a former GSI-member. You might remember him. You should.  And I should have. I never thought of him, even though I should´ve. I am bad at these detective things.

The GSI mourns and tries to deal with the situation. A situation in which a former cop is actully at the forefront of it. What does it mean?

Helens previous husband has really been making an ass of himself (Johan Hedenberg)

I am an idiot and never should have given birth to anyone


And Helen sorts out a lot of information and is in the course of action quite a smart person who brings an entrire Russian operation down., But thta is for a later discussion. here is NOW:

Jibber jabber:

Lockdown is a great episode. Not only is it startling in the revelations to come, but opens up a different set of view points for how to percieve this very difficult situation. We are left with some doubtful opinions about our own way of life and opens up an uncomfortable final conclusion in The End


Two shots that define the final moment of a disastrous event.


I think Lasses motivations and his encounter   with Hannas religious beliefs are worth mentioning as they might in some way be relevant for understanding The End. In Operation Nightingale between the two of them  Lasse claims he do have a  firm belief. But it lies in his predetermined views of crime and punishment as in most cops do. . It strikes at first as the normal way for a police to judge a person, but on further investigation one could look further. 

Speaking of crime an punishment, that might not be an entirely appropriate term that Lasse used. As a pretentious scholar like myself, you could see it as an allusion to the Dostojevskij novel, with the same name, if one might strike such a claim. In that novel, the discussion focuses on who is in the right of committing a crime; which brings us to the moralistic conundrum of the series.   The justification of criminal activity can be traced back to that 19th century novel of  how to justify a crime with its means.  In broader terms, the crimes are committed by humans, not an abstract being called "criminals". Human behaviour is eternal and needs no specific race.

Lasse is like Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment  guiltridded with his part in Hannas death and has up until now wandered around in some sort of moral vaccum, As an inactive part he has been passive just as Raskolnikov in that same novel. Never present. Passive.  But unlike Dostojevskis novel we never have followed him, even though we might have. He seems like somone who has entered a void, guilt ridden with his actions as he was never someone who was suitable for the job at GSI. He has becoem in some ways become superfluous ( a term we will get back to) to what is going on.

We have not seen him since, bit we can guess his mind of thinking. Not really believing in anything anymore even though he could hardly be blamed for the murder of Hanna.The situation was brought on by the police, the ones who is supposedly in the moral right has put Lasse in some sort of Limbo as he struggles with the consequences.

This is something he blames GSI for putting him into this position. His strong sense of crime and punishment has been part of his belief as a police officer, but seeing and experiencing what GSI has done or been doing may have had a greater effect on the state of his soul. Yeah, that is right. I used that word. Lasse feels someone has done a crime and needs to be punished. His soul needs redeeming, and maybe in his mind GSI needs to be punished.

So crime is not necessarily a queston of a certain type of man destined to be evil , but of a certain kind of behaviour that every man has within himself. Even Lasse who was a sworn police offices proves to be the victim,  There seem to be a certain part of humanity that Swedish cops simply just seem not to grasp or more specifically perhaps Johan Falk? Who knows?

The team tries to deal with the loss of Patrik and now Sophie needs to step up and she does, It all led up to a shift in power so to speak. Now that Patrik is dead, she needs to keep the fire burning or to shift a focus in how to move the team forward.But before she can set change in motion there is need for some spring clean up to take place, and among that spring cleaning one particular Russian woman needs to be swept out. The Baba Yaga  that has haunted Johan Falk; And they do catch her. The Baba Yaga; the Russian witch.

This is both an ideologically interesting episode as it is action packed. The finale throws some exciting action moments at us. But the opening Lockdown sequence is just as well memorable and exciting although more emotionally involving. This episode packs quite a punch in my opinion. And a lot of Lasses baggage at us to ponder. And a lot of that baggae leads us to ponder what will happen next.

In the end, Lasse commit suicide. He becomes the first real victim of the squad. He sacrifices himself. His body disintegrate while what he has done lives on.

Next time on Johan Falk: This is The End