I like the slow unravelling of the Scandi films - The Killing II links threads to the first series and there is the interesting political back story to both, with realistic intertwining of characters, motives (not always criminal), and a lack of hysterics and over-slick presenting. If all cop shows were the same in pacing and production values, it'd be bloody boring, so it's good that there is, generally, something for everyone, from the well-made and pretty Agatha Christies and Midsomer Murders, to The Wire and the CSI's.
The Godfather movies? They're okay, but they're easy enough to parody as the acting was well OTT in several instances. I think the reality of gangster life is more vulgar and banal - and the problem with them, for me, was the lack of depth to the characters outside of their surface lives. Surely, occasionally one of them suffered from constipation or a lousy day on the golf course? The Sopranos introduced more reality into their lives with the trivial and the domestic happenings of everyday life alongside the deals, the bumpings-off and the low level of life outside the kingdom of the home. And what was nice was to see the home play a strong backing role as well, as it does in the Scandi films. You see the type of houses or apartments they live in all playing a part on a more unconscious level than you do in only action-driven movies, where the main characters live bereft of all chores, like taking the car to the garage, arguing with the plumber, forgetting to buy baby wipes...
The Godfather movies? They're okay, but they're easy enough to parody as the acting was well OTT in several instances. I think the reality of gangster life is more vulgar and banal - and the problem with them, for me, was the lack of depth to the characters outside of their surface lives. Surely, occasionally one of them suffered from constipation or a lousy day on the golf course? The Sopranos introduced more reality into their lives with the trivial and the domestic happenings of everyday life alongside the deals, the bumpings-off and the low level of life outside the kingdom of the home. And what was nice was to see the home play a strong backing role as well, as it does in the Scandi films. You see the type of houses or apartments they live in all playing a part on a more unconscious level than you do in only action-driven movies, where the main characters live bereft of all chores, like taking the car to the garage, arguing with the plumber, forgetting to buy baby wipes...