Knit to This
Polar Park
Walter Presents is a curated collection of not-English-language television series, a mix of European police procedurals and thrillers and period costume dramas, that takes up a lot of real estate on the PBS Passport streaming service. That’s where I found two favorites: Astrid and Munch—both set in Paris. Sometimes, though, I dip in and dip right out. Glum Nordic detectives solving glum Nordic crimes in dim light while enduring alienation and dysfunction in their personal lives—not for me, except when the glum Nordic detective is played by Kenneth Branagh.
Recently, with a Major Sweater on my needles and trying to talk myself out of a third viewing of The American Revolution, I took a halfhearted roll through Walter Presents. I gave a chance to a 2022 French series called Polar Park, and guess what: it’s a winner!
Set in a frozen mountain town near Switzerland called Mouthe, Polar Park at first felt too fanciful. I like my cinéma more vérité, you know? The crime scenes left behind by a serial killer are elaborate tableaux of famous paintings, yeah right. And who just happens to be in town for this unlikely killing spree? A bestselling murder mystery writer, David Rousseau, who has made the long drive to Mouthe to see a monk about his mom, who died without mentioning to her son something that a son would want to know. So: plot and subplot are neatly set up, and off we go.
However improbable it all is, it works. It’s witty, well-plotted, and darkly comical, with a sprinkling of spine-chilling moments. Halfway through, there’s a revelation that makes you wonder how we are going to fill three more episodes, now that we know this thing. But the twists keep coming, and it holds together. There is violence, but it’s a bit like a hammy haunted house: it would be intolerable if we didn’t all tacitly agree that it’s totally made up for purposes of entertaining us, which it does.
David Rousseau is played by the dashingly downcast Jean-Paul Rouve, an actor and director who’d be a household name if our households were in France. Everyone involved in Polar Park is wonderful: actors, writers, set designers, costumers. The subtitles are great and didn’t distract me from my 3 x 3 ribbing.
Forget my bleating about Walter Presents, I hope there’s another Polar Park season coming!
Postscript. Talk about burying the lede! Polar Park has a ton of great handknits, not surprising given the snowy setting, but delightful nonetheless. The pièce de résistance is a charming patchwork blanket shown above, but there are also sweaters, hats, scarves, and mitts galore, all bona fide handknits. You may even be able to identify patterns; clearly someone on the Polar Park production team is a knitter.
We just finished season 2 of Blue Lights, the Irish police (“peelers”) series on Britbox, loved it! So thanks for this rec, looking forward to it!
If you liked this you’ll probably enjoy “L’Art Du Crime” (The Art of Crime). It’s a French language policier where a detective and art historian team up to solve crimes related to specific works of art. Streaming on mHz.
This is a MUST watch! Though I must rely on subtitles, it is a wonderful rich watch;
Sounds like a winner! Interesting and original setting, plotting acting And knitting, too! Alas, if it is not on Netflix or network TV, we won’t be watching it, we are tired of paid streaming WITH commercials. Netflix has them, too, but we do need one TV source without long, detailed drug ads. And sooner or later many excellent shows do end up there. So I am crossing my fingers about this one! (You’re right about that blanket!)
Thank you for this recommendation Kay, and for your absolutely spot on description of Scandinavian Noir….my absolutely favorite genre, both in books and TV.. Glum, you hit the nail on the head!
My French is terrible and Paris doesn’t even make my top ten cities I would like to revisit but French foreign films are the easiest for me to watch. Language is weird.
Ooh la la! Formidable! It sounds wonderful—thanks for the recommendation. I may have to cast on an appropriate project to accompany it (a patchwork cardigan with 3×3 ribbing?).
Oh my gosh, this looks fabulous! Thank you, Kay!
And the soundtrack for the trailer is perfect. Takes me back to another place in time.
I love it when I can pass along your viewing recommendations and when asked where I heard about it, answer “from my favorite knitting blog”:)
Add “Marcella” (Netflix) to the list of series to see. Three seasons, 24 episodes – all while we await the return of The Pitt and, hopefully, many more episodes of Dept. Q. Oh – and the new Peaky Blinders movie (theatre release, shortly followed on streaming). So much productive knitting time – and lots of stockinette to go with reading subtitles.
Happy New Year to all. Wishing health and peace to our world…..
I’m with you on the Nordic Noir. It always seem to start with the visual of a body underneath the ice. I look forward to trying Polar Park!