The Keeper of Lost Causes

Based on the bestselling novel of the same name by prolific Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen, Mikkel Nørgaard’s film adaptation Kvinden i buret or The Keeper of the Lost Causes became Denmark’s top box office release of 2013; this August it reaches British cinema screens.

For many, after the likes of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Killing, the emerging Scandinavian thriller genre is already a favourite and they are likely to be easily pleased by Nørgaard’s work. But what makes this film stand out from those that came before it is the emotional exploration that the gritty journey of Chief Detective Carl Mørck’s (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) investigation into Merete Lynggaard’s (Sonja Richter) death confronts. As the title may suggest, not only is this a film that explores what others have chosen to ignore or abandon, but by doing so it engages head on with trauma of varying types and degrees, and aims to secure some resolution and rationale. Any audience looking for a taste of experience and understanding will find The Keeper of Lost Causes leaves an impression long after the credits roll.

The atmosphere is uncomfortable: everything from the aged, hostile settings that colour the stills, to the radical and stubborn quality of Mørck’s personality. But such an air acts successfully as more of a hook than a deterrent for anyone lacking the rough and ready sentiment in their everyday lives. The interwoven points of view from which the course of events are presented to the audience are simple and easy to follow, tempting the viewer in with a steady supply of anticipation and adrenaline to fuel watching through to the climatic close. Structurally satisfying, The Keeper of the Lost Causes cannot fail to deliver a sense of resolution, and that, combined with an eventual appreciation of the film’s central pair Carl and Assad (Fares Fares), is what guarantees that audiences will leave the cinema already anxiously awaiting the next instalment of Adler-Olsen’s Department Q series Fasandræberne, which is already in production.

Amy Kopitko

The Keeper of Lost Causes is released nationwide on 29^th August 2014.

Watch the trailer for The Keeper of Lost Causes here: