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Buy it on Amazon.
I wasn’t planning to publish Butler until September 8, the day after Labor Day. These weeks off have been a blessing for me: I’m beavering away on my novel, possibly closing in on The End. I’m posting now for two reasons. 1) If you follow the news — and who can turn away? — the days ahead invite despair. As the cartoon has it, “This weekend’s conversation is: Where do we go if he wins?” 2) Netflix is now offering “Borgen,” all 3 seasons. You can watch it with subtitles or you can choose to watch it dubbed. Either way, it’s 36 hours. Unlike a lot of what you may have been watching, it’s worth every minute. To get it on Netflix, click here.
“Borgen” is shorthand for “the castle,” the home of the Danish Parliament and the government’s executive offices. It’s where Birgitte Nyborg — in the series, Denmark’s first female prime minister — spends every waking hour, trying to keep the support of her modest majority and move the country forward. It’s not an easy task, and it’s not her only task. She’s married, with two children, and her husband and her kids also need attention.
“Borgen” is some of the smartest TV ever made.
America missed the “Borgen” phenomenon. It riveted 40% of the citizens of Denmark — okay, the population of Denmark is only 5.8 million — and was a major hit in Europe. In the United States, Stephen King beat the drums for it, calling “Borgen” the best show of 2012. Netflix has recently commissioned two seasons.
“Borgen” asks compelling questions. One, can you acquire power and still be yourself — and is there a psychic law that says you lose some connection to yourself every time you gain more power? Two, is it possible to have a career and a meaningful family life and marriage at the same time?
That second question is a popular one in America. It used to be asked regularly in bestselling books by female American executives. Their answers — “lean in” or “get more sleep” — seemed superficial and inadequate to me at the time. Now they’re obscene. In the pandemic, couples ask: How can we survive? The good news about “Borgen” is that it’s not powered by bullshit.
Here’s Birgitte Nyborg speaking about issues. Remember: This series was made in 2012. Her views were on target then — and are more “relevant” now. Would you vote for her? I would.
The price? In her case, trouble at home. Her friend and advise has surprising advice:
There’s no Danish actress better suited for the role of prime minister than Sidse Babett Knudsen. (You may remember her as the rich man’s wife in After the Wedding.) In the beginning, Knudsen was surprised that “Borgen” became a phenomenon: “Our language is one of the most ugly and limited around. You can’t seduce anyone in Danish — it sounds like you are throwing up.” Later, she understood: “There are great dialogue pieces with wonderful characters. And it was about the nature of political compromise, and that rang a bell.”
Season 1 costs $25 if you buy it new on Amazon, less if you buy it used. But that’s 10 episodes, 600 minutes of riveting drama; compared to the $15 I wasted on name-any-overhyped movie, that’s a bargain. [To buy the DVD of Season 1 of “Borgen” on Amazon, click here. Or… Netflix.]
For 36 hours, know hope.
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