Maigret (TV Series) Maigret en Finlande (1996) User Reviews

"Where were you at the moment Konrad Porola was killed?"

[garywhalen · 6/10 · 10 October 2023]

Maigret is called to Finland to help with a murder investigation because a suspect, Professor Duclos, is French and has demanded that someone representing the French police meet with him. Why is he a suspect? Konrad Porola is shot outside his home. Duclos is in the home and appears at a window looking toward the murder victim. And he's holding a gun which turns out to be the weapon used. Despite multiple red herrings it's clear to Maigret that the list of suspects is quite short, and it's more a matter of confirming who was where and when at the time of the murder. I'll say now that this story felt more like an Agatha Christie mystery in its plot, the intricacies of the murder, and with the resolution. I love this series, but I found this episode disappointing.

The book upon which this episode is based actually has Maigret going to Holland, not Finland. But this change in locale doesn't hurt the story and in fact fits better in the flow of prior episodes in this series. (Maigret had visited Finland in an earlier episode.) The town used in the film captures that in the book reasonably well, and it does matter since it's about knowing routes people took walking to and fro, location of buildings, and positioning of windows. Irina Björklund, playing the femme fatale, is the best part of the film. Her role is a crucial one and she does well.

Worth seeing? If you really like Maigret and you're working your way through all the Bruno Cremer series then yes, why not. But don't judge the series by this one film.

A pleasant, easy-to-watch crime mystery

[palaste · 10/10 · 16 July 2002]

"Maigret en Fenlande" ("Maigret Suomessa" in Finnish) is a classical crime mystery starring the French inspector Jules Maigret, but set in the Suomenlinna island fortress in Helsinki, Finland. Two professors, the Finnish Konrad Porola and the French Duclos, give a joint lecture at a special lecture, but straight afterwards, Porola is murdered and the first suspect is Duclos. Duclos wants a French policeman to investigate the case, and so Maigret arrives. By far the most of the film is spoken in French. Most characters are bilingual, but the two Frenchmen only know French and Norppa, the Finnish smuggler, only knows Finnish. There are some scenes where the Finns talk in Finnish. I found it easy to follow both languages, even given that I've only studied French for less than half a year. The film is entirely devoid of any fast "action" scenes. The whole plot only involves investigation and interrogation. And of course we get to see the beautiful Suomenlinna island fortress. In the middle, the film progresses so slowly it might start to bore people, but it speeds up in the very end, where Maigret finds the real murderer. The film ends with Maigret leaving Suomenlinna on his way back to France. I found this film very pleasant and interesting. It's a good display of co-operation between two European countries: France and Finland. This is living proof that a film doesn't have to be American to be interesting.

Nice location, otherwise hard to watch?

[Tony-Holmes · 5/10 · 22 November 2023]

Saw this on the Talking Pictures (UK) channel. Confusing to watch, as for a UK viewing, the Finns had subtitles, a surprising number of the Finns spoke French, also subtitles, and of course Maigret and the other French character had subtitles.

We've seen the original Maigret series (BBC, 60s) and the later 2 ITV series, with Gambon in the lead, and several more episodes with Rowan Atkinson.

These Cremer shows suffer by comparison with the Davies and Gambon versions, as they're just too slow and drawn-out. None of the British shows ever featured this story, and having seen it (never read the book either), I can see why.

Perhaps a saving grace was the insertion of a few little comedy moments, as every drink that Maigret ordered arrived as the local speciality vodka, and his phone call to Mme Maigret, which deflected the attentions of the seductive (and very sexy) main female character.

I'd lost interest in the actual murderer well before the end though!