The Fortress

Everyday politics and the role of women and of the media in it. It is commendable that the creators chose neither the easy path via mafia-style, corruption-rife politics nor the naive path of chintzy politics full of good souls with the good of the people/planet at heart. In this movie, politics is a result of behind-the-scenes negotiation/plotting by various differing groups, where some are involved in politics for the limelight, others for the power, others as a public service and others are just incompetent good for nothings. And they all try to make sure that they keep their places on their perch after the next elections. A regular episode (the opening, election episode is an exception) involves a dozen characters in interiors endlessly trying to find a compromise to enable them to push through “their own project" via tons of dialogs that are frequently about what goes unsaid rather than what they say. For Czechs I would say it is interesting that in this series they have to deal with similar internal political problems as exist in the Czech parliamentary canteen. When you also take into account that Lindholm pretty faithfully reflects not only the current situation in politics, but is sometimes even ahead of time (several times, immediately after a problem/event occurred in the series, it happened in reality), I have no choice but to recommend the end result to everybody who likes a realistic glimpse behind the scenes of something that, ,despite affecting our everyday life, we on the outside don’t often get the chance to see. P.S.: One of our female parliamentarians, Miroslava Němcová, must be an avid fan of this series, judging by how she has recently been trying so hard (and failing) to create an image of herself as a Czech copy of Nyborg. (2013-06-05)

The most inventive manoeuvre of this renowned Danish public television series consists in the fact that it draws attention to an impartial look behind the scenes of politics and the media, though it doesn’t actually show what politics is, but rather what it should be. It is up to the viewers to work out the contrast of the political storyline and the approach of the series’ female protagonist toward real politicians. At the same time, however, the screenplays never slide into naiveté, but rather allow Birgitte Nyborg to follow a fundamental arc from idealist to an uncompromising politician hardened by government wrangling and frequently forced to undertake compromises that are incompatible with her original beliefs. Whereas its genre cousin House of Cards is built on the preconceptions of the malevolence and corruption of politics, thus justifying viewers’ distancing of themselves from politics, The Fortress is by contrast essentially political at its core and motivates viewers to take a closer look at the political situation and to be more active as voters. At the same time, through individual political problems addressed in individual episodes, which are didactically presented from both sides of the argument, it shows viewers the contrast of moral, well-considered approaches and blind attitudes. In the third season, the storyline follows the same principle in focusing on the world of the media, particularly according to the legal statutes, and meaningfully shows the plague of contemporary government by managers who assess everything on an absurd scale of performance. In so doing, the series basically builds on a compelling drama, thus drawing in even those who had previously been completely indifferent to politics and the media. (2016-06-10)

A Danish political drama, which I enjoyed a lot, but it made me wonder if Danish politics was too soft, or if the writers played it too safe.  Anyway, I completely immersed myself in this ten-hour marathon as I binge-watched the first season, and I wasn’t bored for a moment. (2016-10-27)