MovieChat Forums > Lilyhammer (2014) Discussion > Frank is a bad guy - corrupting Norway

Frank is a bad guy - corrupting Norway


I find it hard to like Frank (Little Steven's character) because he is corrupting the officials of the town and turning his friends into criminals. People wouldn't think a story about immigrants spreading organized crime in Norway was funny, if the immigrant was from Eastern Europe, or a non-European country.
I hope he gets caught and deported. People don't appreciate how corruption and organized crime can destroy a country, and destroy the social trust and cohesion that make Scandinavia such a pleasant place.

I was also surprised how much people speak to him in Norwegian. In reality, people will switch to English immediately if someone doesn't understand Norwegian well. I couldn't understand most of the Norwegian, even though I understand Danish pretty well, and only the English is subtitled (in Norwegian) on NRK.



We can IMAGINE what is not.

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Christ how sad and boring you are

Its a black comedy, take it for what it is !

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He's a leading New York MOBSTER, not your grandma. That's the entire point. We can't expect him to change his ways overnight, but most likely as the show progresses we will see him turn soft and less violent.

Again, if you didn't catch it when seeing the show, and missed it the first time I wrote it: HE'S A MOBSTER.

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He's a leading New York MOBSTER, not your grandma. That's the entire point. We can't expect him to change his ways overnight, but most likely as the show progresses we will see him turn soft and less violent.

Again, if you didn't catch it when seeing the show, and missed it the first time I wrote it: HE'S A MOBSTER.


hes a mobster because you wouldn't be watching it if it was about some guy's grandma

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If you haven't noticed, the show is wildly unrealistic, being based upon broad stereotypes. The Norwegians dress and act as if they're stuck in the early 1980s, while Frank acts like a stereotypical Hollywood movie gangster.

It's the clash of cultures that's supposed to be funny. Furthermore, he's not a typical immigrant from a third world country. He's from another industrialized country, already shares much of our cultural understanding, and is more of a gentleman gangster than the typical crude, violent criminals we get from non-western countries. We also don't have that many Americans in Norway, and due to the fact that they're over-saturating the media, it's always interesting for a Norwegian to see how an American adapts to our society, particularly one who acts like he's still in The Sopranos.

That being said, I don't think it's going to be that popular in other countries, as the Norwegian aspect of the show probably isn't that interesting to someone who doesn't know the culture.

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Me too. In fact that is exactly what interests me and why I will give it a go. I wouldn't bother with just another show about NY gangsters.

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I like the show! It is The Sopranos meet Norway, great concept. The only problem I see with the show is it is a Netflix show. Many people are upset with them right now over their prices and such. Despite this I hope this show catches on!

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I liked too.
The show is clearly about cultural shock, not about Frankie's morality!
First, is a comedy, second, is exactly the lack of respect for the law and the common good that is the root of all funny things, because, and there is the third here, Norway is a model society.
The serie is amazing. Is very easy to show the nice view of Norway and norwegians. Easy and boring. Show that like any regular country Norway is ful of dumbness, bureaucracy and exotic characters is very interesting.
I really don't think that this serie will stimulate organize crime in any level in Scandinavia...
Or do any harm to the good image of scandinavians states.
Otherwise, by humanizing the Norwegians and show how they are nice to immigrants, non sexists, and somehow naive, the serie portrayed a VERY sympathic image of the country.
And do not fear about a immigrant invasion... Only few people can live with few hours of sun during every winter...
In truth, do not fear the serie at all. It's only role play, and is not global telecasting.
It's just a netflix show!!!

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While I agree to some extent about audiences, I don't know Norwegian culture at all, but I thought that most situations were written and/or acted (especially by Frank's sidekick) well enough to give you a good idea as to why the situations were at odds with the norm in Norway.

Not the greatest show I've ever seen, but I thought it was fairly well-done and I'm looking forward to Season 2 whenever they manage to get it done.

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I realize this is an old post I'm replying to, but I have to strongly disagree, it's the Norwegian part that makes it fresh and interesting, otherwise it would be just one of the other hundreds of american tv shows, often so alike.
I am European if it makes a difference, but I'm not sure it would.

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I find it hard to like Frank (Little Steven's character) because he is corrupting the officials of the town and turning his friends into criminals. People wouldn't think a story about immigrants spreading organized crime in Norway was funny, if the immigrant was from Eastern Europe, or a non-European country.
I hope he gets caught and deported. People don't appreciate how corruption and organized crime can destroy a country, and destroy the social trust and cohesion that make Scandinavia such a pleasant place.


Lol, well, to be honest I think that you are taking too seriously this show which is meant to be sarcastic and with an acid sense of humor. My advice; don't take it so hard.

However, your post raises a question that makes me curious: How would the american audience respond if the show took place in US and the guy 'corrupting the US' was mexican?

Perhaps most people would take it as seriously as you are (I imagine you are norweigan) and would feel somewhat offended.

I was also surprised how much people speak to him in Norwegian. In reality, people will switch to English immediately if someone doesn't understand Norwegian well. I couldn't understand most of the Norwegian, even though I understand Danish pretty well, and only the English is subtitled (in Norwegian) on NRK.


You are very right, I had the chance to visit Norway a couple of years ago to visit a certain lady I was dating from those scandinavian lands (beautiful country and beautiful people by the way) and yes, they are very very friendly with foreigners and everyone spoke english to me when they knew that I didn't speak norweigan.

Christianity's GREATEST ally and BEST friend throughout history is Satan

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However, your post raises a question that makes me curious: How would the american audience respond if the show took place in US and the guy 'corrupting the US' was mexican?

Perhaps most people would take it as seriously as you are (I imagine you are norweigan) and would feel somewhat offended.

i dont think so. scarface has a kind of cult following, although cuban and not mexican. i think the response would be mixed to indifferent.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAPn0REA8_g

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I think it is a different reaction, Scarface is meant to be taken seriously and ultimately Tony Montana got exactly what he deserved, whereas Lillehammer is a comedy with a dark sense of humor in which the protagonist is charismatic and gets away with whatever he does, which apparently is what is bothering the OP.

Christianity's GREATEST ally and BEST friend throughout history is Satan

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The irony is that it is a show made between NRK1 (Norwegian Network) and Netflix, filmed in Norway and with almost all Norwegian actors. I think the person who wrote this is an idiot.

Lastly, in America, we have had more movies and even TV shows than we can count where the situation was reversed, so I could care less if they are offended. Man up!

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However, your post raises a question that makes me curious: How would the american audience respond if the show took place in US and the guy 'corrupting the US' was mexican?


If intended for American audiences I don't think it would work with any Hispanic protagonist because, IMHO, Americans, especially in a rural town setting, are generally too prejudiced, even if only subconsciously, to fall in with a Hispanic mobster. I don't mean to be rude and I'm not saying that all Americans are racist, but I just don't believe that the character would get the respect necessary to organize crime with the general population. The joke would have to be that the mobster came to small town Iowa (or similar) where the population is largely homogenized Caucasian. Actually, I've just described The Music Man.

I might work if you had a slick European protagonist. The set up for Lilyhammer only works because there are the assumptions of America being cool and a New York mobster being sophisticated.

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There are a LOT of american movies with the stereotypical european mobster. Italians, Russians, Albanians, etc.

And a lot of movies about south american cartels and their influence in US ...

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What do you think of Muslims moving into Norway and the rest of Europe? Guess that's okay by you!

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First off... I love the series, the chars, and the story...

Frank is not a violent man. He just utilizes one of the only ways he knows how to get results to his advantage. And one can hardly say he's ONLY doing it for evil. Stopping punks on a train, getting an arab to act decently. I am betting that most norwegean fellas that have seen stuff like that happening wanna do something like that...

He's not corrupting the nation... the nation is already corrupted. Ojnly one of the police officers are as far as I have seen worth thinking off... the other hardly conunts. The guy from the Unemployment Office? He most definitly deserves to get squized. Sad to say that this fine country we have has been falling to the wolves for a long time, and getting worse every day. And his friends were already criminaly aligned when he got there. Stealing booze of truck, smoking in the cab, wolf-hunting.

Saying that they dress as they did in the 50 is slightly accurate...but some people still dress that way... Personally I have observed atleast 3 types of sweathers I still have laying around at home...

On the learning another language point I have seen in here somewhere... (might be another post, but what the hell) Norwegean is probobly one of the simplest languages to learn if your willing to try. compared to alot of others. And to understand it is simple. Personally I understand more languages than I would talk, so I'm guessing a wiseguy from the states might do the same...

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Great series! It needs to be taken for what it is. Laugh-out-loud funny at times, which is always a treat.

Speaking of laugh-out-loud, I found it quite interesting to find, within a post here, "smoking in a cab" apparently equated to stealing booze and shooting a wolf. Sheesh! I realize smoking cigarettes is not politically correct, but to equate it with stealing? Maybe wolf shooting, but surely NOT stealing!

Funniest scenes: The citizens' "Night Patrol" gathering and going out to talk to the town juvenile delinquents. Hilarious!

Other great scenes were the sheep on the road and the wolf-killing scene.

About the actual physical presentation of the series on netflix. Anyone else have a problem with the subtitles being onscreen in white? I found that (non) color to be difficult at times.

I also felt the subtitles were not left on the screen long enough. I read a lot and am a fast reader, so did not have a real problem. But I think a slower reader could possibly have a problem.

Spoiler alert: I was really sorry when the Norwegian cop who came to New York got killed off. I really liked his character and had hoped to see them do more with him. Since Frank is "dead but not dead", perhaps this guy could also be "dead but not dead"? (Hey, its a TV show. People come back from the dead all the time.)

All in all, it's a great new series with good plotlines and great acting all around. IMHO

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jeez, lighten up!!!

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