Anno 1790 (2011) User Reviews (9)

Surprisingly Satisfactory

[ppiiaa22 · 8/10 · 4 December 2011]

As a Swede, growing up with Swedish TV, I am not easily impressed with anything Swedish. It always seemed too theatrical, with lines delivered as if from a stage, with voices and gestures that didn't fit the TV format.

There is still a tiny bit of that present here, but this series proves that we are on the right way, big time! The main character is played by Peter Eggers, who has great presence, reminding me of actors like Ralph Fiennes and Michael Fassbender, because of his looks and fine acting. The rest of the basic cast is very accomplished as well.

The show itself is a detective story set in 1790, with one case solved each episode, but there is also an underlying political drama, and a love story, that stretches over all the episodes. It made me think of the Murdoch Mysteries.

Meny prominent Swedish actors are guesting; I have to mention Thorsten Flinck and Jessica Zandén. Both gave vibrant and scene-stealing performances.

The visual production is top notch; exterior, interior, costume, hair - yep, it looks pretty damn good:) I was seduced, I hope you will be too!

Fantastic Swedish TV...Again!

[cindyu99 · 9/10 · 29 February 2012]

I am in love with this program. I'll tell you that I am learning lots of Swedish watching Annon 1790. Where do I start? The actors are obviously having a lot of fun making this show. The historical value to this dumb American is priceless. Stockholm in the 1790's is not at all what I had expected! Midwives that practice abortions! Murder of orphaned children for the sake of profit! Repressive Catholics! Soon to be adulterous affair!! This is my guilty pleasure. The Swedes are a beautiful people, for sure. The star of the show is HOT...the object of his affection, the very married Madelane...oh, and she is married to the protagonists boss, by the way!! Oh what a tangled web everyone is falling into. Oh and don't forget the Libertarians beginning to rise against the King..oh yeah,,,a hot frothy stew is starting to boil over...! Yes, I am addicted to Swedish crime drama and none is better that Annon 1790. I've been singing it's praises to my family and friends on Facebook for months now. They think I have a problem...Ja ja... But I'm learning Swedish, mom!!

Okay, but not among the best Swedish crime stories

[BeneCumb · 7/10 · 4 July 2014]

Although the events happening in the end of 18th century are distinctive and unconventional - with good overview of life in Eastern Sweden then - most of the scripts (10 episodes, in a logical sequence, but still 10 different crimes) are rather tedious, and due to the natural lack of novel techniques and devices, attentiveness and "wild guesses" are the main successes in solving crimes. In some cases, you can guess the offender easily, and the inclusion of outsiders / supporting characters does not provide any additional value. Thus, all the episodes could have been shorter, max 45 minutes instead of almost an 1 hour.

As for acting, I found it good that different actors as usual were employed, but - apart from Linda Zilliacus as Magdalena Wahlstedt - there were no strong performances, no character actors as e.g. Peter Stormare, Mikael Persbrandt, or Rolf Lassgaard. But still, for a change, Anno 1790 can be regarded as a different approach, and there are lots of Becks and Wallanders anyway already :)

Qualtiy Entertainment

[ncfnorcalrep · 10/10 · 6 December 2012]

Compared to what passes for a quality TV series on broadcast TV in the states, Anno 1790 is one of my few viewing enjoyments. As a person who is homebound and financially challenged(can't afford cable,satellite,etc.),Anno 1790 and the other international mystery series from MHz save my otherwise very isolated life. I just wish they would continue the Anno series and add a season 2!

Since I am required to have 10 lines of text I will comment on the show:

1. The show is realistic to the era in it's costume and design. It's good to see a TV series with an historic setting actually create authentic portrayals. The characters in Anno 1790 all have disheveled, greasy hair, which I find relieving. I hate watching period pieces set in the 18th and 19th centuries with the character's hair in a clean, nice coif when you know that even for the upper classes bathing and soap was a luxury.

2. I Like the political underpinnings of the show. In the states no one talks about a "class" driven, hierarchical society(except maybe the Occupy Movment) ---yet there is one. I feel the show does a good job of portraying the brutality of classism, sexism, etc.

3. The acting is generally good. I agree with the previous review that Peter Eggers is OK and the rest of the cast is strong, esp. in the development of strong women characters.

Beautifully made

[ieiaezng · 10/10 · 18 September 2017]

Captures the struggle of fairness in justice, women equality, and the unavoidable power of romantic love.

The sense of balance of the main characters made the story interesting, different from other TV series of the same kind.

The leading actor is captivating, not allowing you to loose detail.

Derivative detective series in an interesting setting

[adnarish · 7/10 · 3 February 2013]

Anno 1790 is a fairly derivative detective series, but the fact that it takes place in the capital of late 18th century Sweden makes it worth a watch. There are numerous interesting references to the conflicts and social movements and conditions of the day that set the series apart from similar productions in contemporary times; from politics, class society, science and medicine to religious groups.

Looming in the background is the revolution in France, which some perceive as the start of a new era of freedom and equality while others see it as a harbinger of dangerous anarchism. Nevertheless, the daily concerns of the characters dominate the series and while some of the cases Johan Gustav Dåådh (Peter Eggers) has to investigate are interesting, most follow fairly predictable story-lines.

Though they feature prominently in the final episode, I was disappointed that we didn't see more of Märta Raxelius (Sara Turpin) and her band of revolutionaries. Not everything had to revolve around this political conflict, of course, but I'm sure it would have been a more interesting sub-plot than the inevitable impossible romance that the protagonist ends up in.

awe-inspiring

[brescd01 · 10/10 · 18 December 2019]

This is a quiet and unheralded series that ostensibly is a police procedural albeit placed in the Enlightenment. But production values, acting, script and direction are all first-rate, truly stunning.

Mediocre

[naletof · 5/10 · 26 December 2011]

I was quite thrilled when I saw that SVT was producing a new historical series. I had "Gustav den III:s äktenskap" (The Marriage of Gustav III) fresh in mind, also an SVT-production, which was brilliant. This time, however, I was left disappointed. There is nothing wrong with costumes, sets, lights, or special make-up - (this the makers guarantee by repeatedly showing us close-ups of bloody wounds). But the acting performances are very mixed and the script is quite poor.

We meet Johan Gustav Dåådh, physician and freethinker. Fresh from war he returns home to Stockholm to soon find himself caught up in a crime mystery he successfully solves. He then becomes appointed commissar and solves a new case in each episode. It seems like the makers became so caught up in the year 1790 that they failed to think of a good storyline or come up with interesting and intelligent criminal cases. Because if it wouldn't have the splendour and exotic feel of times passed, the series - as a crime series - wouldn't live long today. The crimes are not very engaging and the persons who turn out to be the perpetrators are not very surprising, not to say obvious. So after one or to episodes the pattern is set. The clever Dåådh always finds the answers (haven't we seen this character before?) and his attempt to fight for human rights at the same time, his 'unusual' method of questioning suspects without torturing them, is a bit like knocking at an open door for today's audiences. All these things put together fails in the end to wake any kind of excitement in the viewer.

As I said before, the acting performances are mixed in quality. You have both really good actors playing along with poorer ones. Peter Eggers, who plays Johan Gustav Dåådh, is acceptable, but I would say it takes more than that to pull off a leading role. Johan H:son Kjellgren (police chief Wahlstedt), Linda Zilliacus (his wife) Richard Turpin (police assistant Nordin) on the other hand give all quite good performances. There are also prominent Swedish actors guest starring and this, of course, raises the level.

One thing that probably sets this series apart from other Swedish ones is perhaps that there is a bit more blood and violence than usual. But I don't know if that is a good thing.

Distortion of history

[anders-n-aa-larsson · 3/10 · 16 December 2020]

There is given much detail to 18th century life in this tv series by the Swedish government television Sveriges Television except from one essential thing: there were no police force in the 1700s!

In the famous painting The Coffee Raid (Kaffebeslaget) by Martin Rudolf Heland (1765-1814) for example, during the prohibition on coffee, the "Law's henchmen" (Lagens hantlangare) who surprises a coffee-drinking party of ladies, who hurry to try to hide their coffee-drinking, are no police officers.

It wasn't until the 1860's during the industrial revolution when the poor people from the countryside moved into the cities and the upper class wanted to be protected from the criminal gangs, drunkenness and prostitution, it was founded a police force modeled after London. And where did they recruit the new police officers? Of course, from the criminal gangs.