Broen (The Bridge)

If you're interested in a bit of Danish popular culture, I noticed that right now all you Americans can watch "The Bridge" on Hulu here (with English subtitles).  (I'm going to do it.  Because...subtitles! What extravagance!)

I've heard a lot about "The Bridge," or Broen, as it's called here.  It's the cousin of Denmark's first real international TV hit, you may have heard of it, called "The Killing" (or Forbrydelsen, or "The Crime"), which follows the investigative skilz of Detective Sarah Lund as she solves a murder and wears the same sweater over the course of 20 days.  Last in the triumvirate of Danish TV hits is, of course, Borgen, which follows the ups and downs of Denmark's first, female, fictional prime minister (something that actually became reality the year after Borgen was released).  A little trivia: Borgen was just called "Borgen" in its English release, but, if you want to know, it literally means "The Castle,"and is the nickname of the parliament building in Copenhagen so, there you go.  So, we have Forbrydelsen then Borgen then Broen.**

Aaaaanyway, I just wanted to point out to the Americans that they can have a chance to see some Copenhagen sights and hear some Danish and Swedish if you're interested.  Or, you know, if you just like crime and/or political dramas.  Or, you know, if you have a thing for really noir settings where people never seem to actually do anything during the daytime.  Or, you know, if you're just curious about this big ol' surge in the popularity of Danish actors, films, and television in America.

P.S. I refer you to this in explanation of the main actresses' lack of overly styled hair.  It's a particular cultural trait that I happened to integrate very easily in my (lack-of) morning preparations.

**A Danish language lesson for you:  If you are ever identifying a definite ("the cat" rather than "a cat"), then you kick the article to the end of the word.  So, "a cat" is en kat but "the cat" is katen.   Definite articles are either en or et and so (I'm pretty sure) that if you ever see a word ending in "en" or "et" then it is "the something"  (e.g. huset is "the house" and hunden is "the dog").  AND that is why Broen, Borgen, and Forbydelsen all mean "The Bridge," "The Castle," and "The Crime," respectively.