La fille de Kiev

For those not familiar with Keystone Kops, a little background: Keystone Kops were fictional, humorously incompetent policemen featured in silent film slapstick comedies between 1912 and 1917. Not that Sutnja (Silence) is a comedy series, but given the ineptitude of the various law enforcement officials, it may as well be.

The pluses to this series were the cinematography, acting and the stories themselves. I was hoping that, the series being European neo-noir, it would have that bluish somber tint typical of some Scandi noir films. It didn't. Most of the scenes were brightly coloured and well-lit.

The letdown for me were the frequent, and seemingly unnecessary, diversions into love and family interests which added very little to the main plot. The biggest culprit, though, was the brazen incompetence of the various officers. I get it was written this way to elongate the series, but it does make Ukranian law enforcement seem like bumbling idiots, carelessly casting aside clues that turn out to be necessary, etc.

By the way, this review was for the first six episodes. I have yet to see the 2nd set of six. Perhaps they ironed out those wrinkles. Maybe.