NARRATIVES / AESTHETICS / CRITICISM ADAPTING LANDSCAPE AND PLACE IN TRANSCULTURAL REMAKES: THE CASE OF BRON|BROEN, THE BRIDGE AND THE TUNNEL ISADORA GARCÍA AVIS Name and title Isadora García Avis, PhD Candidate when a scripted format is remade in a foreign country, the nar- Academic centre U n i v e r s i d a d d e N a v a r r a ( P a m p l o n a , S p a i n ) rative dimension of place is one of the elements that need to E-mail address [email protected] be relocalised to a new sociocultural environment. This paper aims to examine how the significance of place is adapted in KEYWORDS the specific case of transcultural televisual remakes. In order Serial television; format adaptation; transcultural remakes; to do so, the study will present a comparative analysis of the setting; Nordic noir. Swedish-Danish co-production Bron|Broen (2011-) and its two remakes: the American The Bridge (2013-2014) and the Anglo- ABSTRACT French The Tunnel (2013-). More specifically, the representa- Although place tends to be overlooked as a narrative compo- tions of place in these three series will be studied in relation nent in audiovisual fiction, it is undeniable that landscapes, to other narrative components, such as genre conventions and settings and locations play a defining role in television series. aesthetics, characters, and dramatic conflict. Ultimately, this Not only are these forms of place central to reinforcing the paper will prove that, when you take a story built for a specific genre, themes and plots of the story; they also serve to reflect setting and relocate it elsewhere, that new context informs the characters’ emotions and cultural identities. Therefore, the architecture of the story itself. 127 SERIES VOLUME I, Nº 2, WINTER 2015: 127-138 DOI 10.6092/issn.2421-454X/5898 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TV SERIAL NARRATIVES ISSN 2421-454X NARRATIVES / AESTHETICS / CRITICISM > ISADORA GARCÍA AVIS ADAPTING LANDSCAPE AND PLACE IN TRANSCULTURAL REMAKES Over the last decade, Scandinavian crime fiction in literature, Taking this into consideration, the aim of this article is to film, and television has been the object of increased interest explore the narrative role that setting plays in the specific all over the world. Although the genre itself is not new, the case of transcultural remakes of Nordic noir formats. In order labels “Nordic noir” or “Scandi noir” 1 have been coined in re- to do so, I have focused on the Swedish-Danish co-production cent years to describe dark and complex crime narratives set Bron|Broen (2011-), one of the most successful and paradig- in Scandinavian countries. Within this current framework of matic cases of Scandinavian crime fiction in recent years, and popularity across different media, Nordic noir television series its two transcultural remakes: the American The Bridge (2013- such as Forbrydelsen (2007-2012), Wallander (2005-2013) or 2014) and the Anglo-French The Tunnel (2013-). Mainly draw- Bron|Broen (2011-), which position place as an essential ele- ing from screenwriting theory and format adaptation studies, ment in their narratives, have not only become quite success- I have conducted a comparative textual analysis of the first ful when broadcasted abroad; but their formats are also being season from each of these three series, specifically looking at optioned and adapted in different countries.2 how setting interacts with genre, aesthetics, characters and And yet, even when they play a significant role in these series, dramatic conflict. Nordic landscapes and settings are often seen as mere dormant The premise of Bron|Broen sets the story in motion with backgrounds. As Waade has observed, ‘setting is an important, the discovery of a dead body in the middle of the Øresund yet often undervalued component of crime fiction and fiction in Bridge, which connects the countries of Sweden and Denmark. general, and location in TV drama has typically been considered In the case of The Bridge, the premise is relocated to the subordinate to the narrative’ (2011a:48). This is due to the fact Bridge of the Americas between Texas and Mexico, while that, traditionally, the element of place tends to take a backseat The Tunnel replaces the bridge with the Eurotunnel that links in mainstream writing for film and television, where characters, England and France underwater. plot structure, and dialogues drive the screenwriting process. Among the different locations portrayed inBron |Broen, the In spite of this, a setting is not just a mere backdrop for a actual Øresund Bridge emerges as a symbolic setting with scene or a dialogue, and it can also serve a ‘myriad of narrative considerable narrative relevance within the story. In fact, purposes beyond the generic, decorative or touristic’ (2014:42).3 Agger believes that this moving of the bridge to ‘the very cen- To illustrate this, Murphy argues that, at least in the case of tre of the narrative [may justify the series’] steady invitation American independent cinema, place tends to be intrinsically to remakes in the context of other nations: a bridge is not present in screenwriting practices (2014:28). This is something only a geographical fact, but a metaphor loaded with signifi- that could certainly be extrapolated to television, especially in cance and emotions reminiscent of cultural clashes as well as the case of transcultural remakes4 of scripted series, as land- cooperation’ (2016:148). Therefore, in this study of Bron|Broen scapes and locations need to be interwoven in the narrative and its two remakes, particular attention will be given to the from the very beginning of the adaptation process. role of the bridge (or the tunnel) as a narrative figure, which is characterised by the duality of a simultaneous connection and separation between two countries. 1 The label “Nordic noir” can also be understood as a brand, or within the realm of place branding culture (see Waade, 2011b). However, this article will mainly refer to Ultimately, this paper will argue that setting, landscape “Nordic noir” as a narrative genre, and will further explore its defining traits within and other forms of place inform the narrative of TV series, this framework. constituting an essential factor in screenwriting for television. 2 Although this article will not focus on the reasons that might be behind the Due to its significance, place must be especially taken into ac- recent international success of Nordic noir television, some authors have offered count in the case of transcultural remakes, as the adaptation insightful ideas on this topic, especially in regards to fiction series produced by DR (Denmark’s public service broadcaster). See: Bondebjerg and Redvall (2011), Redvall of a scripted series in a different country presents a set of (2013) or Jensen and Waade (2013a, 2013b). specific challenges in relation to the global/local dichotomy 3 In fact, Murphy goes on to explain that ‘place can be intrinsic, integrative, stylistic, that characterizes television formats. structural, conceptual and thematic’, thus establishing six different (and coexisting) functions that place might have in any given story (2014:42). 4 The term “remake” is used to refer to a very specific form of adaptation, sustained 01 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK by Leitch’s definition of film remakes as ‘adaptations of a given story to a new discur- sive incarnation within the same mode of representation’ (1990:138). Therefore, the specificity of remakes resides in the adaptation of a story (or fable)taking place with- Even though the main goal of this paper is not to wade in the same mode and medium (which, in this particular case, is long-form television). deeper into ongoing theoretical discussions surrounding place 128 SERIES VOLUME I, Nº 2, WINTER 2015: 127-138 DOI 10.6092/issn.2421-454X/5898 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TV SERIAL NARRATIVES ISSN 2421-454X NARRATIVES / AESTHETICS / CRITICISM > ISADORA GARCÍA AVIS ADAPTING LANDSCAPE AND PLACE IN TRANSCULTURAL REMAKES TELEVISION SERIES BROADCASTED BY PRODUCED BY MAIN SETTINGS LANGUAGES Bron|Broen DR1 (Denmark) DR and Nimbus Film (Denmark) Copenhagen (Denmark) Danish and Swedish (2011-) SVT1 (Sweden) SVT and Filmlance Intl (Sweden) Malmö (Sweden) (Co-funded by Norwegian NRK Øresund Bridge or German ZDF, among others) The Bridge FX (USA) FX Productions (USA) El Paso (Texas, USA) English and Spanish (2013-2014) Shine America (USA) Ciudad Juarez (Mexico) Bridge of the Americas The Tunnel Sky (UK) Sky Atlantic and Kudos (UK) Folkestone (England) English and French (2013-) Canal+ (France) Canal+ and Shine France (France) Calais (France) Eurotunnel r TABLE 1. PRODUCTION DETAILS OF BRON | BROEN, THE BRIDGE AND THE TUNNEL and television formats, it does seem necessary to briefly clari- Lefebvre, setting does not only refer to the actual locations fy the use of certain concepts, so as to explain their pertinence or ‘spatial features’ where a story takes place, but also to the (and how they will be used) in the analysis of Bron|Broen, The way in which they are represented and interpreted (2006:21- Bridge and The Tunnel. 22). And yet, Lefebvre also remarks that ‘in mainstream cin- ema, natural or exterior spaces tend to function as setting 1.1 Considerations on space, place, landscape, rather than landscape in the vast majority of cases’ (2006:24). setting and location How can a distinction be established between these two concepts, then? After a thorough analysis of the depiction The terminology widely adopted to describe space as it is of landscape in art history, Lefebvre concludes that filmic portrayed in film and television presents particular nuances landscape is manifested in an ‘interpretive gaze’ (2006:51), that go beyond the geographical, and therefore need to be and that ‘it is the cultural context that makes it possible to precised.