Recommendations for non-English language crime dramas, s’il vous plait?

June 17, 2024 5:33 AM

I’ve been enjoying L’art du crime and Astrid quite a bit. Recommendations for other non-English language lighter crime shows? French preferred as it helps with language learning, but not a requirement.

I like lighter crime shows, nothing too dark or violent. I don’t care for Nordic noir because it’s always so grim. I do need English subtitles. Assume I have access to pretty much every streaming channel in the US including Mhz Choice, PBS Passport, Acorn etc. Interesting settings, fun mysteries, engaging characters/cast.

I have also watched Agathe Koltes, Deadly Tropics, and Murder In… which I enjoyed to varying degrees, but not as much as Astrid or Art of Crime.

I don’t need recommendations for lighter English language crime shows as I have watched or at least tried pretty much all of them.

posted by HonoriaGlossop to Media & Arts (21 answers total)

It's only tangentially crimey, but you might like El ministerio del tiempo from Spain.
posted by humbug at 5:36 AM on June 17 [2 favorites]

Lupin is a good option. It is sometimes a little dark but also light and funny.
posted by dis_integration at 6:04 AM on June 17 [14 favorites]

Spiral / Engrenages, is an interesting French crime drama. I found it interesting seeing the differences in the justice system with how judges and things operate compared to American systems for example.

where to stream spiral, looks like prime has one season and some services im unfamiliar with have more currently.
posted by TheAdamist at 6:49 AM on June 17 [1 favorite]

For non-gritty French-language detective shows on streaming with subtitles: Blood of the Vine, about a wine expert who solves crimes, is not as zany as L'art du crime but still fairly light and entertaining. If you've been holding off on watching the French-language Agatha Christie adaptations because you think they're just going to be Agatha Revisited, don't - those are very fun, often funny, especially the 1950s episodes (on MHZ Choice as Agatha Christie's Criminal Games). We also enjoyed the first several seasons of Cherif, who is a zany police detective in Marseilles. I believe these are all MHZ Choice, at least for now!
posted by posadnitsa at 6:52 AM on June 17 [1 favorite]

On the non-French front:
- Queen of Mystery (Korean) - I think at least one of the cases was a little grim but not necessarily more than Astrid level? I remember the overall tone as pretty light. The main character loves solving crime and is mostly worried about her husband finding out.
- The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty (Chinese) - only partly a crime show: it's a detective teaming up with a guard and a high-level royal eunuch, so there's politics and intrigue mixed in. Sometimes a little dark but not grim and the overall tone is cute (friendship! grudging respect!) The cases are resolved over multi-episode arcs.

Not exactly a crime show but you might enjoy Extraordinary Attorney Woo. Technically about lawyers, not investigators, but they have to investigate a bunch anyway. I actually stopped watching part way through, but if you enjoyed Astrid you'll probably like this. (Both shows are about a brilliant autistic person finding their way in a non-autistic professional environment; both shows feature similar levels of people being very dense in service of the plot.)
posted by trig at 7:30 AM on June 17 [2 favorites]

Lupin! It's so clever.
posted by DoubleLune at 7:34 AM on June 17

I wrote a Fanfare post about Au Service de la France
posted by rongorongo at 7:39 AM on June 17 [1 favorite]

Russian language "Silver Spoon" -- a crime procedural with a larger thriller/conspiracy arc but a lot of humor, too, about a new money Russian playboy whose dad cuts him off for a year and forces him to get a job as a policeman, and as a result the guy starts digging around in the mystery of his mother's death. It used to stream on Netflix, pretty sure it's still around on the Internets. Here is the first episode with subtitles.
posted by virve at 7:55 AM on June 17

Less crime-y and more post-9/11 war on terror, there's Le Bureau, or Le Bureau des Legendes, about the DGSE. You'll get your French practice, as well as Russian, Arabic, Farsi and others I'm forgetting.
posted by emelenjr at 9:58 AM on June 17

There's a lot more on MHz Choice: Capitaine Marleau, Agatha Christie's Little Murders/Criminal Games, Cherif, Perfect Murders, Pacific Criminal, Magellan, Tandem.

Pacific Criminal is a little unique because they film in the Pacific territories like Reunion Island and New Caledonia. But I'd start with Marleau.
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:17 AM on June 17

Chinese historical crime drama tends to be either about Judge Bao or Di Ren Jie
posted by kschang at 11:07 AM on June 17

Except for Lupin which has already been recommended, I only have Spanish language recommendations because that's the language I need to practice, but I enjoyed Un asunto privado (on Amazon Prime), in which a plucky 20th century heroine fights crime and the patriarchy in a time and place where women were not allowed to work as police officers, and Alta mar (on Netflix), in which two sisters from a dramatically dysfunctional family try to solve various crimes that happen on a luxury cruise ship. Both shows are lighter in tone as crime shows go, with some hijinks, romantic melodrama, and comedic elements in addition to, you know, the murders. (The ending of Alta mar is kind of weird and bad IMO-- I think perhaps due to the show being unexpectedly canceled and the writers needing to wrap up the story quickly-- but I still found the show overall worth watching.)
posted by BlueJae at 12:07 PM on June 17 [1 favorite]

If you have MHz, you should have access to some Tatort. Tatort spans a whole range of tones, but Thiel/Börner (Münster) are generally somewhat comic and light. They're one of the more popular pairings, so MHz should have a bunch (that's the only place I know to find Tatort with English subtitles).
posted by hoyland at 12:45 PM on June 17

Seconding Alta mar (High Seas in English). So fun! Everyone could be having such a nice time on these cruises if people didn't keep getting murdered.
posted by hydropsyche at 1:47 PM on June 17

La legge di Lidia Poët; loosely based on the life of the first woman lawyer in Italy.
posted by Vox Clamato at 2:08 PM on June 17

I found O sabor das margaridas to be linguistically fascinating because it is in the Galician language. It is, however, fairly dark.
posted by Vox Clamato at 2:10 PM on June 17

Response by poster: Lots of great possibilities here, thank you!

And yes, zany is a pretty good word for what appeals, especially about Art of Crime. Ridiculous, campy, bizarre behavior from presumed adults, some art history nuggets, and just absurd fun in some gorgeous locations that I can’t believe they have permission to film in.
posted by HonoriaGlossop at 5:51 AM on June 18

Well, a bit further afield - if you're open to anime at all, it's basically the motherlode for ridiculous, campy, bizarre, and just absurd fun. Maybe check out Spy x Family for a casual, deadpan intro.
posted by trig at 6:49 AM on June 18

If you watch the credits on some of the shows, like Art of Crime and Murder In..., the French government/tourism board backs the production as a way to showcase various parts of French geography and culture. It's pretty smart.

Murder In is currently filming an episode in Saint Martin and I'm pretty excited for that one to come out.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:47 AM on June 18

Fallet is hilarious.
posted by garo at 4:36 PM on June 20

P'tit Quinquin
posted by fridgebuzz at 5:33 AM on June 23