That Nyukhach – The Sniffer –is being consumed in 60 countries – including the Balkans and Israel and now France has bought it, and Japan have now rolled out their own copycat version, must signify something.
Nyukhach is a detective series created by Film U.A Television and dreamt up and penned by the Ukrainian Artyom Litvinenko. The two main stars comprise Kirril Karo, an Estonian, plus the Russian Ivan Oganesyan. This show, which has been on air in Russia since December 2013, is now available on You tube, Amazon Prime and Netflix. Western observers are already comparing Nyukhach in favourable terms to the likes of the U.K’s Sherlock and The Mentalist from the U.S.A.
Elite Squad.
The eponymous protagonist, the gaunt 43-year-old Karo, is known to the press as `the dogman` on account of his special power. His enhanced olfactory sensitivities enable him to retrace the history of objects, rooms and people which he smells (an activity imagined on the screen in terms of vaporous CGI after-images). This, coupled with the encyclopaedic knowledge of the origins of scents, has turned him into a misanthropic recluse. The power also provides him with clear advantages in criminal investigations and it just so happens that a schoolboy friend heads a police unit called the Special Bureau of Investigations, which deals with off beat cases. This friend, the Sniffer’s only one, is the all; purpose womanising tough guy. Soon the Sniffer is dragged with reluctance into adventures, such as a case where a former military general, who served in Afghanistan, who spices up his retirement by hiring casual labourers on his estate and then hunting them down in a nearby forest.
Individual episodes feature stand alone tales – and they appear to take place in Russia judging by police insignia and so on –but there is a wider story arc involving love interests, family issues and a medical conspiracy.
Popular television.
This drama cannot not stand alongside the faux realism of the Scandinavian school of noir crime thriller. Nyukhach functions on a more escapist level. There can be a fair bit of dry humour arising between the strained relationship between the hero, who is a gun-shy amateur, and his police buddy who nurtures a kick-ass impatience with the Sniffer’s delicate sensibilities.
The visual design feels septic and futuristic (the Sniffer often retires to his own den which is a hi-tech luxury flat with an ensuite laboratory to analyse scents). Whilst the show does raise some issues in an oblique way – bullying in the army, corruption and class division –this is not the daily reality that most residents of Kiev or Moscow would recognise.
The characterisation in the script and performances is notably ham fisted. The Sniffer himself is the Solitary Brainbox whereas his sidekick embodies the Bondian Action Hero. Then we are treated to the Nagging Ex-Wife, the Difficult Teenager, the Long Suffering Hard-nosed Boss and, courtesy of the Lithuanian actress Agne Gruditye, the Beautiful Female Professional who Demands Respect. It is here that the derivative nature of the programme is laid most bare.
Western Sniffiness.
Outside of Eastern Europe Nyukhach has been received with begrudging acknowledgement. See, for example, Chris Riendeau’s treatment of it in The Tusk (13/07/2017) where he concludes with the conceit that Putin scripted the show! Marvel too at the remark of a satisfied viewer – quoted in U.A Film News: `I have to stop and pinch myself that I’m watching a Ukrainian T.V show` -!
However, this unoriginal Ukrainian success story might just help to wear down the prejudice in the West against Russian language television shows and films. After seeing this some viewers may well give other such products their time.` Freud’s Method`, anyone?