Rita is a Danish comedy-drama by SF Film production. The third and fourth seasons are co-produced with Netflix. The first season was released in February 2012.
WARNING! Do not go from Kdrama to Rita. It’s a completely different style of show. This is rated mature, so for adult audiences only.
Genre: comedy, drama
Episodes: 8
Summary
Rita Madsen (Mille Dinesen) is an outspoken, headstrong teacher and single mother who is confronted with her past in many ways.
Review
I watched Rita years ago on Netflix and had to watch it again in order to write about it. Honestly, it is so difficult to write about it since I know how everything goes in the other seasons. I gave a warning before because there are a lot of scenes you will not find in an Asian drama. My interest of the series came because it was about a teacher. I was and still am curious about how Danish schools are different than American schools.
Rita is a show where you discover that even as a 40 year adult you may still not have your stuff together. She may outspoken, headstrong, and rebellious, but I noticed that often time she gets into situations where she needs to mature. But that’s just an opinion and honestly I realized that just her way of handling things. Her character growth is very minimal, but there’s a whole 4 seasons that we can watch her growth. I like how gradual her changes are because in real life people usually change like that.
Characters
Since this is a serial, there are a lot of characters in the story:
- Rita (Mille Dineson)- Our female lead, the rebellious teacher.
- Hjørdis (Lise Baastrup)- A novice teacher who wants to be apart of Rita’s bard.
- Jeppe (Nikolaj Groth)- Rita’s youngest son who is a perfectionist (good grades and very neat) and possibly the opposite of Rita.
- Helle (Ellen Hillingø)- The school counselor who may or may not be Rita’s enemy.
- Rasmus (Carsten Bjørnlund)- The principal of the school who is always bending to Rita because he’s in love with her.
- Ricco (Morten Vang Simonsen)- Rita’s oldest son who is starting off his own life
- Molly (Sara Hjort Ditlevsen)- Rita’s daughter who struggles with adjusting to adulthood.
I’m fascinated by how Rita isn’t afraid to be herself. I have difficulty being like that. If I were to be any of these characters, I’d say I’m mixture Jeppe (good grades and neat–I’m mess right now though), Ricco (down to earth), and Hjørdis (friendly and little geeky).
Story
The story is very engaging. It eases us into the introduction of characters. And the ending leaves us wanting more. So much happens in this season that it’s difficult to imagine what more could happen. There’s death, marriage, divorce, drugs, pregnancy, and an expulsion. Wow, when I write it like that it seems like a crazy season. But honestly, the series never felt overwhelming for me.
Music
The intro song is the only music that I remember (besides the wedding music). It is by a Danish musician called Oh Land. The song is called, “Speak Out Now.”
Afterthoughts/ Recommendations
I’ve really enjoyed watching Rita; so much has happened in just this season. I’m excited to write about the other seasons. I currently have no recommendations. Honestly this is the only Danish/Eurpoean show that I have watched. There aren’t any Asian drama nor American drama that I’ve watch tat compares to it. So if you know of any, let me know.
Quotes
“Rita the Ruthless–off to war.”-Hjørdis “No bard.”-Rita
“You can’t let others dictate what you do.”-Rita
“I always look forward to seeing you, but I always come out of it sad,”-Rasmus
Drama-to-life
I like to take things that I see from series and write more articles about it. The following are things that were mentioned in the drama. The learning of Danish was just an idea that I had. I’m not sure if I will be able to do it. We’ll see.
Culture
Famous Danes
School in Denmark observations
Travel
Rita’s outfit
Yatzy
Hjørdis’ Sandwich
Learning Danish
Have you watched this drama? What do you think?
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