Halvbroren

Halvbroren

NRK1 Ended Drama

1 Season · 8 Episodes · Premiered January 6, 2013 · Ended February 17, 2013

Revolving around the life of un-produced screenwriter Barnum Nilsen, The Half Brother is a dramatic family saga that offers an historical parable of 20th century Europe. On V Day, May 1945, as a continent emerges from war, Barnum's mother Vera is raped in her attic in Oslo by an unknown man, leading to the birth of Barnum's half brother, Fred. When Barnum is born five years later, to the man that Vera has since met and married, the Nilsen family, like Europe, is already splitting in two. Growing up together during the Cold War – Barnum with his father, Fred searching for his – the half brothers become estranged and Fred eventually disappears. At the film festival in Berlin in 1990, as the Wall is still coming down, Barnum learns that Fred has returned. Finally, as the true identity of Fred's father comes to light, the two half brothers may once again be reunited.

Where to Watch: NRK1

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Seasons & Episodes

Season 1

8 episodes
E01
Frigjøringsdager
Sun, Jan 6 2013 7:55 PM GMT+0000 45 min
Liberation day, 1945. The three women residing in Kirkeveien, Vera, Boletta and the Elder, prepare for a celebration of the peace. However, when Vera heads to the attic to fetch dresses suitable for the occasion, she is assaulted and raped. Nine months later Fred is born in a taxi. 43 years have passed when Vera's other son, Barnum and his girlfriend Vivian, is back in the attic in search of furniture for their new apartment. Here, they stumble upon Vera's old camera, still intact. On the film they find a picture of Barnum's half-brother Fred, who disappeared 22 years ago. Mysteriously, at some stage it seems he returned here. Why?
E02
Der Norge setter Punktum
Sun, Jan 6 2013 7:55 PM GMT+0000 45 min
Arnold, peddler and professional clown, move in with the women. After a few years Arnold and Vera have Barnum, their son. Due to the controversial nature of the boy's name, the priest in Oslo refuses to baptize him. Thus, the newly formed family head back to the more liberal Røst, whom Arnold left as a young boy, to get Barnum baptized. Adult Barnum continues the search for his long lost half-brother Fred, and his endeavors propels him to a journalist who wrote about Fred when he was a young, promising boxer many years ago.
E03
Livin Doll
Sun, Jan 13 2013 7:55 PM GMT+0000 45 min
Fred is searching for his biological father. A short while after the Elder reveals what she knows, his grandmother dies and Fred is struck mute. An old acquaintance of the Elder prompts the family towards a vacation to Denmark, and Fred's voice returns once again. Adult Barnum continues the search for Fred. In order to draw attention to his disappearance, he has a fake article printed in a major newspaper, regarding two murders Fred supposedly is guilty of, to Vivian's great disapproval.
E04
T for Tango
Sun, Jan 20 2013 7:55 PM GMT+0000 45 min
When Vera realizes that young Barnum doesn't have any friends, she sends her son off to dancing school. Barnum, upon following Fred's advice on acting the complete opposite of normal, is consequently kicked out of school. His abnormal behavior is noticed by Peder and Vivian, who like Barnum, is there against their will. Fred continues his search for the man who entered the gates of the apartment complex on liberation day, his father, whilst adult Barnum stumbles upon new clues concerning Fred's last whereabouts before he disappeared.
E05
Diskos og Død
Sun, Jan 27 2013 7:55 PM GMT+0000 45 min
The friendship between Vivian, Peder and young Barnum is flourishing, and Barnum has never been happier. As it were, Barnum has quite the pitching arm, and when Arnold rents Bislet stadium to teach the lads how to throw the discus, Fred's accuracy is more precise than Arnold ever could have imagined. The discus hits Arnold in the head, killing him instantly. Adult Barnum and Vivian receive a pleasant surprise, but simultaneously their relationship is ridden with dishonesty.
E06
Straff
Sun, Feb 3 2013 7:55 PM GMT+0000 45 min
On Arnold's burial, the arrival of the circus director Mundus causes quite a stir amongst the family. He reveals bits of their late father's past, and the bereaved are in for a surprise or two. Under the memorial they also learn that the disappearance of a valued family treasure, a letter from the Elder's former boyfriend written in Greenland before he disappeared in the glacier, was Arnold's doing. Fred wants it back. Adult Barnum realizes that if he is to find Fred, he must find the letter.
E07
Debutanter
Sun, Feb 10 2013 8:10 PM GMT+0000 45 min
Young Barnum receives a typewriter from Fred for his birthday, and a writer is born. Barnum's feelings for Vivian grow ever fonder, but when he realizes that Fred likes her as well and confronts him, the half-brother disappears. Several years later they find Fred's jacket in Nyhavn, Copenhagen, and the family arrange a funeral for the missing brother and son.
E08
Skarven
Sun, Feb 17 2013 8:10 PM GMT+0000 45 min
Barnum decides to leave Vivian, and heads back to Røst to get on the wagon. Incidentally, Røst is precisely where he at last finds the answers to the half-brother riddle. When Peder invites him over to Berlin to sell screenplays, Barnum joins him. However, Boletta quickly sends for his immediate return. Fred's back.
Agnes Kittelsen
Agnes Kittelsen as Vivian
Frank Kjosås
Frank Kjosås as Fred
Mariann Hole
Mariann Hole as Vera
Marianne Nielsen
Marianne Nielsen as Boletta
Oskar Sandven Lundevold
Oskar Sandven Lundevold as Unge Barnum
Vibeke Bugge as Unge Vivian
Henrik Holm
Henrik Holm as Unge Peder
Ola G. Furuseth
Ola G. Furuseth as Peder
Jon Øigarden
Jon Øigarden as Arnold
Ghita Nørby
Ghita Nørby as Den gamle

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