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| Monday, June 29, 2009 01:49 PM |
| On the Viewer - Wallander: Series 1 |
 by Fëanor |
A show called Wallander has been airing on Masterpiece recently. It's a series of adaptations of detective novels by Henning Mankell about a cop named Kurt Wallander who lives and works in a small Swedish seaside town called Ystad. I can't remember if poppy and I watched the first episode and that's what got her into the books, or if she was already a fan of the books and that's why we watched the first episode, but regardless she's now a fan of both. As for myself, so far I've just seen the TV adaptations, but I've really enjoyed all of them. The first series consists of just three episodes: "Sidetracked," "Firewall," and "One Step Behind." Wallander (Kenneth Branagh) is the epitome of the downtrodden detective. He runs himself ragged for his job, and all he gets in return is people spitting at him and telling him he's no good. His health and his personal life are also a disaster. He eats crap, hardly sleeps at all, his wife left him, he doesn't get along with his father, and he barely sees his daughter. Meanwhile, his job is a dark, brutal nightmare. "Sidetracked" involves a series of bizarre murders in which the victims are scalped. The murders turn out to center on revenge for secret crimes past. Also at the center of the story, both in terms of the murders and in terms of Wallander's own personal drama, is family and all the complexities of love and hate that go along with it. Wallander's father is played here by David Warner. In "Firewall," a seemingly inexplicable murder leads Wallander onto the trail of an international plot involving computer crime. Meanwhile, Wallander's personal life intrudes on the case again; this time his daughter has signed him up on an online dating site. "One Step Behind" is about a series of baffling and seemingly unconnected murders, and this time one of the victims is a colleague of Wallander's. Worst of all, Wallander makes the sad and agonizing discovery that he was the dead man's best friend and didn't even know it.
The series is beautifully filmed and wonderfully acted, especially by Branagh, who consistently turns in really subtle but powerful performances. The writing is also quite subtle and excellent, and the stories always involve both intriguing mysteries and moving drama. "Firewall" does have some plot elements that are perhaps a bit hard to believe, but overall it's still a pretty strong entry. "One Step Behind" is probably my favorite, as it has a particularly powerful, character-driven story that's told with real artistry. The complete series is available on DVD from Netflix, and I recommend you check it out. As a bonus, you can get a sneak peek at the guy who's going to play Loki in the upcoming Thor movie; his name is Tom Hiddleston and he plays one of the younger cops. |
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