Customer Reviews

Wallander: Sidetracked / Firewall / One Step Behind

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Kurt Wallander novels, authored by Henning Mankell, are quite popular in Europe but rather less well known in the US. "Wallander-Series I" brings to television and DVD the dramatization of three of the novels. Wallander, portrayed by veteran and gifted Irish actor Kenneth Branagh, is a detective on the police force of the gritty seaside town of Ystad in Sweden. He is a borderline physical and psychological burnout case, who has lost his sense of detachment from his cases and takes everything far too personally. At the same time, he is a brillant sleuth with an ability to make intuitive connections between seemingly unrelated cases. Assisted by his staff and supported by a faithful daughter, he manfully plugs away at some rather unorthodox cases.

"Sidetracked" opens with a brilliantly staged scene in which Wallander fails to prevent a young woman from self-immolation in a sunlit field of flowers. He is also beset by a series of murders in the local art business, and by the health issues of his estranged father. Only Wallander can see the connections, which lead to a deadly sex ring and a surprising killer.

"Firewall" opens with the seemingly senseless murder of a taxi driver by two young women. As other bodies start to pile up, Wallander picks at a strange statement by one of the two young women, who escapes from police custody and then is herself horribly murdered. Wallander's persistance leads him to an unorthodox terrorist plot, and a betrayal by a friend.

"One Step Behind" involves Wallander in the deaths of several young persons who were connected with a midsummer's eve celebration. Additional deaths lead Wallander into a wider case in which the police seem constantly one step behind the killer or killers.

This series was filmed in Sweden, which makes for some beautiful location shooting. The sets are contrasted with some grim social rot in Swedish society, as exemplified by the gritty portrayal of Ystad society. Wallander's crew, all British actors, provide low-key support to Branagh's haggard and unshaven lead detective. His personal suffering over each case and over a personal life seemingly in shambles, imparts a gray tone to the stories that may be unsettling to some viewers. However, the stories are intricately plotted and thrillingly concluded; Branagh carries the day in a fascinating portrayal. This series is very highly recommended to fans of PBS Masterpiece Mystery looking for something different in a police procedural.

I have seen this DVD about 30 times! After reading all the Henning Mankell Wallander mysteries, I ordered it from Amazon UK and switched my computer to Region 2. Boy was it worth it. Fantastic actors and crew. The high quality of the production is unmatched. Branagh won several awards for this series already, both for acting and producing. They are set to create three more this summer, again based on the magnificent books by Henning Mankell. There are two DVDs in the box. One has show 1 and 2 on it. The other DVD has Show 3 and then a ton of wonderfully produced specials. These include a fantastic and long chat between Kenneth Branagh and Henning Mankell. Mankell is delighted with the series and you will be too!!

After The Inspecor Lynley series, this has already become my favorite installment of PBS's Masterpiece Mystery. Having heard about but not read the internationally successful mystery series from Henning Mankell, I come at this clean, so to speak, with no preconceptions of how Wallander is supposed to be, or how the mysteries unfold. While its origins may be Swedish, it very much has a British feel to the series featuring Kenneth Branagh, and a mood all its own. In short, it is quite fantastic.

Like many of the better installments on PBS's Masterpiece Mystery, there is an intelligence here, and a deliberate choice of substance over flash. It makes for mystery as much about the characters as the plot. The tone is somber, and Branagh gives a subtle performance of a detective throwing himself in his work, because he's numb from events in his private life. Wallander appears to almost sleepwalk through his life when we first get acquainted with him. He feels responsible for a young girl's horrific death in the opening moments of Sidetracked, which sets the tone for the series. The image of her setting herself on fire in a field haunts him and drives him to discover why.

Meanwhile, the director slowly shows Wallander's private life. He lives with his grown daughter, who basically takes care of him when he comes home because he's a mess. Emotionally frozen from events in his real life, picking up the phone at home is a big deal for him, because it is someone who knows him, rather than about work. He is an excellent detective, yet nearly paralyzed outside the lines which form that perimeter. Each installment is balanced by a riveting mystery and layers of Wallander's private life are slowly pealed away. In Firewall, for instance, his daughter Linda (Jeany Spark) attempts to get him to "move on" after his marriage has failed by enrolling him in an internet dating site. At the same time, the murder of a taxi driver by two young girls and ominous words about it not even mattering lead him to a plot that will create utter chaos around the globe if he can't put a stop to it. How these two stories intersect is poignant and devastating for Wallander and the viewer.

Wallander's relationships with his daughter, his artistic father who may have deeper problems than he realized and many other things round out a portrait of a man who is his work because it's all he has to hang on to. Branagh is magnificent as he is rumpled in his interior rather than his exterior, and manages to convey this. The mysteries are deeply involving and intelligent, and a cast which includes Sarah Smart, Sadie Shimmin, Tom Hiddleston, and Tom Beard are well played. But there is no doubt this is Branagh's show, as this is about Wallander. The direction and look of the show fit with the character of Wallander so that he seems to fit into this world. Or is it that this is how his world is? It may not grab those looking for flash, but those who find intelligence and character development in their mysteries preferable will eat this up. A fine installment of PBS's Masterpiece Mystery.

"Wallander", Series 1 adapts three of Henning Mankell's internationally popular detective novels into English-language films. Inspector Kurt Wallander, a scruffy middle-aged police detective in the seaside town of Ystad, Sweden, is frustrated by family pressures while he obsessively pursues the solution to his cases. Kenneth Branagh plays the unselfconscious Wallander with perhaps a little more ruggedness than earlier Swedish adaptations. But he is still a serious, introverted man who can hardly be distracted from his job. The series was filmed on location in Ystad, by coincidence at the same time a new Swedish adaptation was being filmed. The flatness and bigness of the countryside accentuate Wallander's introversion and place the action against a sweeping tableau.

"Sidetracked" begins as a young woman burns herself to death in front of Wallander. He barely has time to ponder that tragedy when former Minister of Justice, now political pundit, Gustave Wetterstedt is found murdered near his home, his skull split with an axe and scalped. Then a wealthy art dealer of dubious reputation, Arnie Carmen, suffers the same fate. A drunken journalist who had attempted to do an exposé on Wetterstedt suggests a connection between the men: a prostitution ring years ago that was covered up by a corrupt police officer. But Wallander can't move fast enough to prevent more murders. This episode is an effective introduction to Wallander and his family, but the murders are self-consciously bizarre and barely credible. The commentary on Swedish politics is interesting but touched upon only briefly. 3 stars.

"Firewall" finds a taxi driver stabbed to death by a young woman, Sonja Hokberg, who seems uninterested in the consequences, claiming "none of this matters". Just as suspicions about her motive nag Wallander, a series of odd technical glitches allow Sonja to escape custody and a body to disappear from the morgue. It begins to look like Sonja's escape is somehow connected to a computer programmer named Tynnes Falk who dropped dead after using an ATM in the town square. More bodies turn up, as Wallander and his detectives race to figure out what Falk was up to with the aid of hacker Robert Modin. The connections between events and the motives of the villains don't strain credibility as much as the first episode. "Firewall" builds suspense and alludes to the possibility of economic terrorism, an intriguing subject. 4 stars.

"One Step Behind" opens with the murders of 3 young picnickers on Midsummer's Eve. One of their mothers tries to convince the police that her daughter is really missing, not gallivanting around Europe on holiday. No one is quite convinced until fellow police detective Svedberg (Tom Beard) is found murdered in his apartment, photographs of the missing teenagers and of a mysterious woman named "Louise" concealed in a location that Wallander will find them. Svedberg's life is a mystery as much as his death. What did he know about the 3 missing people? Why was he interviewing their parents and friends in the weeks before his death? The killer's motives in this case seem entirely implausible and Svedberg's actions are not adequately explained. But its strength is the genuine puzzle that it builds around Svedberg. 4 stars.

Branagh's take on the Henning Mankell character, Kurt Wallander, is nothing short of superb. That 'take' is something of a hybrid. A British and Scandinavian cast speak British English and use British expressions and colloquialisms. At the same time, the stories are shot in Sweden and the Swedish landscape is a key element of the storytelling. Wallander himself is suitably Swedish (Mankell is married to Ingmar Bergman's daughter, it should be remembered) and he is played, many say, in an 'existentialist' manner. Wallander is like R. D. Wingfield's character, Jack Frost, in that his job is all-consuming, his personal life is generally in tatters and his persistence is legendary. Frost, however, is, by turns, a comic figure, who jokes with his colleagues and his criminal adversaries and interrupts his investigations to ingest hearty portions of Indian food. Wallander is deadly serious, his life deadly serious, his investigations deadly serious. Branagh plays him with mussed hair, razor stubble, flecks of detritus on his jackets and with moods just this side of despairing. The stories themselves, however, are not despairing. The plots are tight and more or less plausible. The acting is first-rate, with a strong supporting cast and the production values are absolutely top-notch. Shot with a light, digital camera, using exceptional set design and perfect lighting the stories have the look of big-budget feature films. Highly recommended.

This is a series that I more or less backed into to, had never heard of the series on PBS or BBC, never read the Mankell books, had absolutely no idea what this was about. Oh, my goodness, what an incredible series. Every single detail of this series is so perfect, the acting, the cinematography, the editing, the pacing, the choice of actors, the audio...this television series puts many feature films to shame.

Wallander is very hard to describe simply, or in a manner that reflects the film. On the one hand, it's a detective who done it murder mystery. On the other it's an exploration of detective Wallander, the person, where he lives, his demons, his daughter, and his ex-wife. The stories are suspenseful, intelligent, and compassionate. It's very British, but also very Swedish at the same time. But it's not either of these in some offensive way - in the high minded Masterpiece Theater or Great Performances mold. No it's a very human story told in a gracious way. Incredibly engaging.

This is some of the best film production I've seen in some time. Every detail is just exactly right. Framing is so carefully considered; the use of weak and strong side of the frame is used to perfection; out of focus areas, blurry foreground, background, or center is used to direct your attention around the screen; color and placement of color on the screen... all superbly done. The choice of lens is remarkable - most scenes were filmed with fairly long lenses with very shallow depth of field - gorgeous imagery, deathly for production (missing a focus distance by small amounts is a disaster), totally strange for a television production. The pacing is just perfect, certain moments are cut away, time moves forward sometimes very fast between cuts, other times it hardly moves - but in all cases the viewer knows exactly what happened. The set design is just beautiful. It's clear this is a police station, but it looks strange. Wallander's house is different, but oddly comfortable and exactly as you'd expect it to be. The location shots are just awe inspiringly beautiful. Sound, oh so well recorded. Dead silent when the dialog is critical; full of ambient noises when location is critical to the story.

Oh I could just go on and on about what is right about this film. If you haven't guessed by now, this is a film (oops, television) series so worth watching. Kenneth Branagh is remarkable, on the one hand run down and old, on the other incredibly appealing. The entire cast is perfectly selected and deliver outstanding performances.

The bonus features, which I don't think have been described very well. Overall, these are not stupid redundant features where the movie is retold from some silly actor's point of view. No all these embellish the film, add to the episodes. 1) Who is Wallander - John Harvey another mystery author takes the viewer through 1 hour of Wallander's Sweden. This program alone is worth the price of admission - the travellog for Sweden is fabulous. Stocholm never looked so beautiful. The whole thing is more of where does Wallander live.
2) Wallander's Look - 12 minutes mostly with Phillip Martin the director that talks about how the film had to look British but also one of the characters is Sweden. So it had to be both.
3) Branagh / Mankell interview, 30 minutes. The Wallander actor talks with the author or creator of his character Henning Mankel. This is a rare event where an author really supports a film. There was a shared love for the Wallander character.
4) Branagh's Wallander, 15 minutes.
Overall, the bonus features are worthwhile.

The series is not rated. It probably falls very much in the rating zone of Law and Order (not the spin offs, but the original series). There's some violence, you do see people shot, burned, and killed. The subject matter is somewhat adult. The big trick, these are somewhat complex stories to follow and understand. So a 13 year old might not be offended, they probably won't understand the series. Oh, and please don't think this series is anything like Law and Order - it is not at all. Wallander is infintely better.

Run, don't walk, to purchase this series. It's gorgeous. My next step, sign me up to read the books.
Before the Frost
The Pyramid: And Four Other Kurt Wallander Mysteries (KURT WALLANDER MYSTERY)
Faceless Killers
The Fifth Woman (A Kurt Wallander Mystery)
One Step Behind
The Man Who Smiled (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)
(you get the idea - type Mankell in the Amazon search page)

What a pleasure this series is to watch. An intelligent, somber, complex 'cop show' which will be appreciated by anyone who enjoys substance over flash. Wallender, (Kenneth Brannah) is a swedish police detective (with a very british accent as do all the characters) who is a burned-out, near break down, and very good at solving crimes. What sets this show apart is that the 3 episodes covered are unique and not the typical type you'd see on an 'American' cop show. I can't wait for the next installment of this series.

Through sight, sound & cinema*, the Swedes & Danes are invading - and conquering - my little stake of humanity; Wallander taking the TV high ground. These episodes illustrate how inane & retreaded American TV has become; even the highly vaunted crime/mystery genre.

Intriguing, twisted, articulate, thought-provoking - these are some of the hallmarks of this series, thus far. I particularly love the "breaths" between dialogue; moments for the characters, and viewers, to meditate & associate the scene into their own respective existence.

If you love classic drama, mystery, crime, etc., you will cherish this series.

* For further enlightenment, check out songwriter Tim Christensen, and the movie, "Let the right one in."

It was as though the heart of true drama on television had dissappeared... Then, Kurt Wallander came stumbling in, looking like he had just washed the tear soaked pores of his face with the very excrement of the worst of humanity and its crimes; all to dirty it again in search of some vindication that the world (Sweden in this case) was not the hateful, hurtful, crime-ridden, demented death-scape that it has become. With an excellent supporting cast, the ever agile Kenneth Branagh ruminating on the all too apparent recent oblivion of the questionable "humane" nature toward others, and totally becoming the embodiment of obloquy through his struggles with a rocky personal/family life, bizarre murders he is faced with unravelling, and trying to find a glimmer of hope, not just for the world, but for himself -- who could resist?

Production value is topnotch; there is some creative editing and plenty of "indie-movie" style direction of photography. Bottom line: the crime series Wallander makes CSI, CSI NY, Law and Order, L&O SVU, NSCI, NYPD Blue, the ASVAB (or whatever other abbreviated crime show you can come up with) look like Sister Margaret's third-grade class's stage rendition of "All I Want for Christmas".

Totally worth the cost to buy and here goes a finger cross for an Emmy for Kenneth Branagh!

That's the advice troubled Swedish detective Kurt Wallander gets from a former cop, one who has mastered the art of ignoring the uncomfortable gritty reality that surrounds them in today's Sweden. Wallander, a closet idealist, can't grasp that concept, choosing instead to fight for some kind of justice.

This television series reminded me (in case I needed reminding) just why Branagh became a nearly-overnight stage, cinema and television star in his early 20s, even before he was nominated for an Oscar for starring in, directing and co-producing what has now become for me the definitive edition of Henry V. (Henry V) Two decades later, Branagh takes on an iconic role of a very different kind. Hordes of mystery addicts have discovered Henning Mankell's police detective hero, Kurt Wallander, in recent years, and now Branagh has brought him to life for Mankell's legion of English-language readers.

Branagh doesn't play the role; he inhabits it. (I completely forgot that he was an actor; he WAS Wallander, in the kind of performance that theater- and movie-goers always hope to find, but so rarely do.) His Wallander is battered and bruised by life, struggling from day to day but never really ends up jaded or cynical; he clings his idea of justice, refusing a ham-handed suggestion that he close his eyes to evil-doing, and reacting with outrage to the things that human beings can do to each other. He may be a voice crying in the wilderness, but that isn't going to stop Branagh/Wallander from trying to act. You can see each blow as he receives it (Branagh is actually the only male actor I've seen cry convincingly on screen), whether from the discoveries he makes about his cases and the new Sweden they reveal (a child of 5 who tries to put out his own eyes with scissors??) or those about himself and his relationship with his wife (who never appears in person; they're separated), daughter Linda or his aging father.

The plots appear downright bizarre at first -- a trio of young people dressed in 18th century clothing, slaughtered as they celebrate Midsummer's Day; a young woman who suddenly attacks a taxi-driver with a knife and confesses, saying "it doesn't matter; and a teenage girl who sets fire to herself in a field of rapeseed after Wallander, summoned by a concerned farmer, tries to reassure her by identifying himself as a cop. But the bizarre surface quickly reveals a more familiar kind of criminal behavior and plot lying just beneath the surface.

There's a lot of suspense, but for me the main reason to watch these was the stunningly good acting and the almost hypnotic cinematography. This is head and shoulders above other recent police procedural imports from the BBC, IMO; so good that even after watching the DVDs as rentals, I'm buying them to add to my collection. (They are now available to US viewers; you don't need a multi-region DVD player any longer. The only series of comparable quality is the one made up of the P.D. James mysteries featuring Roy Marsden as Adam Dalgliesh, although those never had the lofty cinematography and production values that this series does. I only hope that the producers take a leaf from the Dalgliesh/PD James series and proceed to film many new episodes.

There's a great bonus feature; a long documentary-style 'behind the scenes' glimpse into Mankell's actual world and Wallander's fictional one that manages to avoid being fawning and gives the viewer (and any Mankell fans out there) some real and significant background to help them understand the evolution of Sweden from an insular and homogeneous society into one of Europe's most multicultural, with all the social ills that has brought with it.

If you enjoy this and have read Mankell's books, the next logical place to go are the equally gritty (albeit less procedural) books by Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Vintage) and The Girl Who Played with Fire.