Wallander: Enquêtes criminelles

I've seen both recent episodes on the BBC4 channel, and think the show is simply excellent. The gritty style of Kurt Wallander, played superbly by Krister Henriksson, along with some very skilled direction and scriptwriting, make this a gripping detective series. It's not for the faint-hearted either as some scenes are very graphic. The nasty stuff genuinely sends chills down your spine, something very difficult to achieve. While the general character of the Swedes is one of reserve and ice, the scenes of violence and gore differentiates this from the normal stereotype. The cinematography is excellent, and it is a show I would recommend to many Film Studies students.

The supporting cast is the one possible weakness in this show, and more could be done to bring them into it more. Otherwise a very good show. BBC have unearthed a winning detective series

A beautiful small town full of psychopathic mass killers, brought to justice by a grumpy middle aged detective - no, it's not 'Inspector Morse', but 'Wallender', the British programme's Swedish equivalent. And whereas in every Morse story, the lead detective fell for a woman who turned out to be involved in the murders, here (on the evidence of the two stories recently shown on British television) every murder in some way involves Wallender's daughter. The plotting may be overblown, but the tone of these adaptations is procedural, and the characters generally show the famed Scandinavian sense of reserve; this makes Wallender appear less obviously interesting than Morse, but with skilled direction, the nasty stuff appears genuinely creepy. It's the chilling sense of atmosphere that makes the program a winner, in my book, rather than the stories; so it will be interesting to see how the recent BBC adaptation of the same novels compares.

There is a great pleasure to be had in watching cinema in a language that you do not understand;an adventure and straining of your faculties in trying to derive the meaning of phrases that sometimes do resemble English, but not totally.The sub-titles help.Henriksson is the consummate actor, at once the father figure and also the failed father-man.I have always found a certain attractive sparsity in Swedish drama that contrast the more over-weighty and over-wordy cinema of British and American traditions,a leaner more trenchant quality.Sometimes quite a bit less is more, especially in convoluted and complex narrations that seemingly have no apparent solution but deliver more satisfaction and amusement in the final denouement. This is without a doubt much better that what was a very good English production.Intelligent acting,enticing cinematography,and story plots to match!

I am a huge fan of detective shows, so I was interested in seeing Wallander. This series is absolutely superb, as much as I did like the English series, this series(in Swedish) is much better, it is better plotted and has a more consistent tone. Wallander is often described as the "Swedish Morse", seeing this it is not hard to see why.

The scenery is wonderful, and the cinematography is atmospheric and skillful. The music is clever and never feels intrusive or too-much. The writing is always top notch, always moving, intelligent or goosebump-inducing, while the story lines are beautifully constructed with situations that are realistic and plausible and there are plenty of chilling and nail-biting moments. The direction is excellent constantly, while the acting is absolutely fantastic. Krister Henrickssen IS Wallander in my opinion, there are so many words to describe how good his performance is here and I would probably be here all night listing them. Johanna Sallstrom was wonderful too as Linda, and I too was shocked at her death, she was to me a very good actress, and I loved how hers and Kurt's relationship was developed, while the villains are very intriguing and chilling.

Overall, a superb and I think superior series. 10/10 Bethany Cox

It's as if Krister Henriksson has just stepped off the page of one of Henning Mankell's books and transferred to the screen with his portrayal of the Swedish detective. Everything about this tv series is just right. The best of all the scandi noir crime dramas.