Wallander

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.

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

The following refers to the 13 episodes of Season 2.

It sometimes seems as though the world is divided into two groups: those for whom subtitles pose no problem, and those for whom they do. If you fall in the former group, and you enjoy police-procedural dramas, then this series is for you. If you fall in the latter group, or if your comfort level plummets when you venture beyond BBC productions, then try the series with Kenneth Branagh and a supporting cast of English-speaking actors pretending to be Swedes - it's not as good, but it is in English.

I am a big fan of British police-procedural/detective series, and it was only because I was having trouble finding ones I had not seen that I turned to the Swedish-language "Wallander" series with Krister Henriksson in the lead role. I was impressed: it holds its own against the better British series.

Which actor you consider the definitive Kurt Wallander may depend on which version of the series you see first (assuming you see more than one). As much as I like Branagh and admire his work, he runs second to Henriksson in the Wallander Stakes. Indeed, the character of Wallander is not the same in the two series. The focus is much more on Wallander in the British series - a choice perhaps necessary to attract Branagh to the role - and he is portrayed as something of a loner, while in the Swedish version the members of Wallander's squad get significant screen time, and Wallander is portrayed more as an intelligent man with good instincts who is effective as a detective, a leader and a mentor. Branagh's Wallander is a man grappling with emotional issues, while Henriksson's comes across as reflective and world- weary but a man largely at peace with himself. I have not read the books on which the series is based, so I do not know which portrayal is truer to Mankell's character, but I do know I'd rather spend time with Henriksson's Wallander than with Branagh's.

The supporting cast is excellent, and, as indicated above, we are allowed to get to know their characters. The plots of the episodes held my attention, production values are high, and the locations and Swedish-speaking cast added to the verisimilitude. I especially liked how the relationship between Wallander and the prosecutor (an attractive divorcée who is also his neighbor) was handled. They are two adults of middle-age who develop feelings of mutual respect and affection (though they occasionally butt heads on the job), but their attraction is tempered by the baggage each carries from previous relationships. Their mating dance is cautious and restrained - very Scandinavian, one could say - and strikes just the right notes.

First of all, greetings from Finland, Kurt Wallander! I usually do not watch a lot film series, but this is just so much different. Better. Much better than ANY other detective series out there. Right now one of our TV-channels are presenting a Wallander movie on Saturdays every week! I'm always eagerly waiting another one and it's easily a highlight of my whole week/weekend at the moment!

Krtister Henriksson is the main reason. Absolutely fantastic actor. He really may be the most memorable and impressive character which I've ever seen. He's calm and clever. I have always good feeling when I watch him playing the role of Kurt Wallander. It's.. Almost like a magic.

Of course the script and screenplay is also very important factor in detective stories. Of course there's couple things here and there which are just slightly impractical or clichés but that actually hasn't never bothered me.

Conclusion; After every movie, I'm happy. And when Wallander usually just walks away at the end of the movie and music starts playing, I feel great, I smile and get shivers. What could be better feeling after watching a movie?

I'm absolutely loving these movies. Krister Henriksson, thank you for being Kurt Wallander for all these years. Golden times that we will never forget.

Both the first series of Swedish TV's Wallander and the second collection of British TV's interpretation have recently been aired on British TV, and whilst they share a number of elements and qualities (locations, excellent filmatography, thoughtful and impressive 'takes' on the central figure of Kurt Wallander), it's the differences that seem to separate a good television drama from an outstanding one.

Obviously the two productions differ in a number of basic ways and it's worth highlighting these as a given. For the most part Swedish Wallander uses Mankel's stories as inspiration, creating unique plots per episode, whilst British Wallander uses the source material and thus far has for the most part faithfully adapted 6 of Mankel's books (interestly the choice has been to adapt out of sequence, although the original stories were also published out of sequence, in Britian at least). An exception is the depiction of Kurt's father and his struggle with dementia, which logically has to progress through the overall TV series.

A second key difference is the interpretation of Kurt Wallander's relationship with his daughter. Swedish TV puts Linda into the police force from the outset, and uses this device to explore their legendary troubled relationship with the added frisson of professional, hierarchical tensions. Also into the mix is the relationship between Linda and her colleague Stefan Lindman. British Wallander maintains the original Linda/Kurt story arc, with Linda not yet having enrolled for police duty.

A third difference is the inclusion/exclusion of the Ann-Britt Höglund character. It seems the Swedish version quickly came to view this character as unnecessary within the looser story structure, as she is dispensed with well before Series One concludes. For British TV Höglund remains integral, just as she is in the books.

However, setting aside these givens, there are a number of factors which set the two interpretations apart in terms of quality, success and viewer experience. British Wallander is quite pacey, moving the story along briskly from scene to scene. Whilst this mostly works, it does occasionally occur at the expense of scene and/or character development - the camera (and therefore the viewer) is forced to follow Kurt, leaving other characters as cyphers. This is most notable during scenes with colleagues at police HQ. Swedish Wallander adopts a slower style, allowing characters and stories to develop and unfold with greater subtlety. This approach leads to a second and quite fundamental difference, and it is this element that underlines the superiority of the Swedish Wallander. The combination of writing, direction and editing for a slower pace allows the Swedish actors to effectively 'do less' and achieve more. Accordingly, Henricksson, Bergman, Sällström, Rapace et al are repeatedly given the time and direction to use economy and skill to enable the viewer to understand what they are thinking, feeling etc. The final episode of Series One was a particular example of this, with all concerned but particularly Sällström and Henricksson underplaying beautifully to create scenes of desperate sadness, bewilderment and loss whilst actually 'doing' very little. In comparison, a combination of misjudged casting and actors being let down by script and scene construction in the British version means for the most part the viewer receives less reward. Branagh, Warner and most notably McCabe as Nyberg are the exceptions, the former not least because Wallander remains the prime focus through the British drama, and is therefore given more time, scene-by-scene, and Warner because he is quite simply an experienced and clever film actor. Yet it is McCabe who shines, underplaying beautifully, especially during scenes in Episode 4 - The Faceless Killers.

Views on casting are always contentious. Suffice to say, the Swedish series has somehow managed to secure a host of clever actors who know a thing or two about camera work, and particularly scenes in close-up. From the moments of occasional humour gratefully received from Mörck's Ebba and Gunnarsson's Svartman (an incidental and unsung masterpiece of a performance) to the brilliance of Henricksson and Sällström, it's the Swedish production which holds the treats and subtleties and warrants repeat viewings.

Let's hope the BBC transmits Series 2 as soon as possible, and let's also hope the absence of Rapace and Sällström doesn't diminish what has been an excellent television production.