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I thoroughly enjoyed series one of the BBC Wallander but "Faceless Killers", the first episode of series two gives me those preachy, retrograde blues because of the tired subject matter. I do like the piano motif heard in the episode, though. Does the remainder of the series delve into politically correct subject matter? If so, I'll just stick with latter-season QUINCY, M.E.
Yes, the entire series deals with "politically correct" subject matter. Henning Mankell is a very politically engaged man and has said numerous times that he has little interest in detective genre fiction and wrote these novels simply as a way to get people talking about issues like the abuse of women, children, minorities, immigrants, gays.
At the core of all the novels and all the episodes is a strong political conscience. If you were that turned off by that episode, I'm frankly amazed you made it through the first series. But yep, if you didn't like that episode, stop watching because you'll only dislike future episodes even more.
Meanwhile, I think it's among the best shows on television. Precisely because Mankell isn't writing cliched genre pieces, he has created a character of tremendous humanity and complexity. Wallander is easy to admire at times but it's also sadly easy to understand why he alienates everyone around him, even those he loves most, with his single-minded determination. And I find Branagh's performance to be one of the crowning achievements of an already storied career - and numerous awards groups agree.
I also love the degree to which the series (of novels and TV films) is so politically engaged. If you want conventional police procedurals, look elsewhere. But if you want stories seething with anger at the injustices in society and hunting for reasons at the core, always focused on a deeply flawed but deeply introspective lead character, a "poet detective", as the show calls him, watch Wallander.
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Much as I like the BBC's version, I still prefer - by far - the Swedish versions. Both Rolf Lassgård and Krister Henriksson. I think Lassgård comes closest to the Wallander of the books, though I suppose Henriksson's is my favourite portrayal.
Branagh overdoes the 'depressive' qualities of the character (which aren't really that evident in the books...) a little bit.
Adam Nordén's music perfectly suits the images that it accompanies (you can almost feel the frozen landscapes through the sparseness of the music). They seemed to go a bit more mainstream in the second Henriksson series (car chases and gun battles) but even then I think the rather different scores by Fläskkvartetten work rather well, even though they are harder edged. The 'electric string quartet with percussion' - style is a little different, but they do provide some fairly memorable cues.
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just watched s.3 of BBc
not impressed by the show or music - which consists of an electronic whine
brm
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Filming has begun on the final series (season):
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/tvnews.php?id=123793
Cannot wait for these, though sad to know it'll be the conclusion.
I hope with Branagh's Wallander finished and all novels filmed, some enterprising label finally releases a score CD
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I missed series 4? Yikes. I must have missed it on BBC, and I'm hoping it will be shown again. I really like that series.
Series 4 was a German co-production and, somewhat oddly, had its world premiere there on the network ARD, dubbed into German, over Christmas. It's also airing in Denmark now, in English with Danish subtitles. Neither the BBC nor PBS have announced dates yet for their airings.
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(I always noticed Tom Hiddleston in the first season. Then he got the part of Loki in the Thor movies, and his movie career took off.)
Hiddleston won the lottery when he got cast in that minor role in Wallander, because presumably that's how Branagh came to know him, and then bring him over to America for THOR. Branagh also brought over his longtime costume designer, Alexandra Byrne, who ended up staying in the US and becoming the go-to Marvel costume designer on almost all their films.
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(I always noticed Tom Hiddleston in the first season. Then he got the part of Loki in the Thor movies, and his movie career took off.)
Hiddleston won the lottery when he got cast in that minor role in Wallander, because presumably that's how Branagh came to know him, and then bring him over to America for THOR. Branagh also brought over his longtime costume designer, Alexandra Byrne, who ended up staying in the US and becoming the go-to Marvel costume designer on almost all their films.
The connection between Branagh and Hiddleston was also cemented when they were in a West End production of Chekhov's IVANOV together in 2008, following the filming of WALLANDER series one earlier that year.
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(I always noticed Tom Hiddleston in the first season. Then he got the part of Loki in the Thor movies, and his movie career took off.)
Hiddleston won the lottery when he got cast in that minor role in Wallander, because presumably that's how Branagh came to know him, and then bring him over to America for THOR. Branagh also brought over his longtime costume designer, Alexandra Byrne, who ended up staying in the US and becoming the go-to Marvel costume designer on almost all their films.
The connection between Branagh and Hiddleston was also cemented when they were in a West End production of Chekhov's IVANOV together in 2008, following the filming of WALLANDER series one earlier that year.
Ah, I'd forgotten about that too! Whoever scheduled that Wallander audition for him deserves a case of champagne.
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