Ruth Rendell Mysteries (TV Series) Simisola: Part One (1996) User Reviews

Simisola

[johnwdonaldson · 8/10 · 30 October 2005]

Reg Wexford is looking a lot older. This made for TV movie is another of Ruth Rendell's excellent Inspector Wexford mysteries. This plot emphasizes some of the racial as opposed to racist problems that exist in the UK. The story hinges on the disappearance of the daughter of a Nigerian doctor and his wife. When the body of a black female is discovered Wexford assumes immediately that it is the missing girl because she is black. It is not and the doctors wife, a nurse, tells Wexford that you think we all look alike and you cannot see beyond the color of our skin. Despite this Wexford soldiers on and works very diligently to solve the murder.It also shows how depressing it is to be a job seeker in the UK and the bureaucracy involved.

It is a well plotted murder story and in a previous Wexford, Reg says that" There is no such thing as a coincidence in a murder case" The same is true here . If you liked Reg Wexford mysteries in the past you will enjoy this one.

A Decent Adaptation

[pninson · 6/10 · 20 March 2008]

"Simisola" is my personal favorite of the long-running Inspector Wexford series by British author Ruth Rendell. Most popular fiction that deals with racism contents itself with popular stereotypes and heads for a feel-good ending. This is one of the few stories that takes an honest look at the prejudices we all have to some extent, and how this affects our actions.

Chief Inspector Wexford tries very hard to objective about skin color, but when a black girl disappears and is presumed dead, Wexford is appalled to discover that he too has his prejudices.

While the social issues make this mystery particularly fascinating, because it is so convincingly real, the mystery itself is a juicy, meaty one, with plenty of fascinating characters and a rich, complex plot. Ruth Rendell does not write whodunits in the tradition of Agatha Christie, whose stories are really more logic puzzles than an examination of human nature. Here, Rendell paints a vivid picture of an England that is changing as rapidly as the rest of the world, and how people are struggling to adapt to this.

The movie is worthwhile and an adequate adaptation, but nothing can match the beauty of Rendell's prose and her keen perception of human nature. By all means, rent this one, but the book is the real treat.

The US DVD release runs 103 minutes; however, the British version was shown in three parts, each 50+ minutes (including brief recap sequences at the start of episodes two and three). If you have a Region 2 player, the longer version would be the one to get. One of the reviews below complains about plot holes; these are likely due to 50 minutes of footage being removed. Having seen both versions, some of the cut material is incidental, but most of it fleshes out the plot.

The US DVD release of the previous installment in the series, ROAD RAGE, included the complete 150 minute movie. It's a shame SIMISOLA was butchered.

Racism Rears It's Ugly Head in Kingsmarkham!!

[kidboots · 8/10 · 30 May 2013]

There is a theme that goes through most of the Wexford books involving his daughters - Sylvia and Sheila. Sheila is the youngest, an actress and the apple of Reg's eye, Sylvia is very prickly and it is only in the last books when her marriage breaks up and she starts to work in a battered women's shelter that Reg makes peace with her. But in almost the first ten minutes of "Simisola", when Reg comes home from the doctors can you really understand why she has never been a favourite. Her husband Neil is unemployed and is trying to fill out a dole form, after all bills and the mortgage have to be paid. Sylvia is carrying on like a prize chump - what will the neighbours think, we have our position to up hold. Charon Bourke plays her really over the top.

This book has an underlying theme - unemployment and racism, which Wexford finds revealed in every way. There is a new doctor in town, Nigerian Dr. Akande and Reg has just come from an appointment where the life or death symptoms he has diagnosed for himself turn out to be a mystery virus that is sweeping through Kingsmarkham. Now Akande needs Reg's help - his daughter Melanie has been missing for a few days and Wexford on meeting Mrs. Akande finds a very angry woman with a chip on her shoulder. Wexford traces Melanie's last movements to the local job centre and finds some of the staff very unhelpful but that changes when one of their workers, a Mrs. Bystock who had Melanie as her last appointment, is found dead in her flat.

When a young black woman is found dead Reg begins to question his own attitude when he instantly assumes the body is Melanie. To make matters worse he takes a strong dislike to Mrs. Akande - but someone else has as well. Melanie has turned up, she found a job as a babysitter but is too scared to go home to face her mother's wrath. She tells Wexford her mother would be livid with her finding such a demeaning job but she wanted to find something on her own and not have to rely on her father's handouts.

The Simisola of the title is the dead black woman who leads Wexford and Burden into the unknown (for Kingsmarkham) underbelly of illegal immigrants. Even Anouk Khoori (Jane Lapotaire who I saw just recently in "The Edwardians" (1972) not looking very much different) the local candidate who is running an aggressive campaign to try to win votes from prominent citizens (including Reg and Dora) completely loses it when she is forced to confront Reg when he questions the authenticity of her immigrant staff - and it is not pretty!!

For the reviewer who felt that Mrs. Bystock's death was forgotten about - it wasn't, it was all tied up with the death of Simisola. Simisola had escaped a brutal household but was too scared to go to the local job centre as she was an illegal immigrant so she followed Mrs. Bystock home - because she was the only staff member who walked home so she used the front entrance. And the key to the whole mystery was the persistent but anonymous caller slowly exasperating Reg and Dora through the whole show.

Pretty good but to get the full impact read the book.

Enormous plot hole?

[rowmorg · 7/10 · 30 November 2006]

Perhaps we missed something in this involving murder mystery spiced with the progressive views of Ms Rendell.

Why did the first victim die? And why was the lollipop lady thrown down the stairs.

The buried girl, yes, easy to follow, but the death of the Job Centre lady we found harder to explain.

It's easy to see why Americans would find the Job Centre bureaucratic and pretty depressing.

What they miss is that the Job Centre itself hires the unemployed, who then take their turn supervising the queues of the unemployable.

The return of Reg

[xmasdaybaby1966 · 9/10 · 13 March 2021]

It's been 3 years since we last saw Wexford and Burden but this three parter makes it look like they haven't gone away. Good script and humour with Robin Kermode replacing Sean Pertwee as Vine. Possibly ahead of its time talking of diversity and equality (possibly too much so) especially being set in a small market town at that time. A good watch with 2 and a half hours passing quickly. Much missed characters.

Hard Topic!

[davyd-02237 · 7/10 · 24 September 2021]

Insp. Wexfords new doctor is a dark skinned man and something of a racist. He wants his children to have a superior education to those low lifes that hang around the Job Centre! Then his daughter goes missing and there are no clues as to where she might have gone. A guy with a metal detector finds a black girl buried, but she is covered in bruises and died a horrid death. Her name being the title! This is about how superior rich white folk are over poor black ones and without trying to spoil it its a hard programme to watch given its fairly easy to know who the guilty actually are. Sadly, 20 some years later our society hasnt improved-if the current crop of folk in power is anything to go by!

An interesting beginning.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 30 April 2021]

Reg is asked for help by his GP, Doctor Akande, who asks Reg to track down his missing daughter. The major hurdle facing Reg, is that the last person to have seen her alive, is found dead.

It has been a gap of almost four years since Wexford last solved a case, a shame, but there had been some very good mysteries in the mean time.

Simisola feels very fresh, time has moved on, the cast look a little older, but the vibe, and quality are still there.

It's an intriguing mystery, and one which is actually available on DVD, unlike most of the series.

It was interesting to see the wonderfully righteous Mike Burden shown up by Doctor Akande, each having a set of beliefs and prejudices. A few broader themes being examined here.

Gary Rees was the standout for me as Akande, a very charismatic actor, with a glorious speaking voice.

Not sure about the new opening credits, I preferred the older ones.

Good start, 8/10.

Confusing

[evans-15475 · 4/10 · 12 September 2021]

Very convoluted, first 45mins had nothing to do with the plot,I am pretty sure an adult daughter cannot be forced to return home and really 2 white families both having slaves from Kuwait in a small town.