Wallander (TV Series) Bröderna (2005) User Reviews

Decent but typically Swedish cop flick

[vicvolta · 5/10 · 25 September 2005]

Since I work in a video store I get to watch a lot of film, both good and bad. I'm also pretty keen on Swedish cop-flicks but are often compelled by the absence of realism in this genre. The Swedish film industry is very interesting since there's many profound traditions, many of which I don't like at all. For instance, one of the traditions is that a majority of the speaking parts often (or pretty much in all cases) speak the so called 'rikssvenska', the typical Swedish dialect, spoken in and around our capital of Stockholm. This verbal tradition derives from the acting stages such as Kungliga Dramaten, the Royal Dramatic Theatre. Thus, the problem with the majority of Swedish films is that they are created and directed from this Dramaten tradition. Which, I mean, does work excellent on stage, but not on film.

The series Wallander is a great example of this conflict. The character Wallander is a cop in the south-est of Sweden, where most people speak a southern Swedish dialect. Almost none of the cast in this series does speak this dialect. They speak, of course, 'rikssvenska'. This makes much of the realism disappear. Unfortunately, I must say.

The cop, Kurt Wallander, is a construct of Swedish crime novel writer Henning Mankell and he's written about a dozen novels which I think are very good indeed. The capture crime and suspense in a good way in a little southern Swedish town and its surroundings.

This episode, "Bröderna" (Brothers) is a part of a newly written, free-standing series only based on the characters and the setting from the novels by Henning Mankell. Thirteen episodes are planned and this is the second. In short, this is about a couple of noble citizens victimized with no apparent connection. All this, when the army carries out a drill in the vicinity.

It's a pretty ordinary plot, which I am sure to have seen it's likes many times before. Carried out in a decent way. Characters and setting was also pretty standard.

Men in black

[jotix100 · 6/10 · 19 April 2010]

The Swedish army arrives in the Ystad area where they are to engage in exercises. Three men, dressed in black are seen outside what appears to be a stately home. Naturally, our mind thinks they are going to rob the house, but no, they have come for the family dog, which they tie and take away. The following day, the owners are found dead, victims of a sadistic crime.

Kurt Wallander and his team arrive to investigate. Evidently, some of the soldiers are believed to be breaking into some of the empty homes in the area as well. To further complicate the situation, another man, also a prominent figure in the community is found murdered in his house. The crime bears the same characteristics as the first one.

When a second couple are found dead, Wallander begins thinking all three incidents are tied together. Not only are the victims found killed in the same fashion, but they are all rich. A clue comes in the way of a sort of coat of arms found in the three murder scenes. Kurt realizes he was right and begins thinking who will be the next target.

Unfortunately, Wallander arrives too late at Johan Karlsson's house. He has already killed two of the men in black that invaded his home, only to be victims themselves. Now the hunt begins for the third criminal, who happened to be someone close to the two men slain by Karlsson.

This episode titled "Brothers" is not one of the most interesting in the series. There is no real tension or suspense in this installment of this Swedish television take on the works of Henning Mankell, one of the best crime writers in his country. Directed by Jorn Faurschou, "Brothers" is somewhat predictable. Krister Henriksson plays Wallander. He is closer to what the character one had conceived when reading the novels. Kurt Wallander and his colleagues come alive, although less vividly than on the written page.

Revenge!

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 8 August 2010]

It seems like a trivial case when Kurt and Linda are called in after a dog goes missing, just police politics because the owner is related to the head of the national police. When the dog is found and they return to tell the owners Linda makes a grisly discovery; they have both been tortured and killed. As the army are in town for a major exercise it is possible that the killers may be military; this seems even more likely when it turns out that three squaddies and their lorry are missing. The death toll starts to rise, a man is found murdered and later another couple go missing. Strangely the missing woman had reported a break in by somebody who may have been military but as nothing was stolen didn't pursue the matter. As the investigation proceeds it becomes clear that the military connection was a red herring; the three soldiers had just gone AWOL to get away from the exercise and get drunk. It does however appear that the three murdered men had been on a similar exercise back in 1980 at the same time a woman had been raped and murdered; perhaps the two cases are related.

This was another fine episode of this Swedish murder mystery series. The story was interesting and not too predictable. Away from the case it was nice to see Linda and Stefan's relationship progress; they may be just friends sharing a house but it is clear they are also attracted to one another after they sleep together. The original dog case isn't the only police politics we see; after Kurt's boss falls down the stairs and is hospitalised he is put in charge of the office. He protests that he can't run the office and a murder case but is told to delegate. His boss obviously meant for him to delegate the running of the enquiry but he chose to delegate the running of the office… although when he gave Ann-Britt the job he didn't expect he'd have to take orders from her; this added a nice touch of humour to the story.

Horrible Events Come Home to Roost

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 18 November 2015]

This plot reminds me just a bit of Sherlock Holmes "The Sign of Four." Some horrible thing that happened in a military setting creates a rash of murders. Some of the victims are innocent; some are not. Wallander must sort out a rather sophisticated plot by three men. Not only are they killing people, they are subjecting them to torture and mutilation. They only heart they show is releasing a little girl after killing both her parents. Kurt and Linda are immersed in the ugliness of all this. For Kurt, he deals constantly with the idea that once one becomes a policeman, on can never go home again. Linda has his same personality. There is a subplot with LInda moving in with Stefan. What started as a rental agreement is turned into an intense affair. At least for one evening, they act on feelings they have had all along. This will be interesting. This is by far the most satisfying of the episodes.