Wallander 

A television show centered on a soul-searching Swedish cop.

Stars:

Kenneth Branagh, Richard McCabe, Jeany Spark

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 12 wins & 28 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Kenneth Branagh	...	Kurt Wallander 12 episodes, 2008-2015
Richard McCabe	...	Nyberg 11 episodes, 2008-2015
Jeany Spark	...	Linda Wallander 10 episodes, 2008-2015
Sarah Smart	...	Anne-Britt Hoglund 9 episodes, 2008-2012
Sadie Shimmin	...	Lisa Holgersson 6 episodes, 2008-2010
Tom Hiddleston	...	Magnus Martinsson 6 episodes, 2008-2010
Barnaby Kay	...	Lennart Mattson 5 episodes, 2012-2015
David Warner	...	Povel Wallander 5 episodes, 2008-2015

Storyline

Existential detective Kurt Wallander must battle his own demons as he works to solve a series of bizarre crimes in southern Sweden. This series is made up of four distinct films, each one a mysterious journey into murder, deception, and baffling crimes. Follow Inspector Kurt Wallander - a disillusioned everyman - as he struggles against a rising tide of violence in the seemingly sleepy backwaters in and around Ystad in beautiful southern Sweden. Brilliantly acted and visually dazzling, Wallander is based on the bestselling Swedish crime novels by Henning Mankell.

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Plot Keywords:

sweden | running on empty | alzheimer's disease | tragic hero | police station | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Irish actor Kenneth Branagh (Kurt Wallander) and the English actor Tom Hiddleston (Magnus Martinsson) costar in this series as Swedish men. Branagh also directed Tom Hiddleston in Thor, which also contains mostly non-Scandinavian actors playing Scandinavian characters (in that case, Norse gods).

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Connections

Featured in Sleuths, Sorcerers & Spies: Andrew Marr's Paperback Heroes: Detectives (2016)

User Reviews

Excellent and beautiful TV cop drama – set in Sweden

Watching two episodes of "Wallander" makes me think of Isabelle Huppert's line in Hal Hartley's great "Amateur": "everything I write comes out sad. Why do you think that is?" Kenneth Brannagh's shambling, weary detective Kurt Wallander is as far from TV's 'Columbo' as it's possible to get, despite certain physical similarities.

In a way that I seem to recognise as uniquely Nordic, Wallander goes about his daily business – solving murders – with a residual sadness on him and his world, and everything in the show – from the art-house photography and pared-down sets, to the score, to his life and to each episode's stories themselves – helps create a consistent portrait, so that by the time I settled down for episode two, Wallander's appearance was an automatic trigger to a certain state of mind.

Each classy episode takes its time, draws visual comparisons, sets Wallander up in his world, makes you know him better. I'm loving it : it's on a par with the excellent French TV thriller "Engrenages" that previously appeared on BBC4, and anything ever so slightly formulaic about the story lines in each episode is offset by the serious and committed acting, the well-drawn characterisation, the consistent visual tone. I'm so glad they avoided the Meryl Streep world of accents and wholesale removal of the drama to the UK (or USA). These are Swedish characters in a Swedish town who write in Swedish – it's just that we're hearing them in English. And this technique allows them to cast truly excellent English supporting actors without any fear of uneven accents or geographic transitions that don't work so well. (No English forest ever looks quite like a Scandinavian one. And the British don't so much do sadness and mournful humour, as bleakness and black humour – they're quite different.)

I saw Kenneth Brannagh as an electrifying 'Hamlet' on stage in the late 80s, and this feels something like being reacquainted with an old ghost. He's no longer young, and he's not beautiful, but he makes masterful use of his eyes, his voice, the very weariness life has given him – to create a memorable man, not just a cartoon portrait. Highly recommended.

Details

Country:

UK Sweden Germany USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 May 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wallander

Filming Locations:

Ystad, Skåne län, Sweden

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zodiak Entertainment, ARD Degeto Film, BBC Scotland

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD