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Kenneth Branagh's Wallander


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Old 14-07-2012, 14:26
Mal80
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The previous KBs were bad, but this was awful. My partner was also one who said "it's only an hour, isn't it?"
As far as I know all of the Wallander titles (from each of iterations) are feature length. They are treated like low budget films, so it's kind of strange that people would think that they are only an hour long.
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Old 14-07-2012, 14:30
seansnotmyname@
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My only problem with KB's is the incongrous use of the English Language, I think they're great apart from that, but it is a big "apart". Yet, I read the books in English, and that's what got me hooked.
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Old 14-07-2012, 14:41
Mal80
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My only problem with KB's is the incongrous use of the English Language, I think they're great apart from that, but it is a big "apart". Yet, I read the books in English, and that's what got me hooked.
It's obviously a parallel universe where the Swedish ended up being occupied by the English, and as a compromise, Swedish became the main form of written communication. It's more of a sci-fi series when you think about it.
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Old 14-07-2012, 16:30
doom&gloom
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As far as I know all of the Wallander titles (from each of iterations) are feature length. They are treated like low budget films, so it's kind of strange that people would think that they are only an hour long.
Not one of the strongest stories no, probably why it was only a short story and not a novel.
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Old 14-07-2012, 19:22
lady_xanax
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My only problem with KB's is the incongrous use of the English Language, I think they're great apart from that, but it is a big "apart". Yet, I read the books in English, and that's what got me hooked.
I think the feel of it is meant to be that these people are all Swedish living in Sweden and we are hearing the translation, hence the fact that the writing is all in Swedish.
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Old 15-07-2012, 00:05
digijunkie
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Catching up with episode one... it is a bit distracting when there are glaring continuity errors within the first minutes. The first ferry we see is clearly marked as a Scandlines one (they don't even go to Ystad):

http://www.scandlines.com/en/about-s...out-scandlines

and then they go and investigate a Unity Lines ferry in the harbour:

http://www.unityline.pl/en/timetable..._train_ferries

Oh well. Also, in the new house Wallander has a box labelled "vardagsrum" (living room) in the bedroom, and he is looking for shirts in that.

Sort of sets the scene, all I can do now is look for more errors
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Old 15-07-2012, 21:09
Elanor
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MAYER!! I would have recognised those ears anywhere.

Oh dear though, they've Branagh'd him up, he looks more than a bit tired.
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Old 15-07-2012, 21:55
doom&gloom
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They don't seem to have updated this story from it's early-90s post-cold war setting, Latvians must be laughing at this portrayal of 21st century Riga.
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Old 15-07-2012, 22:01
Miriam_R
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I keep thinking Meyer when I see Søren Malling, and then think where is Lund.
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Old 15-07-2012, 22:21
Elanor
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Tonight's really isn't doing it for me. I'm finding it confusing and more than a bit dull, which is a shame, as I remember enjoying this book.
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Old 15-07-2012, 22:24
Summat2Say
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Tonight's really isn't doing it for me. I'm finding it confusing and more than a bit dull, which is a shame, as I remember enjoying this book.
Nor me. Turgid.
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Old 15-07-2012, 22:35
Elanor
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I don't get it - the base stories are excellent, the scenery is stunning (although there wasn't much of that tonight), Branagh is a terrific actor... and yet it just doesn't work. I was really bored, and couldn't follow the story (and I'd read the book in the last year).
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Old 15-07-2012, 22:40
Granny McSmith
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I don't get it - the base stories are excellent, the scenery is stunning (although there wasn't much of that tonight), Branagh is a terrific actor... and yet it just doesn't work. I was really bored, and couldn't follow the story (and I'd read the book in the last year).
The scenery is so beautifully filmed. It's the star, really.

Even tonight, when Wally returned to Sweden, the peaceful, innocent, sunlit fields etc, intended to be a contrast to the dark goings on in Riga was the best bit.

What's happened to his girlfriend from last week? Has she left him already? Have I missed something?
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Old 15-07-2012, 23:00
Prince Monalulu
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The scenery is so beautifully filmed. It's the star, really.

Even tonight, when Wally returned to Sweden, the peaceful, innocent, sunlit fields etc, intended to be a contrast to the dark goings on in Riga was the best bit.

What's happened to his girlfriend from last week? Has she left him already? Have I missed something?
From the looks of things she's buggered off and took the sprogg with her.
No please, thank you nor kiss me ar$e.
Who looks after Jussi when he's away, now that she's jacked him in?
I was flicking through Cranes and Access while that was on, struggled through it though.
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Old 15-07-2012, 23:14
doom&gloom
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The scenery is so beautifully filmed. It's the star, really.
The cinematographers and the Red One camera are the real stars of this series.
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Old 15-07-2012, 23:20
Granny McSmith
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From the looks of things she's buggered off and took the sprogg with her.
No please, thank you nor kiss me ar$e.
Who looks after Jussi when he's away, now that she's jacked him in?
I was flicking through Cranes and Access while that was on, struggled through it though.
Yes, I noticed he still had his dog. If he leaves it to fend for itself, it will be the next one to pack it's bags.
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Old 15-07-2012, 23:22
Verence
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They don't seem to have updated this story from it's early-90s post-cold war setting, Latvians must be laughing at this portrayal of 21st century Riga.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History...rent_situation


It was obvious from the moment Kurt met up with the Latvian policemen in Riga that at least one of them would turn out to be on the take
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Old 16-07-2012, 00:22
the_lostprophet
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I keep thinking Meyer when I see Søren Malling, and then think where is Lund.
Me too! I had forgotten 'Meyer' was going to be in tonight's and grinned when he appeared. Funny how they assume a British audience will buy a Danish sounding person as a Latvian though. Sofie Gråbøl was in the US version of The Killing as an eastern European character too.

I actually enjoyed tonight's ep - found it gripping enough. I love the shots of the beautiful Swedish countryside too.
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Old 16-07-2012, 00:27
DavetheScot
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I found it a bit confusing as it went on, but I think I got it by the end.
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Old 16-07-2012, 07:13
Andy-B
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Branagh's Wallandar is a curious hybrid.

The BBC has obv. been on a mission to bring in better European drama (Spiral, Inspector Montalbano, Swedish Wallandar, the whole Danish crop), and also to relocate its own investigative drama to other cultures (examples: The Number One Detective Agency, Zen), but here we have we have a BBC version on a Swedish drama relocated to Latvia: Never mind subtitles, we're going to need an atlas.

I thought the story this week was tame and it didn't draw me in. If, however, Riga served as the metaphor for Wallandar himself then it starts to become interesting - a crumbling old wreck struggling between a moral path and the abyss .... perhaps a glimmer of decency amid the numerous disasters ...

Not exactly Judith Chalmers but I quite enjoyed the cultural and history lessons.
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Old 16-07-2012, 08:02
LanceWilkins
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Good story -- an Innocent Abroad tale.
I wonder in what language he used to communicate with the Latvian police: Swedish, Latvian, Russian, English?
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Old 16-07-2012, 09:01
Granny McSmith
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Good story -- an Innocent Abroad tale.
I wonder in what language he used to communicate with the Latvian police: Swedish, Latvian, Russian, English?
I wondered that, too.

At one point, the Latvian cops started speaking in Latvian (I assume it was Latvian!) so they must have been speaking in a different language before. I don't suppose they are fluent in Swedish, and Kurt didn't seem to know Russian, so they must have some other common language. English? German?

Funny how your mind wanders when you're watching things sometimes.
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Old 16-07-2012, 09:03
Verence
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Branagh's Wallandar is a curious hybrid.

The BBC has obv. been on a mission to bring in better European drama (Spiral, Inspector Montalbano, Swedish Wallandar, the whole Danish crop), and also to relocate its own investigative drama to other cultures (examples: The Number One Detective Agency, Zen), but here we have we have a BBC version on a Swedish drama relocated to Latvia: Never mind subtitles, we're going to need an atlas..
It was "relocated" to Latvia cos that's where the book was set
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Old 16-07-2012, 09:05
catsitter
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Sofie Gråbøl was in the US version of The Killing as an eastern European character too.
Her character's name in the US The Killing was Christina Nilsen, a Scandinavian name I would have thought?
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Old 16-07-2012, 09:11
Andy-B
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I don't get it - the base stories are excellent, the scenery is stunning (although there wasn't much of that tonight), Branagh is a terrific actor... and yet it just doesn't work. I was really bored, and couldn't follow the story (and I'd read the book in the last year).
Maybe you're missing the standard sidekick/partner dynamic, the Dr Watson, the Cagney/Lacy, the Saga/Martin?

I haven't seen too much of Wallandar but it looks on first blush like the unique selling point is it's the two of him - the struggle between depression and relative normalcy.

Lot more daylight in this episode though. It also looked like Spring. And he smiled at the end. Assume next week will be a cheerier summer for W, perhaps blondie will come to visit ...
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