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Kenneth Branagh's Wallander


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Old 23-05-2016, 12:40
catsitter
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Seems I'm alone in saying I quite enjoyed this first episode. I think KB is brilliant in the role and I thought the SA township settings were very evocative, having visited Soweto myself in the 90s it was interesting to see how things have changed since then - or not, shockingly.

I liked the subtle touches that reminded me of Wallander's fragile mental health - like his feeling "isolated in a crowd" scene during the conference break. I know how that feels and I thought it was portrayed really well. Also his obvious pleasure at being included in the family party, where he felt most comfortable. All subtle but telling and makes the character 3-dimensional. Great stuff, for me at least.
I enjoyed it too.

A bit dull.
Not sure of some of the plot lines (although I may have been bored).
How did he find the operative's car and was it the only car in SA with dust on the hubs?
He looked at all the cars parked near Meyer's address.


What was there to connect the politician to the attempted killing?
I don't think they had any actual evidence yet apart from Wallander hearing his voice (and the peacock) on the phone, and the fact that he left the election rally early, but they were about to search his house and would presumably have found the phone that he used to talk to Meyer. I guess he must have thought there was enough evidence for them to find or he wouldn't have killed himself. But I bet there would be a lot of conspiracy theories about his death.
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Old 23-05-2016, 13:42
victor mel
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Who murdered the wife & why?
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Old 23-05-2016, 14:29
primosprimos
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Hinterland was slow, but this was even slower.
DR, wait until you get to the finale. Episode 1 was as useless as youknowwhats on a boar. A waste of talent and the beauty of the location in Sweden.

Very sad to see it end, I liked this version, even if they did have cotton in their mouths.

catsitter, that was probably a conciliation for Americans, who still can't figure out when it should be 'series' and when it should be 'season'. Truth be told, I can't either.
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Old 23-05-2016, 14:53
tim123
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Why does this UK-made version insist on pronouncing the lead character's name as WOllander, when it should be (and is in the original Swedish version) vallANder?
The same reason he says "Skar-NAY" instead of "Scooor-na"

tim
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Old 23-05-2016, 14:58
tim123
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I guess he must have thought there was enough evidence for them to find or he wouldn't have killed himself. But I bet there would be a lot of conspiracy theories about his death.
He killed himself because he had saddled himself with debts that he now wasn't going to be able to repay
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Old 23-05-2016, 15:01
alias99
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I think KB's portrayal is actually pretty close to the one in the books where he always has considerable doubt and angst.

The last episode and book "The Troubled Man" has quite a depressing ending for Kurt but it does bring the series sort of full circle from the first episode with his Father.

(That isn't a spoiler as anyone who has read the book will know what happens).
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Old 23-05-2016, 15:03
tim123
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A bit dull.
Not sure of some of the plot lines (although I may have been bored).
How did he find the operative's car and was it the only car in SA with dust on the hubs?
What was there to connect the politician to the attempted killing?
and why was he surprised that it was locked

he had already learnt that if you leave a car unlocked it soon attracts attention

and from personal experience, if not from childish fingers from monkeys (that's real ones!)

tim
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Old 23-05-2016, 16:49
RichmondBlue
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I lost the plot when KB went unaccompanied into the township, then into the bar, and then started sniffing around.

As if...

I KNOW we need plot devices to move it along, and we all realise that a certain amount of artistic licence is needed, but that was just too implausible for me.

At least next week, he's back in Ystad, so will give that one a try
Yes, I think that should be better. I don't think many of these things work when the lead character is taken out of his own environment. The writer probably enjoys exploring something new (I think a poster said it was this was one of his favourites ? ) but the reader is often less than enthusiastic. I'll give the next one a try, some of the previous material with KB hasn't been too bad.
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Old 23-05-2016, 17:52
tealady
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He looked at all the cars parked near Meyer's address.
Thanks. The only dusty car- handy.
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Old 23-05-2016, 17:56
Straker
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I have never seen the Swedish version.
Do yourself a favour and buy/rent/stream the Swedish ones. High quality stuff with an overwhelming sense of place and time that the Kenny B series never even gets close to emulating.
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Old 23-05-2016, 18:00
timebug
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I always thought the Krister Hendrikson series nailed it
perfectly,as per the books. The Rolf Lassgard ones were
still (arguably) better than the Brannagh ones though,I.M.O!
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Old 23-05-2016, 18:14
allie4
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Hey! Lovely to see the familiar names on here - ILW, LostProphet and Barnsley Keith!!!! Yay!
(I was worried BK might no longer be with us- all the good ones have gone this year!)
Watched only a bit as had to chase small puppy round the house in case of weeage on the floor but though I dislike Branagh in these I do think they follow the books very faithfully and are well produced so looking forward to catching up!
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Old 23-05-2016, 19:23
RecordPlayer
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A bit dull.
Not sure of some of the plot lines (although I may have been bored).
How did he find the operative's car and was it the only car in SA with dust on the hubs?
What was there to connect the politician to the attempted killing?
Maybe the colour of the dust on the hubs was the clue?

The politician wanted to build luxury homes on the land whilst the opposition wanted to build affordable homes. He hired killers but didn't pay them. Wallander advised the 'would be killer' at the window to leave, otherwise he'd be killed presumably by the guy on the motorbike... ( who was already dead because Wallander had killed him) lol
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Old 23-05-2016, 19:28
RecordPlayer
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Who murdered the wife & why?
She stumbled onto one of the secret target practice places by mistake. There were two.

I think she was killed by the guy we saw at the beginning in the shed....or the motorbike guy.
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Old 23-05-2016, 19:31
RecordPlayer
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Hinterland was slow, but this was even slower.
Hinterland was one big slog.

Wallander was brilliant. I loved it's slowness.
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Old 23-05-2016, 22:39
tealady
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The politician wanted to build luxury homes on the land whilst the opposition wanted to build affordable homes. He hired killers but didn't pay them. Wallander advised the 'would be killer' at the window to leave, otherwise he'd be killed presumably by the guy on the motorbike... ( who was already dead because Wallander had killed him) lol
Thanks, but I meant evidence wise. The politician seemed someone who could bluff it out and could stymie any investigation.

Not really a fan of the 'go abroad' episodes in any type of series.
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Old 24-05-2016, 09:49
davidseven
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Just watched on iplayer. What a shockingly bad start to the series. The last series was well written, this was a by the numbers job, that didn't engage.
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Old 24-05-2016, 10:09
RecordPlayer
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Thanks, but I meant evidence wise. The politician seemed someone who could bluff it out and could stymie any investigation.

Not really a fan of the 'go abroad' episodes in any type of series.
I assumed it was the sound of peacocks in the background which Wallander recognised (via the mercenary's mob phone) as coming from the Politician's place. He linked the the killer with the politician. Other than that, I don't know.
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Old 24-05-2016, 16:22
gomezz
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(That isn't a spoiler as anyone who has read the book will know what happens).
As this is a thread about Branagh's TV Wallander and not the books then it *is* a spoiler.
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Old 24-05-2016, 16:38
embrascot
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I always thought the Krister Hendrikson series nailed it
perfectly,as per the books. The Rolf Lassgard ones were
still (arguably) better than the Brannagh ones though,I.M.O!
Krister Hendrikson is my preferred Wallander; he brought a lot to the part and was very believable but I tend to feel that Rolf Lassgard was exactly how Wallander was in the books. His world weariness and general lack of good health really showed his character.

Kenneth Branagh is just too British in the part. They could have given him any name and made a reasonable series but he is not really Kurt Wallander.
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Old 24-05-2016, 16:40
gomezz
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He is not really anyone. It is as if they filmed the run through and KB didn't hear the director call "Action".

(just started watching the repeat of him in Shackleton and he is not much better in that)
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Old 24-05-2016, 19:33
primosprimos
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Thanks, but I meant evidence wise. The politician seemed someone who could bluff it out and could stymie any investigation.

Not really a fan of the 'go abroad' episodes in any type of series.
Interesting. I've never been as gobsmacked by the geography in any series (other than Vera) as I have with Wallander, but that's a good point.

It was an awful, useless start to the final series/season, but the finale was good.

I shall miss Wallander and Lewis. Good riddance, otoh, to D/A and Mr. Selfridge.
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Old 24-05-2016, 21:55
dancing ledge
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I was transfixed by the first two thirds of this and then left confused and disappointed by the ending. What I did like was the atmospheric landscapes and the grinding tension of Branagh's (and the wife's at the beginnings) exploration of the locations. I also thought the township scenes were brilliantly evoked, with great realism from what I assume were non-professional extras

Because of the ending and the rather excessive fascination with Branagh's every actorish twitch and movement, I have to rate this as the worst of his episodes. I like his Wallander a lot, even though the Swedish Wallanders are even better. But this one seemed to fizzle out.
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Old 25-05-2016, 11:34
Straker
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I had a small business dealing with Kenny B last year and can report he's a thoroughly decent fellow so it's all the more disappointing that I've never liked his Wallander.
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Old 28-05-2016, 18:18
Keyser_Soze1
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Having seen the Henriksson version of Wallander really enjoy this version as well.

In fact I would say it is my favourite of the two (having never read the books).

Krister's version was more of an A-B police procedural whilst Branagh's has always been all about Kurt himself - last week's episode was relatively cheerful compared to the morass of misery and desolation of the previous series.

It was good stuff, slow burning but still entertaining - at least in my view.
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