Wallander - current re-run

[DracoM]

Current re-run is for me simply unwatchable. Saw most of it last time, and this Rolf Whatsitgard's slobby, slouching, overweight galumphing has killed it for me completely.

BUT would anyone like to make the case that this is closer to Mankell's idea of the detective than other versions?

[Nick Armstrong]

Current re-run is for me simply unwatchable. Saw most of it last time, and this Rolf Whatsitgard's slobby, slouching, overweight galumphing has killed it for me completely.

BUT would anyone like to make the case that this is closer to Mankell's idea of the detective than other versions?

No. I agree with you - I concluded the first time it was on that I wasn't interested (it took about 5 minutes)...

[johnb]

Current re-run is for me simply unwatchable. Saw most of it last time, and this Rolf Whatsitgard's slobby, slouching, overweight galumphing has killed it for me completely.

BUT would anyone like to make the case that this is closer to Mankell's idea of the detective than other versions?

Henning Mankell's dedication in "The Pyramid":

To Rolf Lassgård
with great warmth, gratitude,
and not a little admiration.
He has told me so much
about Wallander that I myself
did not know.

[DracoM]

Yeah, well, johnb, I do slightly wonder if that's a bit of a backhander! i.e. he showed things in Wallander that Mankell did not write to be there?
OK, that's what it feels like to me when I watch him first time - which was maybe a few minutes longer than Caliban but not much!
Must go back to the books.

[slarty]

To Rolf Lassgård
with great warmth, gratitude,
and not a little admiration.
He has told me so much
about Wallander that I myself
did not know.

He was the first Wallander a long time before Krister Hendriksson started playing the role.
It is a pity that the BBC started with the Hendriksson series first, as the first Lassgard films pre-date them by about 11 years and have continued up to the present. The original books were filmed with Lassgard, and Hendriksson, who we in the UK saw first in a relatively toned down characterisation of Wallander in a new TV series, creates an image in our minds that we find hard to change when confronted with the original characterisation of Lassgard. Mankell's dedication to the actor tells us of his faith in his interpretations.
I went to a talk with Mankell in Unna ,Germany last year - his books and films and TV series have been very popular in Germany well before coming to the UK.
He was asked the question of the difference that the two actors found in the character and Mankell said that Lassgard was more or less the way he wanted it and was how he tried to write it. He saw the TV series as something different and that the Wallander character was a much more superficial version of the original.
I asked him about his views on Kenneth Branagh's take on the role. He enjoyed them very much and particularly Branagh who had found something new in the character.
His only criticism was that the stories, all adapted from his book, were severely edited to fit a 90 minute time slot.
The one Hendriksson film that has the weight of the other books is of course "Before the Frost" because it was written as a book, and not as all the others were, as TV outline scripts. (Mankell's description).

I like all of the books ,except the last one,and I can't write about it because it will spoil the whole thing for everyone.
I believe it it will be the last one of the current TV series.

[Pabmusic]

...Mankell said that Lassgard was more or less the way he wanted it and was how he tried to write it. He saw the TV series as something different and that the Wallander character was a much more superficial version of the original...

Very interesting, because I think Lassgard does a very good job of getting across the dysfunctional character of the books (which I read before I saw any dramatisation). It only goes to show that, with several rival actors, we find the one we're most comfortable with. Imagine a remake of Morse with (say) Stephen Fry.

[Nick Armstrong]

Imagine a remake of Morse with (say) Stephen Fry.

[Dave2002]

Current re-run is for me simply unwatchable. Saw most of it last time, and this Rolf Whatsitgard's slobby, slouching, overweight galumphing has killed it for me completely.

BUT would anyone like to make the case that this is closer to Mankell's idea of the detective than other versions?

I don't mind seeing different actors do this role, and indeed Rolf predates the others. What I find surprising is the absolutely dreadful film/video quality. How on earth does it come to be so bad?

[slarty]

I don't know Dave2002. Remember these "films" were made at first, for TV, not for the cinema. Maybe the first one or two were not made quite as well as the later ones. I'm sure Swedish TV had no idea at the time in 1993, just what a "monster" Wallander was going to ultimately be.
I have the DVDs issued in Germany of most of the later Lassgard series and the quality is not noticeably bad. The upcoming "Man Who Smiled" is in good video quality so I will have a look on Saturday to see if there is a substantial difference (I am back in the UK).
Undoubtably the best of the film series from the books, which was made originally in four parts, is "The Fifth Woman".

The newest and last Wallander book "The Troubled Man" is in production with Kenneth Branagh for screening in 2014. It is being made to be shown in two parts.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

well it may be the first but it is the worst .... [even though several people have commented that Branagh is closest to the original; i find him second worst] ... there is only one Wallander, the series made with Hendricksson is the only one for me; several excellent runs with strong characters, strong plots, subtle relationship action and great acting, and pace ..

[DracoM]

Totally agree.