Strong and Moving!

Good concept, poorly executed.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I'm currently watching this show on Netflix. It could easily be titled, Wallander: Sweden's, Alright..I guess, Detective. It's hard to like this character. Wallander is supposed to be a great detective. But, he's constantly blundering around and getting people hurt or killed. I know no one is perfect but, at some point you'd think he'd learn or get fired. He's absolutely horrible with his family and his colleagues. In one episode he runs from the police station to a location then informs his contact that there is no time to call for back up. He literally, JUST CAME FROM THE POLICE STATION! He could have grabbed back up on the way out of the door. For someone that tortures himself because of his actions, he routinely commits the same mistakes over and over. I have not seen the originals or read the books. I'm hoping that both are better than what I've seen so far from this series. I just put the show on in the background while cleaning or working. If you have similar tastes in Crime Shows,there are better ones out there to occupy your attention. For example, River, Broadchurch, Marcella, Happy Valley, Sherlock, Shetland, Four Seasons in Havana. Just to name a few.

Kenneth Branagh could probably read a telephone book and make it interesting, and here he has much better material to work with. It's almost worth watching just to see how much better he has become since Henry V.The stories are more character studies than whodunits, and the solutions sometimes seem a bit contrived. But the characters are well developed and well played. The punch often comes not from the revelation of the killer, but from the discovery of what ordinary, "decent" people may be capable of. You might not look at your neighbors in quite the same way...Two quibbles: Everyone speaks English, in a Nordic setting. I prefer that to sub-titles, but it does jar at first.I have watched one or two episodes of the Swedish production and found them rather darker and more brutal than the BBC production. Those who want undiluted Nordic noir will want to pass on the BBC version. Those, like me, who are made of lesser stuff, will welcome the BBC interpretation.

Since Yellow Bird has produced Millennium trilogy, Swedish crime movies revived. Local box office in 2013 noted the highest annual result since 1980's. Millennium earned worldwide, according to mojoboxoffice.com: a total of $94 mln with a budget $13 mln. Such popularity and audience feedback gave a green light to further crime novels adaptations. Swedish crime movies have hit the worldwide audience and became an export commodity since Bergman. This contemporary noir owns a success mostly to the wealth of Swedish literature. The correlation between cinema and literature has existed since the dawn of Swedish cinematography, just to mention Victor Sjöström and Mauritz Stiller and the book filming of Selma Lagerlöf. Literature known as a Nordic Noir is listed as bestseller and translated into many languages. Protagonists of Jo Nesbo, Camilla Läckberg, and Mankel have entered the canon and became ideal to portray on the screen. No wonder, the style that enchanted so many people has a rich background for generating stories.Kurt Wallander, Swedish police commissioner of Ystad every day laboriously tries to solve murders committed in the area. He is an average man, in his 40ties, divorced, has one child, a daughter that he has a delicate and dynamic relations. Unresolved conflicts have made her suicidal and forced to go away for some time. She is the only person that cares for him - his wife has left him and has begun a new life with another man. Kurt's father never approved of his career choice and has been snippy since then. Now Kurt has to deal with his psychological issues and takes care of him. There is much going on in Wallander's life; it is definitely in crisis. Kurt dedicates most of his time, and he subordinates to work. Living the crime stories he pushes into the background all aspects of his life. That lifestyle has left him with heart disease, depression and lack of proximity from a woman. Most of his affairs eventually has fallen apart. Kurt is not perfect; he has advantages and disadvantages, is flawed and has many weaknesses. It is hard for him to adapt to new situations, but he is an excellent inspector. His strength lays in sensitivity, covered with superficial dryness and the desire to become a better person. He knows his defects and is critical but tries to work on his behavior and draw conclusions to change.The strength of this novel lies in venial and human frailty. Crime for Kurt is bread and butter, with the involvement of solving specific puzzles, he neglects relationships with others. Crime, death, anger have been interwoven here with the everyday, personal life. This lack of specific events is the strength of the show. It illustrates daily grind with an addition of crime. This does not mean that the film is shallow. The director and screenwriter efficiently conduct narrative, every minute of the movie is used, the rate rises slowly, but the climax is always satisfying and entertaining for the viewer. The process of deduction as a criminal film is not completely shown; there are gaps through which the audience is kept in suspense until the very end. The main character in books Hankel Manning is portrayed by Kenneth Branagh. The Shakespearian choice may surprise, but the Brit defends his workshop already acting from the first minutes of the film. A suitable form of light sensitivity, but it is also creative in emotions.As befits the Swedish thriller, the film has a social background, most of the circumstances and committed crime reflects the contemporary problems of the Swedish nation. Here we have, abuse by men against women, the problem of the perception of immigrants and the exploitation of minors from the former Eastern Bloc as well as the problem of religion and fanaticism. Nordic Noir series shows a dark page of human existence. If you are a fan of crime stories those miniseries will be worth your time and money. In the beginning, there are some doubts, especially about the pacing. There is no hyped action mystery and crime here is first and foremost. Mini Series Crime was produced in 3 seasons (for now), each of them consists of only three episodes. Such a small number compensates for the length of the movie. Each of these lasts for ninety minutes. Created by Swedish production company founded by Mankell and Danish producer Ole Søndberg, to adapt a crime novels in a way that reflected their approach.

Just coming to the end of binge watching of this series. Really enjoy the stories and the characters. Kind of getting cliché of detective living 24hrs with their work. Like they will start using toothpicks on their eyes to keep awake. I am waiting for the 7 eleven detective series. If this is how detectives work than we would all have dysfunctional police forces. May as well go into Psychiatry. I like the series because it solves the crime in 130 minute. Broadchurch would be solved in the same time had Wallander been assigned to the case. One refreshing thing is, it hasn't been turned into a soap opera. Long running series eventually all fall into this trap. The walking dead was heading into this direction but thankfully characters started to fall. Wonder what the origin series was like.