A magnificent performance from Branagh brings this complex detective to life.
Kenneth Branagh makes a welcome return to TV to play the Swedish detective Kurt Wallander in these three new 90 minute film adaptations of Henning Mankell’s classic Swedish crime novels ‘Sidetracked’, ‘Firewall’ and ‘One Step Behind’.
This is two treats rolled into one – one for all of us Wallander fans and one for lovers of great TV acting. Make no mistake, Kenneth Branagh is using this opportunity as a serious attempt to emulate what Alec Guinness did in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. He’s just updated to the twenty-first century and given it more action. There’s at least as much action on Branagh’s face as there is in the complex plot. Emotions and reactions chase each other across his face and only downtrodden misery ever gets a chance to settle.
This is a marvellous performance backed up by a solid supporting cast and cinematography that manages to make the flat lands of southern Sweden breathtakingly beautiful. And the plots really are dense, and the villains are genuinely nasty.
Kenneth Branagh stars as Kurt Wallander, a hard-working cop with a strong sense of integrity. Based in the small town of Ystad, Sweden, these compelling murder mysteries are based on the award-winning and phenomenally popular novels by Henning Mankell.
