6/28/18. I do like Kenneth Branagh, but this is the first time I have seen him in a series and didn't find him suited for this. It is ok for a crime series, but I found each episode to be way too long (close to 90 minutes, or 1 1/2 hours each!). In the process, the episode loses steam and you can easily forget the story line along the way. If you like crime stories, you may like this, especially if you are a Branagh fan.

I watch a lot of these cop shows from Europe most of them are very good but the one thing that always amazes me is that they try to make it realistic. That being said why with all the driving they do from town to town kilometers of driving never once do stop for petrol why is that.

The biggest mystery with this series is not the stories but why on earth the BBC chose to copy something that has already been very well, in its country of origin, and so recently. Are things really that desperate in BBC television land? Bizarrely we have a program that is supposed to be set in Sweden but in which everyone speaks the Queen's English and the backdrops are so generic it could be set be in any one of about 100 countries. It makes about as much sense as Swedish television making a carbon copy of Midsommer Murders, spoken in Swedish. It really is head scratching stuff. Surely then, given the bizarreness of the premise, the only possible remaining justification for hijacking the Wallander character and anglicising him must be that they are going to do something different and groundbreaking with him. If you thought this you would be supremely disappointed for based on the first episode Wallander is a by the numbers, cliché ridden, yawn fest. Dishevelled middle aged detective with stubble? Check. Trouble with his daughter and parents? Check. Wife left him? Check. Relationship at work? Check. Groups of people huddled round desks stating the bleeding obvious? Check. Visually arresting but ultimately ridiculous and gratuitous introduction? Check. A series of murders involving some arcane ritualistic aspect? Check. Rookie who throws up on seeing his first victim? Check. I have never read the Wallander books or seen the Swedish TV series, but given that Kenneth Brannagh went to so much trouble to get the author of the novels to agree to doing this series you might have thought the Wallander character was something truly exceptional and supremely rewarding for an actor of his calibre. Based on the first episode I can report that in fact Wallander as portrayed in this series is simply the usual cut-out character, of no interest, and what's even worse, supremely incompetent at his job. In the first episode he is singlehandedly responsible for the totally avoidable deaths of two young people, presumably so we can see how "human" and affected he is, which is, I gather, is Wallander's "claim to fame". Death number 1 - ridiculously a young girl is in the middle of a field of tall yellow flowers. How she came to be there, and why, we never find out. Not only that, she turns out to have possibly the largest can of petrol in the world. Because if you want to kill yourself you would intuitively go miles into the country to a large field of yellow flowers and choose the most ridiculous way of killing yourself, right? Even without the petrol can we can all see that this girl is on the edge, but that does not stop our hero from barging in like a complete klutz, resulting in the girl killing herself. At the end of the episode, having contrived to lure the killer into a trap, not only do 4 police fail to intercept the culprit before he gets to his prey, but despite having minutes to do so, are unable to disarm him and Wallander ends up shoot him dead. You can see now why his name is Wallander for evidently he is a complete Wally. Not only does he needlessly kill a 15 year old boy, but a boy who is not a villain, but doing what he thought was right. At no time does Wallander show any signs of good leadership, good judgment, or good detective work. We are left wondering how on earth he came to be in the position of leading a police team, and how they could possibly have any respect for him - he has no presence, no charisma, he is just an emotional, angry little man. He gets angry with witnesses and does and says stupid things that would see him fired in a heartbeat in real life. Of course in his team we have all the usual suspects. A woman with no apparent function but who is the latest recipient of the "Broadchurch award for worst hairdo", taking over from Ellie Miller. Apparently she has lost her hairbrush and is now doing her hair with a blender. Meanwhile another woman of unknown function exchanges many furtive glances with our hero Wallander. Rounding the team out we have a couple of fellows whose function appears to be to barge in when things get slow and say "Boss I think you'd better see this". Disappointing and bizzare beyond measure.

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.