As this four-part story opens Swedish detective Kurt Wallander is moaning that there is little in the way of 'real crime' in his town, Ystad. Inevitable there is soon such a crime; an elderly man is murdered at a farm house and his wife is mortally wounded. Her dying words sounded like 'foreigner' so attention focuses on the immigrant camps and anti-foreigner feelings start to rise. Soon there is a fire at one of the camps then there is another death when a Somali refugee is murdered. The case drags on as there are few leads; they don't even know if the 'foreigner' was foreign looking, spoke a foreign language or was just an outsider from another part of Sweden. With tensions rising there is a lot of racial feeling; even Wallander wonders if he himself is racist after he is shock when his daughter turns up with a Kenyan boyfriend. Away from the case and such worries there is the possibility of romance for Kurt; he takes a liking for the new prosecutor and the woman in charge of one of the camps seems to fancy him!
Although there have been many other Wallander stories shown in the UK this one hadn't been aired despite being the first made. It is a good introduction to the character; Rolf Lassgård does a fine job portraying the somewhat dishevelled detective. It doesn't take long to see that while he is a good police officer his personal life is a bit of a mess. The mystery is interesting and it made a nice change that the second killing wasn't committed by the same people as the first; indeed it gets solved quite a bit sooner. It isn't just the case that is interesting; Wallander's home life proves enjoyable, if occasionally uncomfortable to watch. Surprisingly there are some moments of humour; Kurt looking for a witness on a nudist beach was priceless! Overall this was a fine instalment and a good introduction to the character.
These comments are based on watching in Swedish with English subtitles.
Although there have been many other Wallander stories shown in the UK this one hadn't been aired despite being the first made. It is a good introduction to the character; Rolf Lassgård does a fine job portraying the somewhat dishevelled detective. It doesn't take long to see that while he is a good police officer his personal life is a bit of a mess. The mystery is interesting and it made a nice change that the second killing wasn't committed by the same people as the first; indeed it gets solved quite a bit sooner. It isn't just the case that is interesting; Wallander's home life proves enjoyable, if occasionally uncomfortable to watch. Surprisingly there are some moments of humour; Kurt looking for a witness on a nudist beach was priceless! Overall this was a fine instalment and a good introduction to the character.
These comments are based on watching in Swedish with English subtitles.