“Wallander” shows off southern Sweden

Posted by Tiffany on May 17th, 2009 Add your comment »

TV set design has been getting a lot of talk lately, especially with Kalina Ivanov’s beautiful work on HBO’s version of “Grey Gardens” that premiered last month. See here and here.

Some of the most impressive set design and general cinematography on television I’ve seen in a long time is in “Wallander” airing Sunday nights on PBS this month ( Episode 2 airs tonight).

It captures beautifully both the living spaces and natural beauty of a part of southern Sweden that we normally don’t get to see.

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rapeseed fields in full bloom

Kenneth Branagh plays Kurt Wallander, a Swedish detective who makes every case very personal. The films are moody. Beautifully shot and wonderfully acted, the likes of which are a rare gem on TV.

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Kenneth Branagh is Kurt Wallander

The films are based on bestselling Swedish crime novels by Henning Mankell. And while it’s great to be able to experience them in English, it is a little strange when Swedish characters, in Sweden, referring to Swedish things, and eating Swedish food, open their mouths to reveal British English dialogue complete with all of its localized slang and dialects. Wallander will occasionally throw in a Gordon Ramsey “yeah?” at the end of a phrase, and I caught a few “innit’s” as well. East end London… or Ystad, Sweden? It’s odd.

But forget all of that for now and enjoy the films. They’re wonderful. It’s easy to forget you’re watching Kenneth Branagh in the lead role, he becomes Wallander so completely. The stories are great, and so is the eye candy.

Sundays May 10, 17 and 31st at 9pm on PBS.
If you miss the on-air versions, you can also catch them here online for a limited time.

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driving through the fields