I am now on another of my binges – this time Wallander, the TV series and the books.
Last year I watched one episode of the Wallander with Ken Branagh, but for some reason only saw this one, not quite sure why and then also missed the second series as well, mainly I suspect because I thought not worth catching up now. Anyway, I was recently loaned the DVD of series one and enjoyed it
very much so nipped out to the library and borrowed series two and blitzed that as well. What did I think? First of all, I have not read any of the books by Mankell so have no preconceptions about characterisation or appearance, so I was open minded as to interpretation. Secondly, I admire Ken Branagh very much and think he is an excellent actor now that he has matured and got rid of most of that ghastly Ken & Em, Successor to Laurence Olivier rubbish that was sloshing around in the 80s and 90s. I found that pretty unbearable and remember wincing in embarrassment at his film Peter's Friends which our family used to call Ken's Loveys it was so 'in' and so 'cool' and I found it pretty unwatchable.
But, as I said, that is now all over and I thought he was excellent as Wallander, he inhabited the role and there was none of the acterisms that used to permeate his performances when it seemed to me that Branagh was watching himself act and thinking God I'm good. I hasten to say that I am sure he did not think this for one moment, it was my prejudices speaking and after watching the glorious film of Much Ado about Nothing I began to change my mind about him.
I am also watching the Swedish Wallander which is excellent. Wallander is played in a much more laconic, down beat way by a much older actor, the polar opposite of Branagh and I find myself totally riveted while it is on. I have a thing about sub-titles, silly I know, but once you are drawn into these episodes your mind and vision slot together and after a while I forget it is in Swedish so engrossed am I in the drama.
I decided, therefore, that I really should read the books so in the last week have read two, The Dogs of Riga and One Step Behind and enjoyed them thoroughly and I am glad that I had not read the latter title earlier as it is one of those that has been dramatised by the Branagh team, and by the time I had finished the book I was bristling. I was bristling with irritation and annoyance at the slant the BBC version had placed on this particular investigation. A colleague of Wallander's is found shot, he has been taking a keen interest in the disappearance of three young friends, before they were officially declared missing and before Wallander takes over the case and it is clear there is a link and he met his demise because of
this interest. Secrets about the dead detective's life emerge and it is clear he was leading a double existence and harboured doubts about somebody he knew who turns out to be a murderer.
The secret he was hiding was that he was a homosexual and Mankell makes this a part of the plot of One Step Behind, BUT and I say BUT very clearly, it was only a part. His sexual orientation had very little to do with the reasons for the murders and even when the murderer was caught and interrogated, it was all very down beat and underplayed. Not so in the Branagh version. The BBC made the homosexual element the reason for the murders, over stated the motive and made up a ludicrous ending when Linda, Wallander's daughter, was threatened by the culprit when he made his outrageous confession and reason for the killings.
When it comes to adaptations for TV and cinema we all understand that shades and emphasis may have to be altered for dramatic reasons and, in some cases, it may even improve on the original story, but I really object when TV companies skew a story line because they think it will be more sensational that way. It happened in the recent Miss Marple series with Julia Mackenzie when one episode introduced child abuse, rape and abortion into a story line where it did not exist. We even had Miss Marple asking about sex – so out of character one could laugh except I was seething with temper by this stage. The remake of the Body in the Library with Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple this time (a rather too knowing twinkle in the eye portrayal IMHO), had the double murderers not a man and woman in love with one another, but two women. This gave the perfect excuse for an on screen gay kiss. On another occasion, this time in a Poirot episode, we had two girls who shared a house together turned into lesbians (they may have been for all I know but Dame A was usually a tad more subtle in portraying gay couples – as shown in the Joan Hickson A Murder is Announced), but what was worse they changed the identity of the murderer in this particular episode.
The point I am trying to make, in a very long winded way I know, is that the homosexuality of the character in One Step Behind was a part of the book and accepted as a thread in the story, it was NOT the raison d'etre of the plot and it was totally unnecessary for the emphasis of the narrative to be changed in this way. It was an excellent episode and Branagh was marvellous and I enjoyed it, but I would have been extremely irritated by it if I had read the book first and seen what the production company had done with it. Each time this happens I ask myself Why? Why? Why do they do it? I know the answer really but gosh it irritates me no end.
The books are excellent and I know I am now going to have to read them all and the proof of the pudding is in the eating as when I read them it is not Ken Branagh who pops into my mind and who I see as Wallander, but Krister Henriksson from the Swedish version. Seems to me he is just perfect in the role.
And as a footnote to all this, Radio Times on Saturday wrote quite movingly about last Saturday's episode of the Henriksson Wallander in which they mention the actress who plays his daughter, Johanna Sallstrom, and her suicide in 2007. Turn to the listings for Saturday night and there is a picture of the British actress who plays Linda in the BBC version wrongly placed on the page. I bet she, her family and agent are really pleased about that. And what a stupid mistake to make. I have written to the BBC about it (would you expect me not to?..) but doubt if I will get a reply.
Has anybody else been watching the Two Wallenders? Would love to hear what you think..
Leave a Reply