As a cop from the 20th century I was used to gung - ho,let's kick the bloody door down,give him a smack fit this one up we know he's at it - type policing.
That is not the way Ch Insp Wallander works.
Want to open a locked door?Get the building superintendent.
That seems eminently more sensible to me.
Wallander is a "New Man".
He thinks.I know Morse thought but.against the run of the tide I thought him the least likely TV cop ever.
Wallander rarely acts on impulse.I don't think Morse ever had any impulse beyond listening to Mozart(not ranking high on most real cops' playlists - for better or worse) or driving his Jaguar.No cop I ever knew drove his own car if it was worth more than two bob in case some villain did it up.
Wallander is practically a basket case(not uncommon) with an ex - family (very common) but has loyal colleagues who care about him.
He has a gun(thank God we didn't have them in my day or London would have been knee - deep in dead crooks) but is loath to use it.
But most of all he represents decency and humanity as madness overtakes Sweden and he is fighting against the machine whether from without or within his own ranks.
Mr K Branagh has included all these characteristics in his portrayal of this troubled cop and has come up with a master - class of acting with no gestures, no accents or mannerisms that even the best of actors can fall back on if pushed.
We like to think of Sweden as a "modern" liberal and enlightened country but Henning Mankell tells us it just ain't so.
Wallander - clinging to the ropes - has no chance of reversing this tide but we know he will do his damnedest.
Like Quixote without a Sancho Panza, Wallander will go on if it kills him.
Review of Wallander
