Wallander 3 – BBC One, Sunday; PBS, Sept 9
Yet another ‘perfect storm’ happens in the UK this coming Sunday with the return of Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander. The perfect storm being a combination of the brilliant writing of novelist Henning Mankell, the superb script writing by Peter Harness (Case Histories), the keen eye of Emmy-award winning director Philip Martin (Hawking, Murder on the Orient Express) who, along with Academy Award winning cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire) created a perfect visual style for the series and, of course, the genius talents of Sir Kenneth Branagh.
Series 3 begins Sunday on BBC One with the first of three programs, “An Event in Autumn”, that will focus heavily on Wallander’s relationship with his adult daughter after the death of his father. The third series of Wallander will premiere in the States on public television stations, Sunday, September 9 at part of PBS’ Masterpiece series.
Branagh, who so aptly described Wallander as “an existentialist who is questioning what life is about and why he does what he does every day, and for whom acts of violence never become normal. There’s a level of empathy with the victims of crime that’s almost impossible to contain, and one of the prices he pays for that sort of empathy is a personal life that’s a kind of wasteland.“, is brilliant, plain and simple. The fact that he has been nominated for an Academy Award in five different categories screams genius. Branagh, along with Bill Nighy, could simply read the phone book out loud and I’d be there.
If you’re lucky enough to be within sight of the BBC One transmission, enjoy. If you’re in the U.S., September 9 sounds like a long way off, but keep telling yourself it’s only 63 days until the PBS premiere. Piece of cake.
