Author Topic: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010  (Read 102288 times)

ANNIE

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #360 on: October 05, 2010, 09:01:30 AM »

Masterpiece Mystery 2010 brings back favorite sleuths with new episodes. See the complete 2010 MASTERPIECE MYSTERY schedule

NOW DISCUSSING

A Study in Pink

October 24, 2010 at 9pm

One 90-minute episode
Sherlock Holmes teams up with former army doctor John Watson to solve a case of serial suicides and corner a killer who has mysterious powers over his victims.

COMING

The Blind Banker

October 31, 2010 at 9pm

One 90-minute episode
Pursuing the case of a banker and a journalist shot dead by a ghostly assailant, Sherlock and Watson uncover an antiquities-smuggling empire.


The Great Game

November 7, 2010 at 9pm

One 90-minute episode
In a gripping match of wits, Sherlock solves crimes at a dizzying pace for a mad bomber who threatens to blow up innocent people.



ALREADY DISCUSSED
List of series and episodes already discussed.

Discussion Leaders:  JoanP and marcie


Glad I am not the only one who noticed that the homes of the people in this Wallendar presentation were so dark.  I thought something was wrong with our TV!!
"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." Robert Southey

Frybabe

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #361 on: October 05, 2010, 11:37:54 AM »
It's not just gloomy inside. Did you notice how often it is raining or snowing in the Wallander books? I wonder if the weather is really that dreary most of the year in Sweden. Swedish weather seems like something interesting to look up when I have a minute.

FlaJean

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #362 on: October 05, 2010, 02:04:01 PM »
I did read The Smiling Man and it has been the best Wallender mystery so far IMO.  I did not care for The Faceless Killers and think the later Wallender mysteries are much better.  I was disappointed in the Masterpiece presentation and hope the next one is truer to the book.  In the books Wallender has more control in his reactions with his team, and the team is much more cohesive.

ANNIE

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #363 on: October 05, 2010, 04:10:33 PM »
Didn't I read, way back in the way back machine, that the Swedish hardly ever smile and their favorite thing to do is to dance at the dance halls around the country, but very seriously looking they were?
"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." Robert Southey

Frybabe

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #364 on: October 05, 2010, 05:52:33 PM »
It is 55degrees F. and mostly cloudy in Ystad just now.  Here is a webcam of the main square.
http://www.webbkameror.se/webbkameror/ystad/webkamera_ystad_640_1.php

There are some lovely photos to be seen in Google images for both Ystad and Malmo.

Zulema

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #365 on: October 05, 2010, 08:25:36 PM »
Same temperature as here in NYC.  I had the same experience with the TV show as some of you.  It's been a while since I read the book, but I liked the book very much and this just brought in so many plots that were in other books, I almost stopped watching.  The book is really a police procedural, Wallander always working with another policeman and this interpretation wasn't that at all.   I do remember clearly how they figure out who did it and how the killers knew the farmer had the money, and it seemed to me that they took care of that in about one minute in this show at the end.  One doesn't get the reasoning of Wallander and his crew or the steps they took.  Suddenly Wallander is holding the receipt from the bank withdrawal, and it's over.  And the scenes about the immigrants are not from this book.  It made me think again about Murder on the Orient Express and the extraneous business of the stoning. 

  By the way, the Swedish Wallander films I saw, even though they were composites and just based on the novels, were not dark (that is unilluminated), but I remember the first film made of a John Harvey novel, a great mystery writer who is still writing, and most of whose mysteries took place in Nottingham, in the North of England.  I saw it in Nottingham, at a mystery conference, and the reaction of the audience was above all, "don't they have street lights in Nottingham, don't they have electricity in the houses?" The film was considered "noir" but that should just be the subject.  You don't need the sets to be "noir."

I'll still be watching the coming ones, of course.  As for the books, it is best to read them in order, but I don't think it will make a difference for the TV shows.  I have gone on for too long, sorry.

marcie

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #366 on: October 05, 2010, 09:29:39 PM »
Thanks for all of the good comments, everyone.

I agree with you all that the books do show Wallander painstakingly following up on every detail and writing notes throughout the day which he goes over again to make sure he hasn't missed a lead or strayed in the wrong direction. It's slow work and I understand that would be difficult to show in 90 minutes. They also can't include all of the characters and "red herrings" from the book.

I didn't have a problem with how they adapted this episode. During season 1, I remember being very disappointed in some of the adaptations. In FACELESS KILLERS it seems to me that the main difference between the book and TV episode was what happened when Wallander went after the killer of the emmigrant and what Wallander did at the very end of the episode, as a result of his feelings about what happened (I'm trying not to spoil it for those who haven't seen the TV version yet!). Those scenes certainly added personal drama to the TV episode. I think that the book conveyed personal drama/tensions inside Wallander but mostly through his own personal reflections which, perhaps, were difficult to convey on screen without a "happening" during 90 minutes.

JoanK

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #367 on: October 06, 2010, 03:08:22 PM »
I'm reading the three free Wallender books, but haven't yet seen the TV adaptation (airs tomorrow here). Did they convey Wallendars incompetance in small things (he never has warm enough clothes on -- he never has a notebook, and has to borrow scraps of paper to write on etc.) I guess the author is trying to make him seem more human and approachable.

The other thing that struck me in the books is that whenever he weants something from a collegue, he always calls them to come in, even if he just wants to ask them somethinghe could have done on the phone. If I worked with him, I would have strangled him.

Now to look at pictures of Ystad.

marcie

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #368 on: October 06, 2010, 05:30:06 PM »
LOL, JoanK. I didn't pick up on those things about Wallander.

Zulema

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #369 on: October 07, 2010, 12:44:38 AM »
JOAN K,

I read a lot of British police procedurals and I find that they do that too. They call the detectives to come in to tell them of findings I think they could have done on the phone.   

FlaJean

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #370 on: October 07, 2010, 05:06:23 PM »
Frybabe, Thanks for that web cam of Ystad.  It was dark there when I looked so will check back in the early morning here.

JoanP

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #371 on: October 08, 2010, 11:57:22 AM »
Flajean, I agree with you - I think "The Man Who Smiled"  is one of the very best I've read in the Wallander series - and I'm only half done!  Has anyone else started it?

I was away last weekend and missed the PBS showing of the Faceless Killers on Sunday - finally saw it last night.  Was it just me?  I was confused throughout.  Not sure if reading the book first helped...I just kept waiting for Mankell's story to start.  I was prepared for some changes - at the very start were the words:  "based on a novel" by Henning Mankell.  As soon as I see those words, I've learned to be prepared for major changes. Still...

In the first seconds of the film, we are shown two murderers.  Two murderers and the white stallion running free in the field.  The dying woman whispers only "ffff" - to Wallander and he concludes that she is saying "farmer or foreigner."    And who is the female police officer?  Surely not the prosecutor, whose role the policewoman sort of usurped.  (Nothing about Wallander getting fresh with the prosecutor either.)

I put off reading the last chapter of the book, wanting to leave some suspense for watching the film.  I still don't know what happened.  I was left in confusion - and wondered how anyone made sense of the story from watching the adaptation of the story.  Did anyone enjoy the film?  Did anyone enjoy the book as much as I did?

Off to finish reading the book and then I'd like to talk with you about "Faceless Killers" - before finishing "The Man Who Smiled."  I have no idea how that one is going to turn out - and feel I'd better finish the book before watching the film.

JoanK

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #372 on: October 08, 2010, 03:08:57 PM »
I finally got to see "Faceless Killers" last night. I remembered having read the book last year but, with my senior memory, couldn't remember it well enough to know what changes they made. I enjoyed the film, and was able to follow it fairly well.

The female detective was identified in passing, but easy to miss. She is Ann-Britt Hoglund (sp?) who appears in many of the books, but maybe not til later in the series. There is another time distortion. Wallendar is shown as knowing that he has diabetes, and I believe he isn't diagnosed until a later book.

SPOILER ALERT the murderers were the two fair workers that W saw in the video looking at the farmers receipt at the bank and later captured at the fair.

JoanP

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #373 on: October 08, 2010, 04:10:42 PM »
JoanK, yes, I recognized Ann-Britt Hoglund from other of the Wallander series - including the next one, The Man Who Smiled.  It's almost as if the person who adapted Faceless Killers for the film, had read the other Wallander novels at once, in preparation for his adaptations.  Did you notice at the end of the Faceless Killers, Wallander handed in his badge, as if to say he is leaving the police force?  Didn't happen at the end of the novel.

I just read the last pages - and glad I did.  Now I understand what was going on at the end of the film....though there was no dead white stallion at the end of the novel.  The murdered farmer's daughters gave the horse to their parents' neighbors.  Can't imagine what was gained by  killing off the horse in the film, can you?

ANNIE

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #374 on: October 08, 2010, 06:53:18 PM »
I was very confused about the dead horse but thought it was because I had missed the first 10 minutes of "Faceless Killers".  I still don't know how they made foreigner or farmer out of "fffff". 
I do remember that Wallendar's diabetes was brought up in one of the stories last year.

Between these confusions and the darkened sets that were shown to us, I am not looking forward to the next one but will watch it if the baseball game is over.   Yes, its that time of the year and I am buried alive watching all of the last games of the season.  But, I can always watch the Wallender series on my computer which is where I had intended to watch the missing 10 minutes.   ::)
"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." Robert Southey

JoanP

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #375 on: October 08, 2010, 09:18:36 PM »
The Man Who Smiled is a good one, Annie!  At least the book is good~ ;)  Don't miss it.

marcie

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #376 on: October 08, 2010, 11:37:21 PM »
I'm reading The Man Who Smiled and I agree with you, JoanP, that it is very good. I can't wait to see how they handle Wallander's apparent resignation at the end of the last episode. It's as someone here said....a part 1 continued in part 2 kind of episode.

SPOILER ALERT FOR FACELESS KILLERS


Now I see why they had Wallander kill the murderer in this episode. It was to set us up for what has happened to Wallander before The Man Who Smiled starts.

JoanK

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #377 on: October 10, 2010, 09:41:29 PM »
ANNIE: (I) "will watch it if the baseball game is over."

Yes, this is a hard time of year for sports-junkies like me: So many sports, so little time! Watched my football team win (or rather fail to lose) in overtime, the baseball team I'm rooting against win (sigh), and getting ready to see when my basketball team plays next. Maybe I'm glad "Mystery" has moved to Thursday: my eyes will be rolling in my head by tonight.

JoanP

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #378 on: October 11, 2010, 08:22:10 AM »
Marcie, did Wallander actually kill a man in "Faceless Killers"?  In the book, I mean?  Clearly by the time Mankell wrote The Man Who Smiled,"  his Wallander character was overcome by the fact that he had taken a life - in the line of duty.  I remember checking and seeing that there were two other books in between Faceless and Smiled...

I finished the book and watched the film last night and will wait until others do before saying anything more about the plot - don't want to be a spoiler here.  Can't help but say that I thought the Man Who Smiled - was never going to crack a smile in the film production.  In the book, he smiled from beginning to the end -   I was actually relieved when he smiled at the end of the film.  ;D

A question - would you want to live in Mankell's Sweden?  Everyone seems to be sick, corruption is rife and no one seems really happy.  Maybe it's just the police who are down and world-weary? 
Another observation - they drink an awful lot of coffee, don't they - like chain smoking, one cup after another.  Is this a Swedish thing?  Or maybe it goes along with the job in the police station...

I can't wait to hear from everyone once you have read the book and/or seen the PBS showing.

Phyll

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #379 on: October 11, 2010, 01:20:46 PM »
Joan, I couldn't help thinking last night as I watched that if I was on the Swedish Tourist Commission I might consider suing whomever made these Wallender films for defamation....or something.  The Sweden they are depicting is no place I ever want to go.  What a dreary, dreary, place.  And, yes, he actually smiled!  A small one but never the less.  I have not read any of the Mankell books but I sincerely hope that they are better than the PBS productions.
phyllis

FlaJean

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #380 on: October 11, 2010, 01:57:54 PM »
I must admit that I'm disappointed in this series.  I really enjoyed the book and I just don't think this TV production measures up to their usual Masterpiece productions.  Perhaps I just had my expectations up too high.

Frybabe

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #381 on: October 11, 2010, 02:16:33 PM »
JoanP, no, Wallander did not kill anyone in Faceless Killers. I don't recall that he did in The White Lioness either, but he was mighty depressed and was forced to take leave at the end of that one.

FlaJean, I am disappointed in them too. Did they change directors or something? There just seems to be something "off" about these two. I expect the last one will be no better. On the up side, I thought Branagh did a credible job portraying Wallander's depression: lack of will, lack of focus, lack of interest in anything.

The White Lioness, IMHO, is the best or one of the best of the  book series. We will probably not see it on Masterpiece Mysteries. More than half of the action took place in South Africa without Wallander present. The story line involved an assassination plot against Nelson Mandela. Sweden was the training ground for the assassin. Wallander's investigation of a murder led to the discovery of the plot. You know what? It might be worthy of a discussion on it's own considering the subject matter - the upheavals at the beginning of the end of apartheid.

BTW, last year I saw an excellent movie based on the covert discussions that brought down the Apartheid regime in South Africa called Endgame. I have yet to see Cry Freedom.

marcie

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #382 on: October 11, 2010, 03:50:24 PM »
JoanP, as Frybabe says, Wallander didn't kill the murderer in the book Faceless Killers. In the beginning of the book, The Man Who Smiled, Wallander is on leave of absence because of severe depression because he killed a bad guy in self defense. We don't experience that case. It is something that happened "off the books" between Faceless Killers and Man Who Smiled. I think that having Wallander kill the murderer in the PBS Faceless Killers and have that run over into The Man Who Smiled was a good way to handle the situation in the TV version since that event and the resulting depression has to be compressed for TV.

SPOILER ALERT
On the other hand, I don't like some of the things they did for the TV episode of The Man Who Smiled. They seemed to heighten the tension between Wallander and his colleagues, esp. Martinsson. That makes for more action/drama in the episode but it is less subtle than the book. I guess I prefer subtle. That also holds true for the way that Wallander goes about solving the crime. The slow, thoughtful, painstaking process of figuring out clues is what attracts me to the character in the book. The TV production doesn't have time to spend on that.

LOL about the rich businessman not smiling until the very end. I guess they didn't want to give away the culprit by having him smile early on.

marcie

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #383 on: October 11, 2010, 03:55:38 PM »
There were a couple of funny things in the book that had me laughing out loud. That's rare in the admittedly dreary view of Sweden we get from the books. One that I remember is when Wallander comes back to work the first day and goes into his office and realizes that his shirt is drenched with sweat from his nervousness. He doesn't have anything to dry himself with so he takes off his shirt and dries himself with the curtains. Then a colleague comes in to find him with his shirt off. I don't know why that made me laugh.

JoanP

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #384 on: October 15, 2010, 03:33:56 PM »
Marcie, yes, Wallander has his moments, doesn't he? - wiping his underarms on the curtains.  He really has sunken to a new low in this episode, though he seems to revive as the story goes on and return to his former sharp detective self.

Have you started "The Fifth Woman"  yet?  I've read the first 80 pages, and am hoping that this one will be the charm.  Though it is gory...

If you've started it, you know that Lisa H.....has become the new police chief now.  It appears that the decision was made to hire only one actor/actress for each role - so that even though they change in Mankell's novels, the one plays the role in all three episodes.  This explains where Ann-Britt Hoglund came in.  Did you notice the nice house Wallander lives in?  Didn't he live in a flat overlooking a busy street in the book?
I imagine that will be his home in future episodes.

\What I don't understand is why they had to change the manner in which the father and son were killed - and the name of the inn where Borman stayed.  (Whatever happened to Borman?)   Why?  Why? Why?

Apart from all this - don't you think the whole story with Arthur H.... was too James Bondish for a Wallander story?  The whole business with Wallander on the airport runway preventing the getaway in his little car...
It seemed to me that the actor playing Arthur decided to play the character the exact opposite to the way Mankell had portrayed him.  Or was it the way the director told him to play it? I think the whole ending hinged on his performance...and it really didn't make that much sense to me.
In the book, Mankell had him smiling from beginning right to the very end.  Wallander was determined to wipe the smile off his face.

Back to "The Fifth Woman" - and the mystery of these dead men.  I am getting an idea of what has happened...only because Mankell has introduced the killger early - as a woman...

Frybabe

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #385 on: October 15, 2010, 07:51:17 PM »
JoanK, I read The Fifth Woman earlier this year. It is right up there in my top three Wallander books. I hope they don't go mangling it up like the others. Shortening the story to fit in one 90minute episode is one thing; changing so much of the story, incidental to the main plot or not, is quite another.

Did anyone see the Mankell interview on the PBS website? He is not excluding the possibility of new Wallander books. He likes Branagh, but I didn't hear any comments about the many changes in the TV episodes.

marcie

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #386 on: October 15, 2010, 09:00:28 PM »
JoanP, I'm just starting THE FIFTH WOMAN now. I may not finish it before I watch the episode tomorrow evening but that's probably all right. Frybabe, that's great that you've rated the book so highly.

Thanks for mentioning the Mankell interview. Here's a link to the video Q&A:  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wallander/mankell2.html

salan

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #387 on: October 17, 2010, 04:46:23 PM »
I agree with what most of you have said.  I, too, thought that the Swedish Dept. of Tourism must hate these productions.  They leave me with no desire to visit Sweden.  Too dark, dreary and depressing!  I was disappointed in last week's production.  It was boring and slightly confusing.  I do like Kenneth Branagh, though.  I hope tonight's episode picks up some.
Sally

Frybabe

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #388 on: October 18, 2010, 01:34:26 PM »
Even though they changes some things again, I liked this one. It "held together" better than the last. Did any of you notice that Wallander's Dad's painting were dull and dreary colored, all grays and browns? One seemed to have a little yellow or orange, but not much.

ANNIE

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #389 on: October 18, 2010, 04:53:53 PM »
We watched The Fifth Woman and at least it wasn't so dark but DH says the story isn't quite the same because to tell it all would take twice as long.  Me, I am glad to see it over as I just didn't think this year was as well done as last.
"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." Robert Southey

Phyll

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #390 on: October 18, 2010, 05:25:09 PM »
And the paintings were very nearly all the same.  A few trees, with or without a grouse.  The father was telling Wallander that he was just "driving through life....never looking at anything".  It seems to me that the only thing the father looked at was a grove of trees and an occasional grouse.   ;)  I have high hopes for the upcoming Sherlock Holmes to be better than the Wallander series has been.
phyllis

Babi

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #391 on: October 19, 2010, 08:05:04 AM »
 So glad to hear Sherlock Holmes is up next.  I'll have to remember to start watching PBS
again next Sunday.
"I go to books and to nature as a bee goes to the flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey."  John Burroughs

JoanP

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #392 on: October 19, 2010, 02:41:09 PM »
The Fifth Woman sure was different, wasn't it?  We get to meet the killer in the very beginning - and then watch the police hurry to solve the crime before there are any more murders.  The motive is not too clear, though there are growing hints as the story goes on.  (I'm referring to the book, not the film, which I refuse to look at until I'm finished with the last 100 pages of the book. I want to hear the story directly from Henning Mankell's lips, before I see what PBS has done to it.) Annie, Ralph is probably right - there is a lot going on in the book which cannot be compressed into the hour and a half PBS gives it.  

It is violent, isn't it - and dark as you have noted. Who would want to visit Sweden after hearing of the worsening violence and crime there.  I finally got to listen to the interview with Mankell as Marcie suggested.  Here's the link in case you missed it.  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wallander/mankell2.html
Mankell made some interesting points in the interview.  One that answered the tourism question- it's WAY UP in Ystad.  People are coming from all over.  There are Wallander tours!!!

Another interesting point from the Interview - Mankell thought of Wallander in 1989.  He was appalled at racism and the growing violence in society.  He needed a policeman - a good policeman, which he defined as one who was aware that times were changing and that a new kind of policeman was needed to understand these changes.  As Mankell talked, I understood him to mean that crime, violence and racism are issues that must be addressed - in general, not just in Sweden.  I hadn't thought of that as I was reading the novel and the many references to the fact that violence is growing in Sweden- and will only get worse.

 Do you believe this is true the world over?

JudeS

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #393 on: October 21, 2010, 12:39:07 AM »
I didn't want to say terrible things about the PBS series so I shied away from this topic.  However I have finished  the three books  from PBS and have found that I have become somewhat addicted to the character, the author and Sweden.
I went to the library to find other books by  Mankell and I came across a book that may interest others.  It is called "The Pyramid".  There are five stories telling how Wallender became the detective he is in our books.
The first story introduces the twenty one year old detective. Next is Wallender as a young father. The third he is on the brink of middle age and troubled by a distant wife. In the forth he is a newly separated man.In the title story he is a veteran detective.
Each of these stories is related to Wallenders abilities as a policeman, how he solves his cases and how his powers have evolved.
Mankell is an excellent author of novels as well. One of his latest is "Italian Shoes". This is a fascinating look at a surgeon who decides to live on his own in the Swedish Archipelago and how the world he thinks he has left behind finds him. The Postman from "One Step Behind" plays a main role in this novel and becomes a fascinating character.
So in the end I say Kudos to PBS for the books even if the TV series was quie lacking.

marcie

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #394 on: October 21, 2010, 11:57:00 PM »
I too thought that the PBS series didn't do justice to the characters--especially Wallander--depicted in the books. There likely wasn't enough time to develop the character of Wallander and his relationship with his colleagues. The slow, painstaking, thoughtful, self-doubting, methodical procedures and thought processes of Wallander in the book make up his character for me. He has a gruff, impatient side but that seemed to be the main point that came out in the episodes. The way, in the book,  he would sometimes talk through points of the case and think to himself that he should be more respectful and understanding of others, didn't get portrayed in the episodes.

When not compared to the books, I thought the productions were good and Kenneth Branaugh acted the part well (though not as the Wallander in the book).

I really was involved in the books, especially The Fifth Woman.

marcie

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #395 on: October 21, 2010, 11:59:53 PM »
JoanP, you say
"As Mankell talked, I understood him to mean that crime, violence and racism are issues that must be addressed - in general, not just in Sweden.  I hadn't thought of that as I was reading the novel and the many references to the fact that violence is growing in Sweden- and will only get worse.

 Do you believe this is true the world over?"

I don't read other police procedurals but I would imagine that, from the point of view of law enforcement, the reader would get a bleak view of the state of society. The focus of those types of books is crime. Mankell gives us the broader view of what leads to increased crime. I don't know if other authors do that too.

rosemarykaye

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #396 on: October 22, 2010, 02:58:31 AM »
I have not seen any of the Wallender series, but here in the UK we get the Swedish original as well, and my mother says it is much, much better than the Branagh one.

I think Ian Rankin does go some way to addressing the causes of crime.  I've just finished his book "Dead Souls", which deals with paedophilia (not graphically, thank goodness), and also with the way our "roots" affect the course of our lives. Although he lives in Edinburgh and writes mostly about it, he was born in Fife and this novel returns in part to the run-down ex-mining towns that he knew as a child. 

I don't know if the TV adaptations of Rebus have been shown on PBS, but the books are much better.

Rosemary

JoanK

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #397 on: October 22, 2010, 02:44:09 PM »
No. we haven't gotten them yet, but I look forward to them. I thought of Ian Rankin when reading the Wallender books. They are similiar (absent the organized crime eliment present in Rankin).

Finally saw "The Fifth Woman" last night. I liked the production. I'm becoming addicted to Wallendar, too. Got to get "The Pyramid".

ANNIE

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #398 on: October 22, 2010, 03:39:09 PM »
Here's a link to the Reubus TV series that was shown  in the UK for 4 years but I don't know what network carried them.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243153/

These star John Hannah as Rebus.

And another link with a different actor playing Rebus.  Ken Stott in 2006 & 2007

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0867015/

I'm wondering if one couldn't rent them from Netflix??
"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." Robert Southey

JoanP

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Re: PBS Masterpiece Mystery 2010
« Reply #399 on: October 22, 2010, 03:48:25 PM »
Thank you, Jude.  I'm with JoanK, I've got to get the Pyramid now too.  I am also addicted to the Wallander character - and Branaugh's portray.  Apparently Mankell likes him too - didn't he say in the interview that there are 6 more episodes in the works?

That said, I have to say that I have been really frustrated with the adaptations. I know some of the changes are necessary - the novels are too full to compress into a film without losing something.  Maybe  I squirm because so much of what is important to me in the novel has not made it into the adaptations.  The edits seem to have been made to keep the plot line cohesive - so that the audience can follow.  We are not allowed  see to Wallander's intuitive detective work...but it's more than that, I think.

The two things that were left out of the PBS version of The Fifth Woman - Kurt Wallander finally got around to taking his father to Italy at the start of the novel.  This meant so much to heal the rift between father and son.  When they returned home, the murders began and it was during the investigation that Dad, well, I won't say because I don't want to spoil.  I don't know why that trip to Italy was not mentioned in the film - at all!

The other thing...Wallander really wants to buy a house - hoping that Baiba will come to Sweden and live with him.  He's watching the classified, he's even looked at one house.  Why on earth did the adapter think it was necessary to begin a romance with Anya Anderson?    That was beyond me...
I'm wondering now if this is setting the stage for future episodes.

There were good scenes...good acting - I'm going to have to think it over to get past the parts I found lacking.  Looking forward to hearing what you all thought of it.  Did you read the book?  That is important to know...

Will be back later to check out those links, Annie!