Kommissar Wallander The Man Who Smiled (2008–2016) Online

Kurt Wallender (Kenneth Branagh) tackles the case of "The Man Who Smiled" in this entry into the series. After killing a man in the line of duty, Wallender quits the force for a time, during which he is approached by a friend who needs his help. He is convinced that his elderly father was murdered and did not die as the result of a car accident. Wallender says that he is unable to help. Then his friend is found dead as well. Both father and son had received threatening postcards. Though someone else has been assigned to the case, Wallender feels it is his duty to investigate. Father and son had involvement in the foundation of a wealthy man, and Wallender is led there to see what he can find out. What he learns is shattering and leads to a violent conclusion.

This is a very intense story, very dark - if possible, it's even darker and more intense than the episode that precedes it, in which Wallender quits the force. Unshaven and rumpled, Wallender trudges through this case with a world's worth of guilt on his shoulders.

This is in no way to put down the excellent performances or story. However, sometimes gritty programs like this are not to everyone's taste, and they're certainly not for people looking to be cheered up! Branagh is fantastic as an unhappy man whose temperament seems too sensitive for his line of work.

Wallander is struggling mentally to come to terms with his recent actions, where he killed someone in the line of duty. Wallander now off work on medication is approached by Sten Torstenssen, who is convinced his elderly father's death was murder, not accidental. After some deliberation Wallander clumsily returns to work, much to the annoyance of Magnus Martinsson, who had been heading up the case. As Wallander gets his head together and returns to work he uncovers some hideous truths surrounding supposed African aid.

It's true that every episode of the series captures the true spirit of noir, gritty, dark, atmospheric, but The Man who smiled is particularly dark and deep, disturbing almost. That said it deals with true to life events, some unfortunately which are depressing and sad, but it also through the character of Anders Ekman shows a willingness in people to turn their lives around and make things right.

Branagh as always hugely charismatic and strong, great to see him show a different, darker side of the character. Another heart wrenching performance from David Warner as his dad. Hard to chose between Rupert Graves's character or Vincent Regan's valiant Anders who was standout guest star.

I thought this was excellent. 9/10

Kurt Wallander (Kenneth Branagh) continues to face difficulties, after leaving Ystad Municipality Police Force in the last episode, experiencing flashbacks of claiming a life in self-defense, and continuing his ongoing problems with his remaining family members, Povel Wallander (David Warner), his ailing disoriented father, and Linda Wallander (Jeany Spark), his rebellious daughter, who visits her Grandfather Povel at his nursing home, but hasn't been answering her father's messages.

This time around, Povel strikes Kurt in front of Linda, who pays a subsequent momentary visit to Kurt, before her taxicab arrives to transport her to her exiting train.

Wallander has been spending the remainder of his time away from the Police Force at a beach-side resort cottage in southern Skåne County, Sweden, at which the hospitable hostess, Anna (Sally Hurst), convinces Kurt to return to Ystad after an old friend asks Wallander to investigate his father's death after a vehicular mishap.

Police Chief Lisa Holgersson (Sadie Shimmin) offers to reinstate Wallander, by handing him his badge and weapon, while Anne-Britt Hoglund (Sarah Smart) agrees to investigate the incident, before reporting a three-legged kitchen chair discovered inside the boot of the automobile wreckage. Nyberg (Richard McCabe) is on hand to study the results of the autopsy, while Magnus Martinsson (Tom Hiddleston) claims the case as his own, but offering to allow Wallander to investigate his leads, after Kurt initially refuses to help, causing a suspected suicide or another possible murder of the one who sought Kurt's help.

Gustaf Torstensson (Roland Hedlund) and his son, Sten Torstensson (David Sibley), have been operating a law firm, specializing in Customs and Importing consultation, and having the wealthy philanthropist Alfred Harderberg (Rupert Graves) as their client. Berta Duner (Angela Thorne), Sten's secretary, tells Wallander that while Gustaf did most of his work for the Harderberg Foundation from his residence, Sten would spend most of his working hours at the office. Gustaf, Sten and Alfred have each received a postcard, dated July 08th, reading, "You will all die. You are worthless," and Berta retains an embossed envelope from Eider Duck Hotel.

Betty Laurensson (Sandra Voe) and husband, Hans Laurensson (John Rogan), operate Eider Duck Hotel, which Wallander visits, and where Betty and Hans remember Kurt as boy, who would vacation there with Povel. They also remember the Nordfeldts, who had visited in July. Elin Nordfeldt (Emma Griffiths Malin), a doctor, and niece of Jurgen Nordfeldt (Benedict Taylor), is scheduled to present a lecture in Town Hall this evening, discussing her and Jurgen's missions to the Sudan.

Wallander pays a visit to Harderberg Castle (which greatly resembles the setting of "Miss Marple: The Secret of Chimneys," also 2010) and meets Alfred and his employees, Sjølander (Kimmo Rajala), Harderberg's body guard, and Anders Ekman (Vincent Regan) Harderberg's assistant security guard and gatekeeper, a former police officer and old acquaintance of Wallander, who seeks Kurt's assistance to reinstate him to the Force, after accidentally slaying an innocent teenage girl in a vehicular-pedestrian accident resulting from a police chase.

Anders Ekman initially asks Kurt to socialize over drinks, but then follows Wallander from the police station to residence to deliver report, explaining that their situations have similarities and differences, but Ekman's prohibits him from reinstatement. Yet he continues to investigate leads through his capacity at Harderberg Castle to report to Wallander and his official team.

While Wallander continues his harsh flashbacks amid his family problems, he turns to tranquilizers, which cause violent side-effects, as he is seen demolishing his living room appliances upon returning to a power outage. Amid these types of maladies, Wallander attempts to compose a calm exterior, while investigating the two murders.

Berta accompanies Wallander to the Torstensson residence, for which Wallander holds a set of keys, to unlock a drawing room, to discover a collection of valuable iconic paintings along with a medical organ transplant container linked to Jurgen Nordfeldt's plastics company.

But after discussing the postcards with, and learning from a very nervous Elin Nordfeldt that victims are being slain to harvest $120,000 for their organs, a car bomb explodes, claiming a third victim, and when Wallander follows a lead to a trailer park, birth 22, he discovers another, a fourth attempted murder victim, who possibly does not survive, as the condition is not reported.

After uncovering evidence of shipments of human body parts of twelve victims slain for the money, Wallander heads for a showdown with the assistance of former officer Anders Ekman, all leading to more murder or bloodshed in self-defense, so it's rather easy to loose track of the body count here, but this episode contains at least the five new murders in and around Ystad plus the overseas murders and the additional bodies turning up before the final credits roll.

In the previous episode, Wallander has surrendered his gun and his badge and headed for parts unknown. He is a mess. He is probably bipolar to start with; now add all the guilt that goes with killing another man. He has this tendency to be so private that he won't let anyone invade his world. A friend comes to him and asks for help and he pushes him away. He has done this before but doesn't seem to have learned. The case here is the death of a man and his son in two different incidents. Once Kurt realizes he could have acted ahead of time, he dives in with both feet. The problem is that he hasn't recovered and his superiors think he's a bit balm (which he is). All this eventually leads to the discovery of a worldwide scheme to kill and take body parts from third world countries for transplant. A body is worth well over a hundred thousand dollars to these guys. Also in this is a continuation of the estrangement of Wallander and his daughter and his father, who is suffering from Alzheimers or some type of dementia This offering suffers from too much self pity and inaction. Still, there are some interesting aspects to the case. By the way, the daughter is an unsympathetic snot.

Some years ago, I read my first Inspector Wallander book, a volume called The Man who Smiled. I half liked the book: the first part is a fine police procedural about a couple of mysterious murders of seemingly respectable citizens that happen in some Swedish provincial town, the investigation being led by taciturn, middle-aged Inspector Wallander, who has come back from retirement to solve this and has obviously been scarred by life. However, the second part of the book was less interesting (SPOILERS AHEAD): halfway into the book it becomes clear that a mysterious and supposedly humanitarian local multimillionaire – who seems almost like a villain from a James Bond movie - is strongly connected to the killings, and the book becomes more silly and less believable.

So here is the adaptation, made for British television, starring Kenneth Branagh as Wallander. That Swedish characters are played by British actors speaking English is not much of a problem for me. Branagh is fine, although he makes Wallander look more washed out than in the book, if memory does not fail. The villain here is played by Rupert Graves, and he seems less slimy and charismatic than in the novel. There is a lot of moody music and a somewhat artsy photography, which I don't think was really necessary. The expository material about the clues is dealt very rapidly, probably to get all of the novel in an hour and a half time slot (I suppose one can still get the bulk of the plot, if one hasn't read the book). Despite these caveats, I think this adaptation gets from me a passing mark. It is nothing spectacular, but it is professionally made. It certainly could have been worse.