While taking care of my father over the weekend I discovered that Kurt Wallander, the fictional character created by Henning Mankell, in only a way that Masterpiece Theater can deliver.
Every May Masterpiece Theater takes on murder and mystery for the summer with their Masterpiece Mystery series. Starting everything off is the Wallander Series.
4 time academy award winning British actor Kenneth Brannaugh bring the scruffy Swedish sleuth to the screen in a three episode mini-series.
Though the series started on May 10th you can watch it online or you can purchase your own copy.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Kurt Wallander, he is an inspectorwho lives in the town of Ystad Sweden, in Skåne. As a young police officer, he was nearly killed when a drunk he and his partner were arresting stabbed him with a butcher's knife. Wallander was once married, but his wife Mona left hm and he has since had a difficult relationship with his only child, LInda, who just barely survived a suicide attempt when she was fifteen. He also had issues with his late father, an artist who painted the same landscape 7,000 times; the elder Wallander strongly disapproved of his son's decision to join the police force, and frequently derided him for it. Inspector Wallander has a couple of close friends because of his lifestyle. He has an on again off again relationship with Baiba Liepa in Latvia.He drinks a little too much and is a food junkie,and has anger management issues. He also has a problem with his blood sugar and diabetes.
As time goes on he wrestles with a man he shot and killed by accident in the fog and constantly questions if he should have become a police officer at all.
Check out our June issue of our LearnSweden e-zine to learn more about Henning Mankell and Inspector Wallander. To sign-up for our e-zine please go here.
