Before watching this I had seen later incarnations in the form of Krister Hendrikssen and Kenneth Branagh so it was interesting to see this earlier version starring Rolf Lassgård. He brought something different to the character, being far less angst ridden than Branagh's and more extrovert than that of Hendrikssen. The way the story was told felt similar though... although that might be because this story was reused in the Branagh version.
When we are introduced to Kurt Wallander he is giving a lecture to officers in Stockholm before retiring to his hotel bar where he meets a woman; they get chatting and buy each other drinks. Before long they are in bed together and it is only after they finish having sex that she tells him how much she expects to be paid, as he had no idea she was a prostitute he is understandably not amused. Once back in Ystad he keeps quiet about this embarrassing incident and is soon approached by a friend who believes his father was murdered even though it looks like he died in a car crash, Kurt believes he is imagining things but when his friend is shot he things that there may be reasons for suspicion after all. The father and son were lawyers and suspicion soon falls on a wealthy businessman; the only question is why would he want to commit murder and will Kurt be able to find the evidence before it is to late?
This story had appeared in the Branagh series but there were enough changes to keep me gripped watching this older version. Rolf Lassgård was fine in the role of Wallander and Marie Richardson put in a good performance as his girlfriend Maja. The bad guy as played by Claes Månsson was suitably creepy and when it becomes clear what he is involved in it is quite shocking.
When we are introduced to Kurt Wallander he is giving a lecture to officers in Stockholm before retiring to his hotel bar where he meets a woman; they get chatting and buy each other drinks. Before long they are in bed together and it is only after they finish having sex that she tells him how much she expects to be paid, as he had no idea she was a prostitute he is understandably not amused. Once back in Ystad he keeps quiet about this embarrassing incident and is soon approached by a friend who believes his father was murdered even though it looks like he died in a car crash, Kurt believes he is imagining things but when his friend is shot he things that there may be reasons for suspicion after all. The father and son were lawyers and suspicion soon falls on a wealthy businessman; the only question is why would he want to commit murder and will Kurt be able to find the evidence before it is to late?
This story had appeared in the Branagh series but there were enough changes to keep me gripped watching this older version. Rolf Lassgård was fine in the role of Wallander and Marie Richardson put in a good performance as his girlfriend Maja. The bad guy as played by Claes Månsson was suitably creepy and when it becomes clear what he is involved in it is quite shocking.