A series of thirteen 90-minute episodes based on original stories from immensely popular Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell, Wallander follows the titular chief inspector Kurt Wallander (Krister Henriksson) as he investigates crimes and solves mysteries in the deceptively dark underbelly of picturesque modern Sweden.
I was first exposed to Wallander when BBC announced they were releasing the show starring Kenneth Branagh. While researching that I discovered the show was based on a series of books by Swedish author Henning Mankell, and the character had been adapted for the screen before. This set includes 13 episodes starring Krister Henriksson as "Wallander," but it's not the first time he's played the part. In 2005-2006 he appeared in 13 episodes of the show, which makes this collection "season 2." I'm assuming Music Box doesn't include that anywhere on the package because they don't hold the rights to season 1 (MHz Networks has those episodes). These episodes are actually new stories created by Mankell for TV, not adaptations of his books (the books have been adapted in another series of Swedish movies, as well as the Branagh series for BBC). "The Revenge" (the first episodes) was released in Swedish theaters, and has been sold as a season along with the other 12 episodes to markets around the world.
This 7 disc set includes the 13 episodes from the second season:
Disc 1 (3:07:40)
The Revenge (1:34:56)
The Guilt (1:32:44)
Disc 2 (3:01:41)
The Courier (1:31:17)
The Thief (1:30:24)
Disc 3 (3:01:49)
The Cellist (1:32:22)
The Priest (1:29:27)
Disc 4 (3:05:58)
The Leak (1:32:50)
Th Sniper (1:33:08)
Disc 5 (3:05:37)
The Angel of Death (1:32:43)
The Ghost (1:32:54)
Disc 6 (3:08:08)
The Heritage (1:35:52)
The Collector (1:32:16)
Disc 7 (1:32:05)
The Witness (1:32:05)
Video
When I watched "The Revenge" I was blown away by the quality of the video. It was 10/10 stuff; perfect black level, no noise or grain, and just an all-round beautiful picture. Then I watched the second episode and scrunched my nose a bit. This one had noise in the dark scenes, and quite a lot of aliasing throughout the picture. That's how the other 11 episodes looked as well, and when I read that the first episode had been shown theatrically it all made sense. My guess (and that's all this is), is that they had a bigger budget and better equipment for the first episode, and it was scaled back for the other 12. All the episodes are Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1). With just two episodes per disc, there's no "play all" feature, and no chapter after the opening credits (but it's not appropriate anyway).
Audio
I was quite disappointed with the Swedish Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track on the set. It is extremely reliant on the center speaker and there's very little coming out of the other speakers at all. Some good use of the sub-woofer is made, but that's about it. I found the optional English subtitles to be quite good; everything made sense, and there were only one or two instances where they went a little too quickly.
Recently I've been on a quest to watch a lot of foreign-language material, so the release of Wallander fit nicely into my current viewing habits. When I was younger the thought of reading subtitles was a big turn off. Of course that was back when I watched a ton of garbage TV, and my tastes were less refined (I still watch some garbage, but I know it's garbage). Now I look to expose myself to quality TV, no matter where it's produced, or what language it's in. I can watch a foreign movie or TV show as long as there are English subtitles, and I'd much rather have subtitles over a dub (unless it's a cartoon, since all the dialog is recorded in studio anyway and doesn't come from an actor on the screen).
Wallander is a good show, and I'm a bit annoyed that I've missed the entire first season, though I didn't feel the storylines were affected by it. With that said, you can bet I'll be tracking down the MHz Networks releases to add to my collection. There's one thing that bothers me a lot about the show; all these crazy crimes happen in a city of less than 20,000 people. Wow, it must be a dangerous place.
This is my first experience with a Music Box Films release, and doubt it'll be the last. The booklet included in the set is very nice, and features information about Mankell, plus interviews with the author and a producer. I thought the packaging was attractive, though I'm not a fan of the disc holders they used (the plastic springs that hold a disc in place). Still, it's a nice, attractive set. I hope that by reviewing shows like this I convince someone to take a risk watching a foreign TV show. Break away from only watching American and British shows (and the odd Canadian production), and try something new. If it's not Wallander, maybe you'll find another foreign show to enjoy.
