'Young Wallander' Preview: Netflix series focuses on formative years of iconic detective via Adam Pålsson
Crime novels featuring disturbed, troubled detectives are a dime a dozen. Each one grittier than the last, each one narrating an even violent story than the previous one. But none of these compare to Henning Mankell's haunting, deeply emotional series about the fictional Swedish police Inspector Kurt Wallander.
Mankell's novels have been adopted into Swedish television films and series and British television series, and the character of Wallander had been previously portrayed on screen by iconic actors Rolf Lassgård, Krister Henriksson, and Sir Kenneth Branagh. Netflix is now bringing the popular Swedish detective Wallander to the screen in a modern-day rendition. Set in Ystad, which is where most Wallander stories are based, the young Wallander in his early 20s and is fresh out of the police academy. The Netflix series focuses on his formative experiences - in the police force and also his personal life as he takes on his first-ever case. After recently graduating from the police academy, he suddenly witnesses a brutal crime and is pulled into solving it under the wing of superintendent Hemberg. Starring Adam Pålsson as Kurt Wallander, we watch how he tries to navigate the increasingly violent environment of present-day Sweden.
Joining the cast alongside Pålsson in the titular role is Richard Dillane as Superintendent Hemberg, who gives Wallander his first-ever case, Leanne Best as Frida Rask, Ellise Chappell as Mona, who, according to the books becomes his wife, Yasen Atour as Reza, Charles Mnene as Bash, Jacob Collins-Levy as Karl-Axel Munck, Alan Emrys as Gustav Munck and Kiza Deen as Mariam. 'Young Wallander' is directed by Ole Endresen and Jens Jonsson, and written by Ben Harris.
There are not one, but on several occasions that Branagh's performance has moved us to tears - some scenes are so investing and fresh for it is a rare feat to see a police detective in a vulnerable space as Wallander. The actor had once described Wallander as "an existentialist who is questioning what life is about and why he does what he does every day, and for whom acts of violence never become normal. There is a level of empathy with the victims of crime that is almost impossible to contain, and one of the prices he pays for that sort of empathy is a personal life that is a kind of wasteland". Will Pålsson get anywhere close to the legendary portrayals of the detective with the new Netflix series? Or will he create a league of his own?
You can watch the show's trailer here:
'Young Wallander' arrives on Netflix on Thursday, September 3, 2020.