Kenneth Branagh’s Wallander: Dogs of Riga – Wallander: The Dogs of Riga (2012)

Directed by: Esther Campbell | 90 minutes | crime, thriller | Actors: Kenneth Branagh, Dragos Bucur, Zoltan Butuc, Jim Bywater, Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Arvydas Dapsys, Mark Hadfield, Radoslaw Kaim, Barnaby Kay, Søren Malling, Anamaria Marinca, Richard McCabe, Ciarán Owens, Arturs Skrastins, Sarah Smart, Rebekah

While Wallander struggles with himself, he suddenly has to work hard. The inspector’s help is desperately needed when two corpses wash ashore in a rubber dinghy on the south coast of Skåne. The inspector soon discovers that the cause of death of the two deceased men is not natural. Wallander has to take out his private demons and do some police work. He soon finds himself in trouble, because the railway takes him to the Latvian capital Riga. The gloomy Wallander sinks into a web of intrigue.

Branagh is on a roll as the introverted Wallander. Also in this film – called ‘Dogs of Riga’ – he has a hard time with himself and with his police work. The inspector is actually too sensitive for his job. While his jaded colleagues (seem to) do their work without too much effort, Wallander toils through the day. There is no such thing as a quiet life for him. The tragedy of the man for whom life is very hard is strongly interpreted by Branagh.

Yet something strange is going on with this British remake of the Swedish series of the same name. The series was shot in Sweden and place names have remained the same, resulting in strange situations. (Street) names and signs are all Swedish, while British are spoken. It remains strange to see a Brit – bearing a Scandinavian name – reading a Swedish newspaper. It just isn’t right. The choice of the same locations from the Swedish books seems artificial. It would have been better if the makers had opted for a British setting.

Don’t let that niggle stop you from watching this series, though. Lovers of good acting and character development will love this series. You can’t call ‘Wallander’ hip, because the cast is too ‘old’ for that (no soapies or celebs participate) and the tempo is too slow. The focus is mainly on atmosphere. The Swedish landscape creates a melancholic atmosphere. The same goes for the moody soundtrack.