Kurt Wallander

Kurt Wallander is a fictional Swedish police inspector created by author Henning Mankell. The protagonist of many of Mankell's novels, he lives and works in the town of Ystad, outside the city of Malmö in the southern province of Skåne, Sweden.

Wallander was born in approximately 1948, and has been divorced since his wife, Mona, left him. He has one daughter, Linda, who eventually joins the police force as well. He has few close friends and had a tempestuous relationship with his elderly father prior to his death. His father was an artist, heading towards dementia in his later years, who painted the same landscape approximately 7,000 times.

Mankell's style (at least after translation into English) is spare and succinct. Part of Wallander's appeal as a character is his comparative ordinariness; he is a middle-aged "everyman" without terrible secrets or exceptional failings. Prone to eat poorly, sleep irregularly, drink too much, and not get enough exercise, he must also deal with diabetes and weight management problems. He also has a quick temper.

Wallander's concerns center around his job, of which he grows increasingly weary. He often wonders whether he made the right choice by becoming a police officer. He breaks the law from time to time in the course of his investigations and was sued for police brutality early in his career. Wallander struggles with the fact that he once accidentally shot and killed a man in the fog. He has been caught drunk-driving, though his fellow officers never reported him.

Frequently at loose ends socially and with his family, he maintains a somewhat inconsistent romantic relationship with Baiba Liepa, a woman in Riga, Latvia, whom he met while investigating a murder there.

Mankell's portrayal of him might apply to many other men of Wallander's generation—dedicated and hard-working, but disoriented in a changing world whose social and moral fractures are reflected in its gruesome crimes. The novels describe a Sweden whose time seems to have passed, a society that aspires to cherish the dignity of all, but is nibbled from within by worms of corruption, struggling to find its way.

Kurt Wallander novels

The following Kurt Wallander novels have been translated into English:

• Faceless Killers (Mördare utan ansikte)
• The Dogs of Riga (Hundarna i Riga)
• The White Lioness (Den vita lejoninnan)
• The Man Who Smiled (Mannen som log)
• Sidetracked (Villospår)
• The Fifth Woman (Den femte kvinnan)
• One Step Behind (Steget efter)
• Firewall (Brandvägg)
• The Pyramid (Pyramiden), a collection of short stories about Wallander's past.

The following novel features Wallander's daughter Linda in the lead, while he is a secondary character:

• Before the Frost (Innan frosten)

The following Kurt Wallander works have not yet been translated into English:

• Händelse om hösten (The Grave), a short story from 2004 published only in Holland.

Kurt Wallander depicted in films

Faceless Killers, The Dogs of Riga, The White Lioness, Sidetracked, The Fifth Woman, One Step Behind, Firewall, The Pyramid have all been made into films in Sweden starring Rolf Lassgård as Wallander.

Yellow Bird, the production company co-founded by Mankell, is currently involved in one of the largest ever Scandinavian film projects. Thirteen new films will be created featuring Inspector Wallander. This project was started in the summer of 2004 and is expected to be complete at the end of 2006. With the exception of the first film, Before The Frost, all of the scripts are original screenplays rather than adaptations of the books. Actor Krister Henriksson plays the part of Wallander in these new productions.

Celebrated British actor Kenneth Branagh is set to team up with the BBC and Yellow Bird for the production of a series of three films based on the Wallander novels Sidetracked, Firewall and FirewallThe films will be shot on location in Ystad. The three films are expected to cost a combined total of £6 million ($12 million) to produce. BBC Wallander press release

External links

• Official Henning Mankell site
• Comprehensive Henning Mankell fan site
• Ystad Wallander tour
• Article from The Observer in regards to plans to bring Wallander to British television
• Yellow Bird site
• A German Wallander Fanpage