Comments on: Henning Mankell and Kurt Wallander

By: john davies

john davies — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:05:22 +0000

I liked Mastermind very much, but I couldn’t help feeling they had taken some of the ideas from ‘Silence of the Lambs’. Firstly, the switching from the entry into the house by the ‘SWAT’ team and the pictures of Therese, the incarceration in a cellar and the shots of Linda with a gun in the dark, unable to see her attacker. I felt I could place some of the other plot lines too(wasn’t Linda also kidnapped in ‘One Step Behind’? Nevertheless a welcome addition to the storylines in the novel.

By: venicelion

venicelion — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:35:06 +0000

In reply to Josh W. I'm not sure what you mean by 'better' but I agree with your overall take. I think the point about novel and TV series is that you invest quite a lot in the characters which means that even if the action sequence might seem banal, you are still drawn into the emotions of the central characters. There are a surprising number of Mankell narratives that include forms of migration and travel, but your point about this as a possible metaphor for the alien, the outcast etc. seems well made as well

By: Josh W

Josh W — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:59:20 +0000

Just saw mastermind, pretty good. Perhaps his relationship to globalisation as a source of problems is in terms of people not being welcomed in, not being made part of society. But that’s just off one film and no books, so take it or leave it. One problem though, I got a bit squeamish near the end and cut off, so I don’t know how it ended! I can guess though.

I felt it went downhill from the bit with the lift onwards, as it didn’t seem to me to live up to it’s setup. I’m pretty sure interesting situations were set up that were not used. The manikin could have lead to something a lot better.