Wallander

First of all to say I'm really enjoying the second series but I find myself intrigued with the look of the production; there seems to be a muted colour pallete throughout, bit of a 'washed out' feel to it which I guess reflects Wallander's state of mind.
But I wondered if anyone had any insights in to choice of the interior design which seems sparse and fairly dated.The fashion, in particularly the womens, seems to sugest the 70's. In fact, the mobile phones and contemporary cars almost seem out of place with the period being evoked. Old cars, aged BMX bikes, dated sewing machines crop up frequently.
So i wonder why they've gone for this look? Is this an accurate depiction of Sweden today? I don't know much about Sweden (apart from the clean, functional style of furniture associated with IKEA.)
Any thoughts?

Hi there,

Sweden (well Stockholm) is fairly with it in most parts. The swedes do seem to wear what they want in fashion terms so you do see quite a mix of clothing styles. Some rather traditional too. The same with interiors of houses too, they tend to be a fair mix mix, going from modern Ikea to traditional n flowery designs. I think in the smaller towns and cities in Sweden there tned to be more traditional styles in general than modern.

Thanks for that. The production has such a strong visual style I wasn't sure if the dated interiors, from wallpaper to light fittings, were designed to reinforce Wallander's 'tired' outlook. I was quite liking my theory actually but I suppose I might be over thinking things.

I think they've gone for a slightly stylised "what a Brit thinks Sweden might be like" view. Wallander's mobile and the IT is current - they're not period pieces, btu Swedish interior design can be a bit more "classic" (almost retro) in my experience (I go there every year and speak a bit of the language) - with 50s and 60s stuff that was bought by relatives still in use.

The TV4 series being shown on BBC Four (not based on the original Mankell novels but on storylines created by Henning Mankell - apart from the first which IS based on a novel) is made by the same production company (well co-produced with) and they've gone for a less stylised, more naturalistic look I think. The second series, influenced by the first Branagh productions, have gone for shooting HD on Red, rather than on 16mm, but haven't pushed the grading quite so much.

(The first series has English subtitles on the Swedish DVD release, as did the first couple of the second series, which are being released on DVD monthly. However the last three or four - starting with Cellisten - haven't had English subtitles, so I've had to source them myself)

There are SVT adaptations of the original novels that were made in the 90s - and I've seen them as well. In the main they're quite straightforward, though one of them is very "arty". Only two or three have English subtitles.