Sidetracked

Episode aired May 10, 2009
TV-PG
1h 29m

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

1.7K

YOUR RATING

Kenneth Branagh and John McEnery in Sidetracked (2008)

Crime Drama Mystery Thriller

Kurt Wallander is a police inspector in the Swedish town of Ystad. Shortly after he has seen a young girl kill herself by self-immolation, he is called to investigate the murder of governmen... Read allKurt Wallander is a police inspector in the Swedish town of Ystad. Shortly after he has seen a young girl kill herself by self-immolation, he is called to investigate the murder of government minister Wetterstedt. He has been scalped. Wealthy business-man Carlman is murdered in t... Read allKurt Wallander is a police inspector in the Swedish town of Ystad. Shortly after he has seen a young girl kill herself by self-immolation, he is called to investigate the murder of government minister Wetterstedt. He has been scalped. Wealthy business-man Carlman is murdered in the same fashion, and a serial killer is clearly responsible. Drunken ex-journalist Lars Ma... Read all

Director
- Philip Martin
Writers
- Richard Cottan
- Henning Mankell
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

1.7K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Philip Martin
Writers
- Richard Cottan
- Henning Mankell
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Kenneth Branagh's performance as Swedish cop Kurt Wallander makes it the third time when a famous Swedish movie/television cop gets portrayed by an actor who is not from Sweden/speaking Swedish. The first two are Walter Matthau as Jake Martin (Jake Martin is the americanized version of Martin Beck) in The Laughing Policeman (1973) and Derek Jacobi as Martin Beck in The Man Who Went Up in Smoke (1980).

Goofs
The old reporter tells Wallander about a native American practice of offering up a scalp as a sacrifice for whatever. This is complete nonsense - a Swede's imaginary version of native Americans.

Quotes
[last lines]
Povel Wallander: When you were a boy you used to ask my about my work, the painting. "Why are they always the same, Dad?" "Why don't you do something different?" I could never explain. You see, each morning, when I start, I think I'll do something else. This morning I'll paint a seascape. This morning I'll do a still life, maybe an abstract, just splash the paint, see where it takes me. And then I start, and every time, I paint the same thing. The landscape. Whatever I do, this is what comes out. What you've got is your painting. I may not like it, you may not like it, but it's yours.
Povel Wallander: You know what I'd like before I lose what's left of my mind? I'd like to go to Rome. I'd like that. Look at the paintings. Other people's paintings. Can we do that?
Kurt Wallander: Yeah. Yes, Dad. We can do that.

Connections
Version of Villospår (2001)

Soundtracks
Nostalgia
Composed by Emily Barker
Performed by Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo

User reviews6

Review

Featured review

9/10

An excellent beginning for Branagh's interpretation of Wallander.

Kurt Wallander witnesses the harrowing scene of a girl setting herself alight in front of him. Not long after his investigation into the events of her death he's called to the murder of a Government minister, and soon after a wealthy businessman.

The question with this first episode was always going to be 'how does it compare to the Swedish version?' the answer to that I'd say is particularly well, so often you watch a beautifully produced slick drama which contains zero substance, here though Branagh is able to inject something special into his performance. There is a harshness to each of the killings, and also a sense of consequences to the crimes.

Beautifully acted by everyone, Branagh naturally stands out as the enigmatic lead, but David Warner was sensational as his troubled father.

I'm sure many were surprised at just how good this was, I thought it was excellent. 9/10