In this, the final episode of the British dramatization of the Swedish detective series of novels, Wallander (Kenneth Branagh) investigates another complicated case involving Hakan von Enke (Terrence Hardiman). Hakan is the father-in-law of Wallander's daughter Linda (Jeany Spark), so there is a distinctly personal aspect to this case.
The plot hinges on an incident taking place during the mid-Eighties when Hakan was involved in an incident where Soviet submarines encroached into Swedish waters. Nothing is quite what it seems: loyalties are brought into question, and Hakan's wife Louise (Ann Bell) is revealed to have been involved, despite outward appearances. In the end Wallander unravels the plot and confronts Hakan in a climactic sequence taking place in a deserted tunnel.
Of more interest in this episode, perhaps, is Wallander's gradually deteriorating state of mind. Although gamely pursuing his chosen career, it's clear that he is subject to moments where he quite literally does not know where he is or what he is doing. In his son-in-law Hans's (Harry Haddon-Paton's) office, for example, he loses the power to communicate, much to everyone's consternation. Later on he is discovered outside his house tearing off his shirt and jacket - reminiscent of King Lear on the heath - and is only prevented from causing further self-harm by his daughter's sympathetic ministrations. Branagh is very good at such moments, as he shows how Wallander's mind oscillates between extreme rationalism and wild imagining.
In the end the story is transformed into a race against time: will Wallander be able to solve the case before he finally succumbs to his illness? The ending is predictable, but engaging nonetheless; and is followed by a denouement in which Wallander empties his office desk and communicates with his deceased father (David Warner).
As with the other episodes in this short series, the action unfolds at a leisurely pace, with attention paid as much to the gray Swedish landscape as to the characters operating within it. "The Troubled Man" is a melancholy piece, but fascinating nonetheless.
The plot hinges on an incident taking place during the mid-Eighties when Hakan was involved in an incident where Soviet submarines encroached into Swedish waters. Nothing is quite what it seems: loyalties are brought into question, and Hakan's wife Louise (Ann Bell) is revealed to have been involved, despite outward appearances. In the end Wallander unravels the plot and confronts Hakan in a climactic sequence taking place in a deserted tunnel.
Of more interest in this episode, perhaps, is Wallander's gradually deteriorating state of mind. Although gamely pursuing his chosen career, it's clear that he is subject to moments where he quite literally does not know where he is or what he is doing. In his son-in-law Hans's (Harry Haddon-Paton's) office, for example, he loses the power to communicate, much to everyone's consternation. Later on he is discovered outside his house tearing off his shirt and jacket - reminiscent of King Lear on the heath - and is only prevented from causing further self-harm by his daughter's sympathetic ministrations. Branagh is very good at such moments, as he shows how Wallander's mind oscillates between extreme rationalism and wild imagining.
In the end the story is transformed into a race against time: will Wallander be able to solve the case before he finally succumbs to his illness? The ending is predictable, but engaging nonetheless; and is followed by a denouement in which Wallander empties his office desk and communicates with his deceased father (David Warner).
As with the other episodes in this short series, the action unfolds at a leisurely pace, with attention paid as much to the gray Swedish landscape as to the characters operating within it. "The Troubled Man" is a melancholy piece, but fascinating nonetheless.