WALLANDER: THE WHITE LIONESS
UK, 2015, 90 minutes, Colour.
Kenneth Branagh, Bonnie Hanna, John Kani, Alex Ferns, Limogang Tsipa, Tumosho Masha.
Directed by Benjamin Caron.
Kenneth Branagh appeared in three series of Wallander television films. This is the first of three in the final series.
Author Henning Mankel could make his readers feel very much at home in the bleakness of Sweden, whatever the season. He also had a great interest in Africa, quite a number of his novels set in southern and eastern Africa. This one is set in Cape Town but has excursions out into the countryside.
Wallander is in Cape Town for a conference, Making a Difference, when he is approached by the police chief to explain the disappearance of a Swedish woman, which the audience has seen as the opening of the film. Wallander goes out to investigate, interviews the distraught husband, teams up with a local policewoman, a widow whose policeman husband was killed in the line of duty, meets a veteran of the apartheid years who spent a long time in prison, sees a local holding rallies for forthcoming elections, finds a young man who has been set up to train for an assassination attempt.
Wallander is still rather grim in his outlook, sometimes taciturn, but incurably eager to continue investigations even into dangerous situations. While the film is basically the solving of a murder mystery, it also takes us into recent decades of South African politics, especially corruption at a political level, and at a level for contemporary development programs.
1. The popularity of the series? Kenneth Branagh’s presence and performance? The Swedish detective, police work, cases, personal life?
2. The South African settings, the countryside, open spaces, villages? The contrast with Cape Town, urban development? The police conference, rooms and hotels? The more local scenes – with a touch of squalor compared with the fine mansions? The musical score?
3. The title – and the indication as a symbol of hope?
4. The setting of the plot, the white woman driving, the turn, the buildings, the encounter with Victor, her disappearance? The concern of her husband, his Christian work, with youth, his anger with the police, his past record in Sweden, the possibility for change?
5. Wallander in South Africa, the Skype conversation with his daughter? The conference, Making a Difference? His attending the sessions, especially the tourism and police conference from Max? The breaks, his being approached by the police, Wallander and Grace in their search for the backup shooter, Wallander finding the window, persuading the shooter to back down? Max and his leaving the rally, their finding him dead in his office? The issues of corruption in South Africa – even from those who were imprisoned for their beliefs?
6. The training for the shooting, the security guard, on his bike, Wallander and the number plate, identifying him, going to the warehouse, finding the dead woman, the confrontation, Wallander hitting him, his falling through the floor to his death? The phone call from Max?
7. The politician, the rallies in the towns, the people supporting him, Max and his support? The warning about the death threat, his not wanting to back down, his speeches?
8. A variation on a murder investigation, the police work, the variation on the theme of political corruption?
