For UK viewers BBC Four will be showing a documentary on the popularity of Scandinavian mystery and detective fiction. The program will feature the works of Henning Mankell (Wallander) and Stieg Larsson (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).
I would truly love to see this documentary since I'm a great fan of Scandinavian mysteries and detective fiction and television shows based on the work of these great writers. I love the complexity of the stories, the flawed yet brilliant protagonists, and the psychological motives behind the crimes. The stories also don't shy away from political and social issues that often transcend national boundaries.
So if you're lucky to be in the UK or be able to see BBC Four tonight, click below for further information:
I've posted here before about some of my favorite Scandinavian Mystery TV series we've been lucky enough to see in the US and you can find them at the links below:
Of course, many people know who Mikael Persbrandt is, but in a world dominated by Hollywood films, he's not as well known as he should be. But that will change soon.
Today it was announced by New Line Cinema that Mikael Persbrandt will play the shape-shifter Beorn in "The Hobbit". You can read more about his character HERE but beware of spoilers.
I know about Mikael Persbrandt because of the Swedish TV Series" Beck"based on the detective novels by Maj Sjowall and PerWahloo. I was already a fan of the novels when I became a fan of the series thanks to US Public Television (MHZ International Mystery). Mr. Persbrandt played Gunvald Larsson, one of the lead characters and one of great police detective Martin Beck's fellow policemen.
With Peter Haber who plays Martin Beck
Below are a few descriptive sentences about the character of Gunvald Larsson from the Beck novel "The Man on the Balcony":
" Gunvald Larsson entered the room. Exactly thirty-seven minutes had passed since he had been called up and the taxi receipt was still in his hand. Since they had last seen him he had shaved and put on a clean shirt...It was some little while before Gunvald Larsson said anything. He busied himself with the tape recorder, the note pad and his pencils. There was no doubt some sort of psychological reason for this, Martin Beck thought as he regarded his colleagues."
You can click on the link below to see a few scenes of Mikael Persbrandt as Gunvald Larsson. Even if you, like me,can't understand Swedish, you still get an idea of the his performance in the series:
I wish MHZ Networks or other US Public Television stations would show the Beck series again (with subtitles of course), and maybe they will now with all the PR about The Hobbit and the actors involved.
There's a great interview of Mikael Persbrandt with film expert Michael Jeck that was made for an International Mystery special some years ago, but unfortunately now unavailable. It was a great review of Mr. Persbrandt's career. But I did find this interview with James Lipton done in more recent times:
Here's a fun clip of Persbrandt dancing:
Mikael Persbrandt is one more reason to look forward to "The Hobbit" .
Update February 28, 2011:
In a Better World, a Danish-Swedish film starring Mikael Persbrandt won the Best Foreign film Oscar. Read more about the film at the link below:
