Faceless murderer
The novel Murderer Without a Face (Swedish: Mördare utan anskten ) by the Swedish writer Henning Mankell was published in Sweden in 1991 and in Germany in 1993 and is the first volume in the twelve-volume Wallander series.
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On an early, cold January morning in 1990, Commissioner Kurt Wallander was called to a lonely farm in Skåne , southern Sweden . An old couple has been cruelly attacked and robbed. The man is already dead when the rescue workers arrive at the scene. The old farmer's wife also died a little later in the hospital from her serious injuries. Shortly before her death, however, she regained consciousness and, when asked by the detective who was present about the perpetrators, only the words "foreigners, foreigners!" Wallander knows that in view of the increasing xenophobia among the population, this sensitive information must on no account be made public. But despite the highest level of secrecy, the last words of the dying old woman seep through in an unclear way. Soon the first anonymous threatening phone calls and ultimatums to the police to catch the perpetrators before they take matters into their own hands. A little later, xenophobic attacks accumulate in Skåne, and after a short time the first reception camp for asylum seekers burns. Wallander and his colleagues are coming under increasing pressure.
In addition to concerns about the growing propensity to use violence and the high workload, Wallander's private life is also in crisis. The commissioner suffers from the recent divorce from his wife Mona and hopes in vain for a new beginning in the relationship. The 19-year-old daughter Linda seems to be withdrawing more and more and Wallander hardly knows what she is doing. His stubborn father, who suffers from dementia, also gives the impression that he will no longer be able to look after himself.
When it turns out that the brutal act was committed by foreigners, Wallander criticizes the Swedish immigration policy, which in his opinion allows anyone to enter Sweden without control. This lax immigration policy enables criminals to enter Sweden to commit crimes there. At the same time, Wallander distances himself decidedly from the right-wing extremist scene, and he even states small verbal lapses, for example when his superior uses the word "negro". But he also found xenophobic reflexes in himself: "For brief moments he was able to find contradicting sympathies in himself for some of the xenophobic arguments". He also reacts rather confused at first to the fact that his daughter Linda has a black boyfriend. But he is able to analyze these contradicting feelings and name them as an expression of a fear of the unknown.
The book shows in several places that Swedish society would like to shift the entire burden of this “wrong” immigration policy on to the Swedish police alone. Wallander feels abandoned several times by the government agencies responsible for coordinating immigration to his country.
German edition
The novel was first offered to the renowned Rowohlt Verlag, which, however, turned it down on the recommendation of the editor in charge of it. The novel was first published in German by a small Berlin publisher.
Film adaptations
In 1994 the novel was filmed as a TV crime thriller in Sweden , with actor Rolf Lassgård taking over the lead role as the first film Wallander , directed by Pelle Berglund. The German version was dubbed by ZDF in 2003 and broadcast as a two-parter in August 2003.
In 2005, ZDF also showed the film as a four-part TV series, each 50 minutes in length. The DVD version was released on March 28, 2005.
On December 26, 2010, the ARD broadcast an 89-minute, German-dubbed film adaptation of the novel by the BBC from 2009 with Kenneth Branagh as Kurt Wallander for the first time. Richard Cottan received the 2011 television award for this film, “ Civis - Europe's Media Award for Integration ”, in the entertainment area.
radio play
The German-language radio play accompanying the book was published in 2002.
Speakers are:
- Christoph Schobesberger as the narrator
- Heinz Kloss as Kurt Wallander
- Friedrich Schoenfelder as Nyström
- Thomas B. Hoffmann as Martinsson
- Peter Panhans as Rydberg
- Peter Groeger as a father
- Angela Hobrig as Anette Brolin
- Dietmar Obst as Otto Björk
- Edelgard Hansen as Mrs. Magnusson
- Katrein Frenzel as Britta Lena Bodén
- Christian Gaul as Erik Magnusson
- Mathis Schrader as Sten Widén
as well as Karin Mikityla , André Sander , Dietrich Burmeister and Kathrin Freyburg
Reviews
The reviews of Faceless Murderers varied:
- “From the first to the last page, this is a wonderfully exciting thriller.” - Frankfurter Rundschau
- “Everything is just right in this sophisticated thriller.” - Brigitte
- [...] "All these observations make this novel a readable, extremely thought-provoking novel" - Burchkritik.at
- "Narrative style and characters great, plot weak and lengthy." (Rating: 46%) - Krimi-Couch.de
literature
- Jeanette Schröter: Religion in the Swedish detective novel. The Swedish thrillers by Larsson, Mankell and Nesser. Marburg: Tectum-Verlag 2015 (Diss. Hannover), pp. 82–84. ISBN 978-3-8288-3528-3
Web links
- www.wallander-web.de (Kommissar-Wallander-Fan-Homepage) with a detailed summary, reference to films, radio play adaptations etc.
- Face- to- face murderer on www.krimi-couch.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tobias Gohlis : A decent person. ZEIT-Online, January 31, 2008.
- ↑ www.buchkritik.at -
- ↑ Krimi-Couch.de