l_rawjalaurence Let's face, "The White Pyramid" does contain some manifest implausibilities. We are led to believe that Wallander (Rolf Lassgård) manages to foil a plot to kill Nelson Mandela at the Nobel Prize awards in Oslo on his own without the help of the Norwegian police, the majority of whom stand aside while he climbs up a high tower, takes on a ruthless Russian killer (Jesper Christensen), pursues him down to ground level, then steals a diplomatic car to chase the killer through the countryside before running him over. Although murdering the killer in cold blood, Wallander escapes censure by the Norwegian authorities as he returns home to Sweden to a party organized by his father.On the way to this climax, however, Pelle Berglund makes some important observations about South Africa in the post-apartheid era. He contrasts the rich European areas of Cape Town with the townships where the chief of police John September (Basil Appollis) resides, thereby proving that governmental reform doesn't necessarily lead to societal change. Although Wallander receives assistance from one of September's black associates, it's clear that the police inspector isn't really welcome in that part of town. The white head of the security services (Gideon De Wet) who follows Wallander to the townships, refuses to go any further for fear of his personal safety.In Sweden Wallander encounters hired killer Mabasha (Tshamano Sebe), another black South African. While the killer has a checkered history, it's clear that he has been ruthlessly exploited by the whites, who set him up as a patsy to advance their own personal scheme of restoring apartheid. Mabasha knows what they have done to him, yet seems powerless to intervene.The political chaos of South Africa parallels the personal chaos of Wallander's life. He gets on well with his daughter (Charlotte Sieling), yet it's clear that he's frightened of any close personal engagement. Whenever a scene of intimacy takes place, the sound of intrusive opera music can be heard in the background, showing Wallander's need for some kind of aural distraction, especially when alone with a member of the opposite sex. This represents the thematic antithesis of someone like Britain's Inspector Morse, who used classical music to help him solve cases.Rolf Lassgård dominates the proceedings, both physically and emotionally. We understand his love for the job, but understand what a risk it represents to his health, especially when he wolfs down a pizza or swigs a beer. No one, it seems, can prevent him sliding down the slippery slope towards a heart attack.

MBunge If you ever want to get an idea of why American pop culture dominates the globe, watch this film. In all other circumstances flee from it as if this movie were an approaching horde of giant cannibals.This story is supposed to be an international thriller where cops have to race against time to stop an assassination attempt. There have been hundreds of books written and dozens and dozens of movies made about this sort of tale. I'm fairly confident that ever single one of those stories was better than this. Based on a novel, the film concerns a group of white South Africans disgruntled over the end of apartheid. They hire a Russian ex-KGB agent and a black hit man to kill a political leader and set of a race war that would return South African to white rule. Their scheme runs afoul of a fat Swedish detective who resembles John Goodman on Prozac. Teamed up with a black South African detective, they unravel the deadly plot without ever doing a single interesting or exciting thing. Then the movie ends by trying to pretend that it's a true story that just never made it into the news.This film is a rare piece of entertainment in that there's not a single redeeming element to it. The actors are all unattractive and their performances wouldn't pass muster at most community theaters. The plot stinks like a dead skunk. The dialog is boring in at least three different languages. The closest the script ever comes to creating any tension or suspense is when the fat Swedish detective drunk dials his Baltic girlfriend. There's no nudity and the violence is about as compelling as a six year old sticking out his finger and yelling "Bang! You're dead!" Visually, this thing looks like an NBC Mystery Movie from the 1970s… and not one of the good ones with Columbo. The soundtrack just plays the same three bits of instrumental music over and over and over and over.This movie is awful. I mean it's "watching someone else's slides of their trip to the National Tire Museum" awful. If this sort of thing is the competition, there's no mystery to why American movies rule at box offices around the world. I'd rather get my teeth cleaned with a rusty nail than watch this thing again.

hara192 there is lot to be said for Swedish made for TV film from the 90s. this particular one is certainly doomed by a rather good novel which it is based on. the screen writing follows the novel rather loosely but still tries to incorporate all the locations and characters of the original source and that is where this film does not work. i am not sure if there was a lot of material shot that ended on the cutting room floor or if the script is actually the choice. either way - it makes the plot complicated and not so very straight without adding excitement. some good writing has gone into this but maybe it would have been better to remove it even further from the novel. the editing especially lacks in craftsmanship. performances are rather good, however. one does get the impression though, that filming partly in cape town seemed to be a nice option for everybody. since Mankell is a very! famous author in scandinavia, one cannot help thinking that the team was under the impression that everything they produce is going to be a success.

pksky1 This is a drama about an assassination conspiracy that starts in South Africa that finds its way to a countryside police detective. A woman is found murdered in a rural Swedish house. The murder is not the mystery, the target of the assassin is.The film was rather low budget and the editing is a little hard to follow sometimes. It is especially hard to tell sometimes what country you are in if you only speak English like myself. The movie is subtitled in English and as you cross borders in the movie the change in languages are not always good clues as to where you are. Again, better editing might have helped.Despite that it is an excellent drama and should please any foreign film fan.