The Hounds of Riga (1995)
"Hundarna i Riga" (original title)

A lifeboat floats ashore at the coast of Skåne. Inside are two dead men who who've been murdered. Policeman Kurt Wallander is assigned to the case. The men are identified with the help of ... See full summary »

Director:

Per Berglund

Writers:

Lars Björkman, Henning Mankell (novel)

Stars:

Rolf Lassgård, Björn Kjellman, Benny Poulsen

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rolf Lassgård	...	Kurt Wallander
Björn Kjellman	...	Blomman
Benny Poulsen	...	Karlis Liepa
Charlotte Sieling	...	Baiba Liepa
Paul Butkevich	...	Överste Potris (as Pauls Butkevics)
Juris Kaminskis	...	Överste Murnieks
Peteris Liepins	...	Zids
Leonîds Grabovskis	...	Mikaelis
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Magnus Björk
Ernst Günther	...	Fadern
Cecilia Zwick-Nash	...	Linda
Carina Lidbom	...	Eva Strandberg
Monica Stenbeck	...	UD-Thörn
Tove Granditsky	...	Inese
Gunnel Nilsson	...	Ebba (as Gunnel Nilsson-Göransson)

Storyline

A lifeboat floats ashore at the coast of Skåne. Inside are two dead men who who've been murdered. Policeman Kurt Wallander is assigned to the case. The men are identified with the help of the police in Latvia. One of their officers travel to Sweden to to help but when he returns to his home country he is mysteriously murdered. Kurt flies to Riga to find out why and is drawn into complex conspiracy.

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Plot Keywords:

conspiracy | latvia | police | animal in title | corpse | 

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Genres:

Thriller

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Details

Country:

Sweden Denmark

Language:

Swedish English Danish Latvian

Release Date:

10 November 1995 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

The Hounds of Riga

Filming Locations:

Hill of Crosses, Siauliai, Lithuania

Company Credits

Production Co:

SVT Drama, Danmarks Radio (DR)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Followed by Brandvägg (2006)

User Reviews

Not bad, but definitely not the best Wallander flick!

It is winter, 1991. Inspector Kurt Wallander's team at the Ystad police station face a new challenge: two corpses, frozen together in a gruesome embrace, have been washed ashore on the remote Swedish coastline. The dead men were Eastern European criminals, but what looks like a gangland hit takes on a much more sinister aspect when Wallander travels across the Baltic Sea to Latvia, a nation in the throws of the massive upheaval that will lead to its independence from the Soviet Union. Wallander is thrown into an icy, alien world of police surveillance, veiled threats and lies, coming to understand what it is to live in a nation in which democracy is still a dream. Only his dogged, almost subconscious desire to see justice done will lead him to the shadowy figures he pursues.

Compared to one of the latest Wallender flicks 'Mannen som log (2003).' You can conclude that the script and acting are not so good, but still a very entertaining movie!