I watched the 2nd episode last night, and am liking it more and more. The opening credits are an homage to the UFA Expressionistic style of that period. That was a nice touch.
The only problem with watching with subtitles was that sometimes they'd be talking so fast the subtitles would disappear before I had a chance to read them and would have to rewind a few times. Chad
As the series went on, I was wondering if the creators of the show would do any kind of "tip of the hat" to their spiritual predecessor, "Berlin Alexanderplatz", and sure enough, there is Gunther Lamprecht, at 88, playing Hindenburg. Very touching to see him again, and nice that they remember....
I went to Alexanderplatz ( via Checkpoint Charlie) early in 1988, looked like a concrete jungle. The S Bahn trains were still art deco though.
I had the pleasure/education of travelling through the East Zone by train to get to West Berlin (through Charlie, as you say, Alex) and if one could ever use the comparison "going from a B/W film to a color one" it sure fit there. It was one of the most drab, depressing places one could imagine. West Berlin, by contrast, was its usual hopping self at night.
I felt bad for the people there, coming from the materialistic west.I must have stood out like a sore thumb. shops sold basic goods TVs straight from the fifties big box b&w picture. Hardly any fruit no bananas. Hifi shops were using 1930 telephone as headphones speakers. I could go on. Didn't seem fair.
NO SPOILERS: Big letdown for me as we watched the currently last episode on Netflix (No. 16 by their count, last episode of season 2 if you go by German series count): Insultingly un-realistic resolution (you'll know when you see it) just to keep viewers happy. An increased reliance on action-film cliches as the series seems to devolve from its original broad kaleidoscope view of 'Berlin as an entity' to a basic cops-and-robbers format. Pity, really. I hope the next season gets its writing back on track.
Yeah the penultimate episode was fantastic but the final one was a letdown. Still an entertaining watch overall.
I think you are correct about the "action-film cliches" in the last episode, and I hope that this wouldn't be the general tone of the next season. As for the main end "resolution" - I see it more as a teaser for the next season, and as far as there were also some teasers concerning other characters/plot lines, I hope that new season is on the way soon. If not, I agree that the ending is a bit disappointing.
Not only the opening credits but other scenes as well, the vice bust in the first episode contained some slanted ceilings, even the roof scene. I was also reminded somewhat of the Testament of Dr. Mabuse. The look of this show is fantastic.
L.A. Confidential meets Cabaret? I sailed through it in no time. She's a poor young woman scrounging for work, no wait, she's a "dance hall girl", no wait, that guy is wearing a dog collar and I have a favorite new character. Some over the top business towards the end but we still have an ethically compromised hero and all manner of rouges on the loose. The whole nightclub climax at the end of E2 tipped us off that this is a fantasy and the heavily foreshadowed arrival of Mr. Ferry confirmed it. This show is a gas, not a history lesson and I'm pumped for more.
The song at the end of episode 2 is sensational (night club scene). The soundtrack is available on 3 LPs, lots of Brian Ferry stuff on it.
Just saw that episode (10) and Ferry looked great, nice to see that he has aged well. I think he is in his mid 70s. I ordered the soundtrack on vinyl (3 LPs + 2 CD), should get it next week. BTW, this show is very good. A few minor quibbles aside (like the fact the Berlin looks soo clean and the commie protestors are just such good people) I really like how the plot is developing with 4 episodes to go. Biggest problem is, as has been stated, subtitles come and go fast, so you have to be on your toes.
If you enjoyed Babylon Berlin, check out these other German series also based in Berlin and available on Netflix: - Generation War: stars Volker Bruch (who plays Rath in BB). Generation War follows 5 friends as Germany starts it's invasion of Russia in WWII. A 3 part series produced in 2013. - The Same Sky: stars the actor who plays the younger brother of Bruch in Generation War (Tom Schilling) stars in The Same Sky, which takes place in East/West Berlin in 1975. A family/spy drama on both sides of the wall. Season one (six episodes) was produced in 2017. Not on Netflix, but Weissensee is another great German series, set in East Berlin in 1980, just before the fall of the wall. Stars the excellent Hannah Herzsprung, who I felt was criminally underutilized (at least so far) as Anno's widow / Rath's lover in Babylon Berlin.
You are, of course right about this, as it could have been done much better. Spoiler But, moving on from Charlotte being "saved", the shoot out on the moving train was quite absurd. Usually this ruins things for me but I loved it. Can't really explain why, but there was a surrealistic quality to the filming during that scene that I really enjoyed.
Actually looked for some of this guy's books a week ago, and just now found out he died this past Friday at the age of 62. Philip Kerr obituary
I binged it a month ago. Watched the 1st episode in German w/ subtitles, 2nd I went for the English dub. I watched the remainder in German because the voice overs didn't fit the characters to me. Looking forward to another season.
We have watched the entire series and I became entrapped early-on. It was so different: a period piece yet in a completely alien situation of 1929 Germany. I hope this does not ruin anyone's experience because this series is quite entertaining and I recommend it, but I have a couple pieces of errata. For one, when the Ford car plunges into water and is submerged, it fills slowly with water, but actually unlike modern cars those cars would fill almost instantly in such a situation. That would ruin the drama, I know, but just sayin'... Also, I challenge the employment of CPR in 1929... but I was so relieved the victim was rescued!
I'm glad people have caught up with these series. I didn't know the author/creator had died. Too bad if the English dubbing is poor, that's very disappointing to hear of.
I thought this very same thing, it's definitely more like something from a later sound film, but I enjoyed it somewhat anyway; a sort of audio-visual hallucination fantasy taking place perhaps if you need to reconcile it.