I am very impressed with this German production available on Netflix.

The gist: Gritty soap opera/crime drama set in Roaring '20's Berlin. Small city policeman is posted to the Vice Squad in the big city's police department to recover a debasing porno film featuring the small city's police chief. Sex, violence, pathos and intrigue ensue.

The speakeasy "raves" are really well done:





Although the story lines are pretty much fiction, they parallel actual history. I especially admire that I'm 13 episodes in and I have yet to hear of Adolph Hitler. Rather, it's the communists/socialists and a rogue set of generals that are causing the story to move along.

I'm watching it. About 6 or 7 episodes in. I find it fascinating.

You weren't paying attention, there was a passing, unimportant reference to Hitler. I believe it was in the Wansee boating/swimming scene.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
I'm watching it. About 6 or 7 episodes in. I find it fascinating.

You weren't paying attention, there was a passing, unimportant reference to Hitler. I believe it was in the Wansee boating/swimming scene.

I will re-watch that portion...

It's next on my "To Watch" list, after I finish Season 4 of Black Mirror and then Altered Carbon. Seems like it's right up my alley.

quote:

Originally posted by mttaylor1066:
I especially admire that I'm 13 episodes in and I have yet to hear of Adolph Hitler.

Not surprising, since it's the 1920s. Hitler was a small-time fringe politician in the early 1920s, was in prison for part of the mid-1920s after a failed coup in 1923, and really didn't emerge as a major player on the political stage until the early 1930s.

quote:

Originally posted by mttaylor1066:
Rather, it's the communists/socialists and a rogue set of generals that are causing the story to move along.

Again, true to history. The Weimar Republic was constantly threatened by conflict between militant Socialists/left-wingers and militant Nationalists/right-wingers (including current and former military members), to the point of running battles in the streets and numerous uprisings and attempted coups by either side. The Nazis weren't the be-all and end-all of what was wrong with Germany at the time. In fact, the Nazis eventually rose to power specifically because they appeared to offer a chance at stability and prosperity, after over a decade of constant internal turmoil and economic troubles.

Haven't seen the show yet since I don't have Sky which is carrying it here first, and public partner ARD will only run it at the end of this year. However, it's based upon the Gereon Rath series by Volker Kutscher; the first two seasons of the show cover the first book, "The Wet Fish". I have "Lunapark", the fifth installment which is already set in 1934 (was a gift), and while I find the characters a little stereotypical, there is no doubt Kutscher is a very good depictor of historic events and contemporary Berlin. I find those are now being being published in English under the "Babylon Berlin" tag.

Hmmm... I might check this out, especially since I just finished listening to Dan Carlin's Hardcore History - Blueprint for Armageddon podcast series on WWI. My mind has been very much in that part of the world, and time immediately preceding that era, of late.

I watched the trailer and added to watchlist.

Sounds like I'll have to start getting into it.

Wife and I got about three minutes in and once we saw it was dubbed, turned it off. We'd rather read subtitles.

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Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Wife and I got about three minutes in and once we saw it was dubbed, turned it off. We'd rather read subtitles.

???

On my Netflix, it IS subtitled. I've gotten to where I don't even realize I'm reading. Watched a spate of Norwegian movies/series and they were all subtitled as well.

I'm actually enjoying picking out what little German I know and matching it to the subtitles. I'm awful with languages but given my predominately German heritage, always wanted to learn the language.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Wife and I got about three minutes in and once we saw it was dubbed, turned it off. We'd rather read subtitles.

???

On my Netflix, it IS subtitled. I've gotten to where I don't even realize I'm reading. Watched a spate of Norwegian movies/series and they were all subtitled as well.

I'm actually enjoying picking out what little German I know and matching it to the subtitles. I'm awful with languages but given my predominately German heritage, always wanted to learn the language.

You can turn subtitles on or off within the Netflix app. I don't know though if both dubbed and undubbed versions are available.

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Wife and I got about three minutes in and once we saw it was dubbed, turned it off. We'd rather read subtitles.

You must have messed with your settings. Go into the audio menu. (It's the button that looks like a comic book speech bubble.) Switch language to German, and turn English subtitles on.

Gott sei Dank! Ich furchte, ich hätte es auf English sehen müssen!

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Wife and I got about three minutes in and once we saw it was dubbed, turned it off. We'd rather read subtitles.

You must have messed with your settings. Go into the audio menu. (It's the button that looks like a comic book speech bubble.) Switch language to German, and turn English subtitles on.

No it's the default setting for this series. My audio and subtitle settings were the same. Usually, the dubbing is so bad that I can't watch it. But IMO, they did a pretty good jon on this one.

Huh. Wasn't the default for me. I started it last night, and it was German audio with English subs.

The German audio is even marked "(Original)" in the audio menu.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Wife and I got about three minutes in and once we saw it was dubbed, turned it off. We'd rather read subtitles.

You must have messed with your settings. Go into the audio menu. (It's the button that looks like a comic book speech bubble.) Switch language to German, and turn English subtitles on.

We were watching it on her profile. I will check those settings. Thx

quote:

Originally posted by rusbro:
Hmmm... I might check this out, especially since I just finished listening to Dan Carlin's Hardcore History - Blueprint for Armageddon podcast series on WWI. My mind has been very much in that part of the world, and time immediately preceding that era, of late.

Thread drift...I will say, if Dan Carlin doesn’t continue this through the Global depression in to WWII I will be a sad dude. WWII is a result of, and a continuation of the first, much as the late 19th century politics set up WWI.

Finally got around to finishing this series. (Haven't had much free time lately.)

It's one of the best things I've seen on Netflix.

I hope Netflix continues with additional seasons.

Season 3 just became available on Netflix today!

I'm three episodes into Season Three and it's as good or better than the first two seasons. Really a great offering from Netflix! I understand that it's the most expensive German TV series ever produced and I believe it. Fantastic on all levels: Writing, directing, acting, costumes, and the scenery are all very well done.

Interesting historical fact about executions at the time/place: Beheading with an axe?!?!

quote:

Originally posted by pulicords:

Interesting historical fact about executions at the time/place: Beheading with an axe?!?!

The SS used guillotines during the war. Hell, the French last used one in 1977.