The pseudonym "Philo Vaihinger" has been abandoned. All posts have been and are written by me, Joseph Auclair.

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Babylon Berlin: The ending of the first season was weak

Both visually - imaging and action both a bit too cartoonish and unrealistic for this series' brilliant noir - and conceptually.

The rescue of drowned Lotte after so long in the water was a bit much to swallow.

For all I know it's really medically possible, but it's totally without verisimilitude, not at all the same thing.

The shrink turning out to be Gereon's brother was frankly incredible.

And Fritz turning out to have been a Nazi manipulating Greta into killing Benda was insufficiently prepared.

Still, looking forward to additional seasons.

And Now I'll watch the more controversial Generation War, also with Volker Bruch, also on Netflix.

And to reading those of the novel series the show is based on that have been translated from the German.

Two, so far.

Babylon Berlin.

The complicated plot encompasses a Russian freight train carrying poison gas and gold; secret military maneuvers; and a brutal May Day confrontation between police and Communists. 

There are Soviet agents and Trotskyist agitators, a cross-dressing jazz singer, an Armenian mafia boss and a rich industrialist in cahoots with a group of army officers.

The star of the show, however, is Berlin. 

The lavish production lovingly recreates the city’s 1920s streets, cafes and nightclubs. 

Around 70 percent of the series was shot on location, with the rest filmed on a massive set at the historic Babelsberg studios.

Costing 38 million euros (about $44 million) to produce, the 180-day shoot involved three crews and three writer/directors: Tom Tykwer (of “Perfume” and “Run Lola Run” fame), Achim von Borries and Henk Handloegten, who had all long sought to work together on a project based on this period.

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