Author Topic: Babylon Berlin (contains spoilers)  (Read 3043 times)

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Babylon Berlin (contains spoilers)
« on: July 01, 2018, 05:59:38 AM »

Offline greece66

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Finished watching the second season yesterday. Two more series have been renewed.

Found the last two episodes of season 2 to be a mess: the action seemed forced and fake. Too many things that do not mix well with the rest of the story.

And as it usually happens when the director tries to condense action, there were too many reversals.

Despite all that, the series is just too good to ignore. The costumes and settings are impeccable, and it's the only depiction of interwar Germany that doesn't put the rise of the Nazis center stage, but tries to also show you real ppl dealing with their every day lives. You get war veterans, Russian and Armenian emigres, working class ppl hit by the crisis and the attention to detail is amazing.


Re: Babylon Berlin (contains spoilers)
« Reply #1 on: July 04, 2018, 07:15:55 PM »

Offline ederson

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I ve been looking for good german series to practice and after reading the post i started watching it. I am in the middle of the second season.

I does give you a nice description of between the wars berlin and the social changes happening at the time but i think the script is a bit weak. Lotte's family suddenly disappears , the problems caused to the soldiers in the 1WW start as an important part of the story and fast are left in the background (same thing happened in Peaky Blinders)

But so far i found i quite enjoyable

Re: Babylon Berlin (contains spoilers)
« Reply #2 on: July 05, 2018, 06:25:05 AM »

Offline greece66

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That's great ederson, I'm happy you found the series quite enjoyable. Btw, BeatLA has also expressed an interest in watching the series  8)

I was also annoyed by how the script keeps changing focus. To be fair, some reviewers praised this exact quality of the series. For instance,  the Spectator wrote :

"The plot, which revolves round missing Imperial Russian gold, is abundant with satisfying twists and turns. "

Spin was similarly positive :

"It is perhaps the differing but overlapping interests of its accomplished triumvirate of showrunners that makes Babylon Berlin able to juggle so many different stylistic modes."

And the list goes on. Besides, Tom Tykwer is arguably Germany's best screenwriter (Run Lola Run, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer and more).

But I think we are right and they are wrong ;D, important topics disappear and are left in the background. IMO It would have been better if they have gone into more depth, for instance the the psychological problems of WWI veterans in interwar Germany is a fascinating topic and I wish they had examined it in more depth. Btw, the end of the second season suggests this theme will come back in the third.

Now, there is another concern I have and this the blending of historical facts with fiction in a way that can be  confusing for the viewer. For example, Schwarze Reichswehr did exist but it was dissolved in 1923. Names have been changed too: General Seegers  is probably Seeckt etc. I had to spent literally hours to find out which parts were accurate and which fictitious. In a way it is fun, but it would have been way better IMO if the producers had inserted info on the official website explaining which are the fictitious parts.



Seegers in Babylon Berlin



Hans von Seeckt - he was involved in the training of the Reichswehr in the interwar, but afaik was not involved in Schwarze Reichswehr.

Btw, what about Peaky Blinders? Would you recommend it?

Re: Babylon Berlin (contains spoilers)
« Reply #3 on: July 05, 2018, 07:36:06 AM »

Offline ederson

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Peaky blinders It is very similar to babylon berlin but it focuses on the other side of the law

  the main character is a gang leader who carries similar trauma as Gereon. The only problem is that it is impossible to understand the accent 😂

Re: Babylon Berlin (contains spoilers)
« Reply #4 on: July 05, 2018, 06:35:43 PM »

Offline ederson

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well...... the last two episodes where somewhat frustrating

in a way it reminds me of the last few Game of thrones episodes when the series turned into bad hollywood action movie full of cliches

what was that with the scene on the train between bruno and geneon?

Re: Babylon Berlin (contains spoilers)
« Reply #5 on: July 06, 2018, 05:08:08 AM »

Offline greece66

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well...... the last two episodes where somewhat frustrating

in a way it reminds me of the last few Game of thrones episodes when the series turned into bad hollywood action movie full of cliches

what was that with the scene on the train between bruno and geneon?


Agreed, last two episodes were frustrating.
And the scene on the train totally frustrating, everybody just had to be there at the same time: the Armenian's gang, Wolter and Gereon. Suspension of disbelief went out of the window.

Btw, what do you make of the final scene where Gereon reunites with his brother?

Re: Babylon Berlin (contains spoilers)
« Reply #6 on: July 06, 2018, 05:17:30 AM »

Offline ederson

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Having everyone there didn#t bother me much... the shooting between gereon and bruno on top of the train was too holywood

And then bruno who got shot 3 times and fell of the train twice managed to disconnect his part of the train while the train was moving ! Schwarzenegger's movies are closer to reality than that


Quote
Btw, what do you make of the final scene where Gereon reunites with his brother?
It felt a bit cheap.  They needed to start a new story line but it could go a bit smoother. I'd like to see how they will justify his disappearance. 

There is a lot of explaining to be done .....