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Babylon Berlin (2017)

2017 · Crime,Drama,Thriller · historical-period, crime-detective-puzzle, political-drama, period-near-history

Babylon Berlin poster

Babylon Berlin is a lavishly produced German prestige drama set in Weimar-era Berlin (1929 onward), following detective Gereon Rath and aspiring officer Charlotte Ritter through interlocking criminal investigations, political conspiracies, and the slow-motion catastrophe of rising National Socialism. Its signature quality is the inseparability of crime plotting and historical stakes — the Nazis are not merely atmosphere but an active, structurally frustrating force within the plot. Reviewers prize its period fidelity, ensemble depth, and cinematographic ambition, placing it firmly in the tradition of European prestige drama. It rewards patient, subtitle-comfortable viewers who want their crime fiction to carry genuine historical and political weight, and who are prepared for a world where justice is perpetually compromised.

From the reviewers

What lifts this series to another level, however, is the historic background and the feeling that you're seeing history being played out before your eyes.
The historic side is not merely a backdrop but part of the plot. The rise of the Nazis has a significant impact on the plot, especially in Season 3 and probably more so in forthcoming seasons.
Season 4 also marks a downturn in the quality of the show as the plot becomes less watertight, being inconsistent, haphazard and contrived at times. It's also quite unfocussed as we have several sub-plots in play, many of which are unconnected with anything else going on.
The English soundtrack is absolutely horrendous. It sounds like a bunch of drama students took a bunch of downers and sat around a table to read the script. There is no emotion, commitment or ownership of the characters.
watch it in German with English subtitles, that way the quality acting shines through, i imagine dubbed would sound horrendous.

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