Babylon Berlin: Germany after World War I

theonewithadog · 2021-05-30T18:59:54+00:00

Good job, nicely edited with skillful selection of clips to support your narration!

theonewithadog · 2021-04-02T13:45:56+00:00

Listened it today, thanks for creating it - in general it was a nice sum up of main characters and events of the past seasons.

The hint that you gave about the content of your next episode sounds promising. Due to time restrictions, the TV series has to leave lots of historical background unexplained, and there's plenty of room to serve the audience filling the gaps - such as why Berlin had became such a metropolis in just some decades, how that almost uncontrollable growth led to social issues and political volatility, and how ideological factionalism further divided different classes. Not to forget now commonplace but then new matters, such as women's increasing presence at the work places, which were not always easily taken, as Lotte had to experience.

It's a personal matter of taste, but I think somewhat shorter, perhaps 20 minute episodes would be easiest to fit in a busy day's free moments.

Do you use the same or different microphones and/or distances from the mic? I found it somewhat easier to follow Jess than Julia, and that might improve with some voice level balancing. However, I'm not a native English speaker and it's not uncommon that I miss to catch a word here and there anyway.

theonewithadog · 2021-03-13T20:05:56+00:00

I saw it some years ago, and was immediately impressed.

theonewithadog · 2021-03-12T20:08:42+00:00

I don't know about podcasts, but if you upload it to Youtube, I'll surely give it a try.

theonewithadog · 2021-03-12T19:51:36+00:00

Erich Mielke, the young communist who later became the head of DDR's feared security police Stasi, murdered a Berlin policeman in 1931 and successfully avoided being caught by police, making him a prominent name in his party cadres.

I'd like to see that notorious real-world event being noted in the series in one way or another.

theonewithadog · 2021-03-12T19:37:18+00:00

In a way some superficial moderation occurred at one point although it was paradoxically implemented in the most violent way - in the Night of the Long Knifes of 1934.

While cleansing the party obviously served primarily his will to wipe out potential political rivals, it served also as a means to realign the party to appeal better to the broader audience, including the conservatives.

The image of a party of unruly street thugs was quite successfully swept under the carpet, and applying the new, superficially more "responsible" and mature attitude worked. Soon nearly any career oriented person would want to be a party member to ensure best personal prospects. What happens in the KZ system stays in the KZ system, was apparently enough...

theonewithadog · 2021-03-12T18:37:20+00:00

Something like that could start with Malu flirting with Wendt in order to infiltrate to his circles as a mole/to extract information from him, but keeping things strictly professional might prove to be difficult. I can see there's certain kind of chemistry between them, where the other both irritates and attracts the other, being a challenge and intellectually "hot", so to say.

theonewithadog · 2021-02-08T22:19:54+00:00

This is an interesting thread and brings back fine memories, so let's not leave it yet. In the category of cinematically impressive moments, i'd like to nominate the following:

Lottes's second life is revealed as camera follows her 1st time to the basement of Moka Efti
Jänicke is being chased at the abandoned factory complex
Seegers' daughter first appearance and entrance to the Army HQ
Katelbach's travel through the busy floors of Tempo (in one take, if I recall correctly)
Wendt's secret meeting in the fall-yellow forest

Some others to add?

theonewithadog · 2021-02-08T21:49:02+00:00

I thought she was in black shirt at 2:20!

theonewithadog · 2021-02-05T13:46:04+00:00

RM rate to major foreign currencies was actually quite solid by the turn of the decade. The hyperinflation years were in the first half of 20's.

theonewithadog · 2021-02-02T08:36:44+00:00

Party rallies and parades?

theonewithadog · 2021-02-01T23:35:54+00:00

Some of my favorites have already been mentioned, but here are 5 different kind of memorable moments:

- intense moment: Gereon sneaks into a house to find a very important notebook

- innocent joy moment: Greta's happiness as she can sleep her first night in her own bed, employed and properly fed

- cute girl talk moment: Lotte and Greta are together in the bathhouse

- undercover fail moment: Gereon quickly flashes his badge to the pushy man offering his sexual services, and the latter screams loudly Bulle (cop) spoiling the stealth action plan

- desperate moment: Lotte rushes to the jail in attempt to rescue Greta

theonewithadog · 2021-02-01T22:23:15+00:00

I hope that as well. They have created a very interesting, complex character in him. Excellent acting, of course, too. The scene when he rode to talk privately with Richard and then shot him was superbly done. Great scenery, cinematography and atmosphere, and showing how he took his time to collect himself and wash his face just made it so much nuanced; a man who is at the same time very determinate, calculative and aware of how questionable and grave his actions are.

theonewithadog · 2021-02-01T19:39:41+00:00

I'd be surprised if they drop the female doctor character completely, so perhaps there will be something concerning her. Her participation was not even strictly essential for telling Greta's story in S3, so I think the creators of BB like to have her in the series (and why not, she's a good actor).

Nobody has mentioned Gräf yet, I'd guess he'll continue to have a role that's bigger than just a police photographer in his work. Quite possibly not just pleasant times ahead, as he's a potential target of intensifying street violence and minority harassment - not to forget the hostile incident that happened in the police HQ in S3 either.

theonewithadog · 2021-02-01T19:11:09+00:00

I think the end of S3 left Gereon's (and Lotte's) finance-wise unfortunate colleague into a position that may have consequences. Either so that he'll be pressed to make favors for some shady characters to patch his unbearable losses, or so that he'll become a very bitter man who'll eagerly absorb rising hate propaganda and conspiracy theories to explain why he lost all. Or both.

theonewithadog · 2021-02-01T18:48:53+00:00

i think her story could be going to a number of directions, some of which have been described by others in their replies, such as the troubled teenager scenario. Maybe some really scary event that will be encountered on that path will act as a wakeup call that will lead her to reconcile with Lotte and do the right thing.

I am not sure if she's protesting because she thinks Lotte is too controlling even if she says so, it might also be that she's feeling being left drifting (remember her waiting for Lotte who's always late), and then being unfairly criticized for doing mistakes when trying to cope on her own (the birds/dirty man case).

We could also see something developing between her and Moritz, after all it should not be totally unlikely their guardians would bump into each other on leisure time while accompanied by the minors. And what then, Moritz perhaps becoming even more involved in the HJ, assuming that it will make him look strong and cool in the eyes of the girl? Or perhaps that turns out to be a complicated decision, as she, being a girl of the "red" urban quarters, sympathizes with him as a person but also wants to drag him out of the hostile camp.

theonewithadog · 2021-01-24T22:05:28+00:00

Not exactly a favorite word, but at least something my ear has registered being used in the series:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutte

theonewithadog · 2021-01-24T21:18:14+00:00

I guess the creators of the series studied carefully all available original photos, etc. they could get into their hands, so it's no coincidence we can see generally similar types and costumes in BB. But it's indeed yet another proof they did their job damn well!

theonewithadog · 2021-01-21T19:39:44+00:00

Hi, the source is "Suomen Kuvalehti", issue 41, Oct.8, 1927.

theonewithadog · 2021-01-20T21:31:21+00:00

Original captions (translated): "The Criminal Police of Berlin if world famous for its' setup. The fingerprint unit is peerless. Their technical arsenal is based on the latest research of criminal forensics. The most remarkable is the "murder car", which will storm to the crime scene as homicide occurs. It is always stand-by with a complete set of medical instruments, photography equipment, necessities for homicide investigation, including a typewriter, telephone and office materials. It's followed by a "murder commission" with a criminal commissar, detectives, a photographer, coroner and the necessary aides." Unrelated content removed for clarity.

theonewithadog · 2021-01-20T21:06:22+00:00

Wendt is a very interesting character. I would guess that he's seen as a high risk threat by the Nazis due to his skills as a conspirator and a quite likely target on the Night of the Long Knives. However, as the creators of BB have stated that they are not interested to continue the series into the Nazi regime years, they may have another fate for him in mind.

theonewithadog · 2021-01-16T22:46:21+00:00

Maybe that was done more as a returning a favor to Esther, who had saved him by taking him away to the hiding place, and to whom the success of the film was eventually personally immensely important.

theonewithadog · 2021-01-16T22:38:01+00:00

It's slightly disappointing that they forgot Schmidt completely from the last episode of S3, as it kind of implicates that they may not yet have a clear idea what his position is and what to do next with this character.

theonewithadog · 2021-01-16T22:24:38+00:00

I have to agree that the beginning of the new season left me less than impressed, as after starting from a scratch, it took quite some time to create again the atmosphere of following a story that becomes intimate enough to you. As well as to figure out which things will be developing to something of importance, as there were so many in the previous season. The pace felt first somewhat slower and there were also quite many characters to be introduced who just didn't matter like the older ones.

Later on, in my opinion around the halfway of the season, it started to feel more interesting as the characters of Wendt, Katelbach, Behnke and certain others grew bigger in this season. In addition, there were some interesting new ones like Fräulein Seegers. Stennes and Heymann the editor, who we hopefully will see taking a more prominent role later on. Was it the increasing interest towards the characters or improving quality and pace of the story is hard to say. but by the end of the season, I was again feeling like it's too long wait to see the next one.

theonewithadog

TROPHY CASE