Oktoberfest: Beer & Blood

...and this is the most luscious, condensed, fun to watch account of how it could have been when the former "quaint and grubby" Wiesn turned into gigantonomy, something utterly reflective of an industrial age reaching an early fruition point.

The depiction of typical Bavarian-style exclusionism on the one hand, sociability on the other is spot on. An endeeringly raw, crude, diverse look at the changing-of-the-guard unscrupulousness that marked the turn of the last century. While some performances seem strangely (purposefully?) over- or underacted, some story beats a bit oversimplified, overall level of production, direction and acting is spectacular, especially for a German production.

Grumpy critiques in the vain of "well, that's not how it was" would be mistaking verissimilitude for truth. This is fiction at its best, grandiose, pompous, an exuberant bouquet of fascinating characters.

The show will move to netflix in a few months where predicting an international mega success would be no witchcraft.

This piqued my interest in learning about Oktoberfest and its history. Knowing nothing of it, I can say I am not reviewing the movie based on historical accuracies.

I did enjoy what it had to offer in terms of story telling, acting and theatrical scenery. Was a good alternative to most recent shows I have watched. The story expresses many hardships of the early 1900's that revolves around family, love and madness. It also touches on how the rich or the politically elite exploited and played a role in promoting or strengthening their fortune and fame. The acting was great and the English voice overs were pretty damn good. Give this TV mini series a go. I don't think you will be disappointed.

This is very loosely based on real events. "Loosely"? Maybe I should say infinitesimally. The character of Curt Prank is meant to have been based on that of a real person, Georg Lang, who erected the first large beer tent at the Oktoberfest. However, that person was not the first one to have had the idea of installing a large-capacity facility there, but he was more persuasive than his predecessors.

Money has been spent on this production. The sets are lavish and cover a huge area although at times one can see that the inns and attractions are simply facades - there were a few careless camera shots.

For dramatic interest, the characters and their motivations have been sensationalised. Even in turn-of-the-century Bavaria struggling under a mentally-ill king, I doubt that rich, important people could have been bumped off or beaten nearly to death without proper investigations and then repercussions.

I didn't know that, as part of its "place in the sun" that Germany had colonised Samoa. This gave an out to the murderers in the story. It's a real indictment of the times, though, in the attitudes towards the "savages" who earnt their living by pretending to be cannibals.

There's scope for a second season although I don't know if one will ever be commissioned as this was meant to be a mini-series. If one came out, I'd certainly watch.

This is not a billion $ Hollywood production. But they were able to create an 1900 atmosphere with detail and a story that keeps you enthusiastic. I expect a season 2 to come.

So this series is based on true events surrounding Oktoberfest. The pace was really good and didnt felt boring at any point. But as the title suggests its a lot of beer and blood; literal blood bath as the characters strive to find their spot on the Oktoberfest.