Sam: Un Saxon

Sam is an utterly engaging thrill ride that takes you into he heart of East Germany and reunification - through the perspective of a Black man who experiences a totally different version of history from what we're used to reading about the time. The acting is amazing and the direction is right on, the pacing is great and the whole thing just comes together in a really moving story.

Malick Bauer especially stands out as Sam - I can't believe he hasn't been scooped up by Hollywood yet. Like another review here says, make sure to watch it in the orignial with subtitles. You miss all the great performances if it"s dubbed.

Why is the main actor so freaking huge? I met the real Samuel Meffire, and he's not that big or nearly as build as him.

There is this huge time jump, where they actually say, all Sam does now is train, but you see practically no difference between the Sam from 2 before that to this one. He looks just as ripped.

The fact that he was so super ripped in the beginning of the series made it hard to feel sorry for him. I'm not saying a big guy can't get pushed around, but the actor played this timid, stuttering guy where the look and what he was playing just didn't work well together. Sorry.

In episode 3 where he actually is supposed to be a strong and tough guy it starts making sense, I wish the actor would have been more disciplined and would have gone the extra mile to show us a physical difference between "early getting pushed around Sam" and late "I can beat anybody in a fight Sam."

For me the series really takes off in episode 3. Maybe I am just too young to care for the whole historical, political fall of the wall situation, but the bond that is established between him and - sorry, I almost spoilered. The bond he establishes in episode 3 makes the whole series worth watching and interesting. A lot happens between the lines, which is great. It is pretty well written.

The cinematography is for German standards very good.

I must say, the only issue I really had was with the main actor. I didn't quite get a lot of his acting decisions or facial expressions at times, but other than that, it was a good watch.

As an Afro-German I cannot stress enough how important this story and series is to me. Far too often black narratives are pushed aside in this country and this show is one great example on how to change the view society has on black communities and to amplify black voices and stories.

Congrats to the whole team for creating an outstanding piece of art (in comparison to other German shows)! Can't wait to see what's next for the actors (esp. Malick Bauer) and creators that made this project come to life.

Also: Do yourself a favor and watch it in original language with subtitles as the dubbed version doesn't do it justice!

It's worth watching, because it's a true story and the man's life is truly interesting.

But the acting is mediocre. Sound is mediocre. Most songs really didn't resonate with me at all. Cinematography is pretty good. Nice camerawork. Great sets. Wardrobe works. Fantastic story, but not so great dialogues.

A lot of the jokes seemed forced and a lot of old jokes were just reused rather than come up with new things to say. Like the whole coconut thing. They've used that in so many movies already, at least put a new spin on it if you have to use an old joke.

There was a lot of filler, that did not seem meaningful to the story or the main character. It seemed like the producers wanted to stretch a movie into a series.

Just my personal opinion.