KaDeWe

It's embarrasing how they copied storylines from the much superior "Babylon Berlin" series. Also how they covered up a low budget by saying it's an artistic statement when you see modern cars and streetlife in the background. Well, if you're going to do that evetything has to consequently be mixed eras. Not just backgrounds on the streets.

It started well, I was invested, the war, KaDeWe, history. I could ignore for the sake of art that the background was just the background today in Berlin, the graffiti, the cars, the people dressed in jeans and modern day clothing. I was watching it for the storyline and the main characters and as I said it started well. But then it focused on nothing but lesbianism. It wouldn't let go and move on, the viewer knew what part this played in the story but it was as if the production had the bit between the teeth and just wouldn't let go. If a viewer wants to watch this many sex scenes then there is soft porn available with hardly any more storyline to it. It's frowned on in that era, do we really need that point constantly reiterated? The storyline lacks one thing, and that is the whole storyline, it lacks emotion. It doesn't make the viewer feel anything. It tries to titillate but we've all seen this before. It steals parts of Babylon Berlin, not the emotion, but the Cabaret (again plagiarised) music hall scenes. It could have been so much better, it could have been interesting beyond the first episode.

I have seen the first two episodes, and I am compelled to keep watching.

The story it's interesting and capitalises on the fascination with the historical period: what with an old world and old customs being swept away by a tragic war, and new freedoms emerging and clashing with the old ways.

One problem is that other movies and series have talked about this historical period in Berlin and done an excellent job, so this series was always going to be diminished by these comparisons and makes it harder to judge it on its own. As some others have pointed out, some issues like post-traumatic stress disorder and drug use to deal with it (certainly a big issue in post-war Germany), has been the subject of other sub-plots, e.g. In Babylon Berlin.

And yet, it's a charming series and you are drawn towards some of the characters. The two female leads have so far produced a strong performance.

Some here have harshly criticised the series for showing some street scenes where the actors, dressed in 1920s costumes, were clearly in modern day Berlin (with modern cars etc.). This was so evident that I argue it was intentional. And I think this was a very poignant reminder that these people lived in the same places we pass by, their stories unfolded across the same streets we walk on. Placing the characters in modern day Berlin highlighted how these stories are still relevant today.

So, I will keep watching this series, hoping the whole thing is as good as the first two episodes.

I am a huge fan of 1920s Berlin, I have many books & i've watched tons of documentaries. I have seen every film there possibly is about 1920s Berlin.

This joke of the series not only copies stories from a different series, but you can openly see other modern cars lights & busses in todays Berlin. There is a Toyota car at the start, its just laughable.

The other laughable scenes that we see is today's zooBahnhof with modern cars driving around and we are expect to believe that it's 1920s Berlin.

Skip this altogether & wait for another production company to make something a million times better.

As a lover of Berlin and its history I was looking forward to seeing this series but what a disappointment it proved to be. Street scenes with cast members dressed in the clothes of the 1920s but filmed with modern traffic and graffitied buildings undermined the whole production for me and destroyed any historical credibility. To say it was a deliberate artistic decision is disingenuous and takes the viewer for a fool - I suspect it was either a case of insufficient funding or just not being prepared to make the effort. I switched off after half-an-hour. If you value any shred of authenticity in an historical drama avoid this shoddy production at all costs.