O Cafetão

The story of Hamburg's red light district in the late 1970s and early 1980s is worth telling. The struggles of various pimp gangs, the misery of the prostitutes, how broken all the people who work in this industry become. I really like the main actor Aaron Hilmer, who in the original convinces with a brash North German accent. Despite all his really questionable practices and crimes, with which he persuades dozens of women into prostitution, there remains some sympathy for this character.

But there is also a lot that is not consistent. Unfortunately, you don't believe for a second that it really takes place in Hamburg St. Pauli in the 80s. Costumes, wigs and make-up look like a bad techno club in Berlin 2020. The original images from that time, which can be seen in the credits, promise more than the series can deliver. A pity.

The series kicks off strong. But, like so often, story and characters fade into cliches. So here the writing is to blame. I get that most of the portrayals are exaggerated but still everyone remains uninteresting. Klaus and Beagle were the only two characters who kind of seem believable, the others, especially the boxer, were just annoying and wanting me to skip their scenes.

I've to agree with the comment made here earlier: production design did a very bad job as it really doesn't look and feel like Hamburg in that time. The contrast what is shown in the series and on the photos during the credits of the last episode couldn't be larger.

Music is good but still very unlikely being part of these people's life.

What is standing out is the cinematography of the first two episodes: it is beautiful. But then the rest of the series is filmed in a generic way, unfortunately. I don't understand that shift also in visual quality.

Overall, I cannot understand why German series are so low quality; especially the scripts and acting? It's only "Das Boot", after that all German series were insignificant.

If your time is precious I cannot recommend this series.

Well, I have to admit I was not expecting such a witty and entertaining series. This series in some aspect creates a guy ritchie atmosphere but surprisingly, in a german scene. The plot is interesting and actors and actresses manage to stay over a certain standard. There are not so many twists that stir your soul up but the reality that this series is based on is enough to make the audience to ponder what kind of a life these people had struggled through and this is equally exiciting and astonishing. I would like production to spend more in art direction, costumes and stage design, but anyway, this is not a hollywood production and this does not devaluate overall quality.