Opération Roméo

I just watched the series on netflix (until episode 4) and I am really hooked by the series. Essentially the main story is how much the former German Democratic Republic (communist East Germany) invested time, resources and talent to keep their crumbling regime alive. In order to silence any opposition, they employ this network of informants, whose main job is to accuse someone of being a subversive (even jokes about their leader was a crime), and they would arrest and probably torture any person caught trying to emigrate.

Despite so much oppression, life goes on, and we can see the contradictions of a communist life, where everyone is supposed to be from the same class, but families are ambitious, materialistic and competitive just like their compatriots in capitalist West Germany. There is a mother who's watching her daughter's life being ruined by the regime (they are giving her hormones and steroids to enhance her swimming performance), but she hopes that that sacrifice will Be worth if they get a larger apartment as a reward for her daughter success in sports.

My main criticism is that we have a few American and British characters, but they don't behave like either American or British and they speak German with their own children (normally you speak at home your mother tongue), besides anglos are notorious for being monolingual. Their flawless German is just not plausible.

The secret police from East Germany creates this ruthless program of strategic seduction, where agents infiltrate West Germany, and have manipulated affairs with American and British women who work for the military, and they discard them once they get all "intelligence" necessary. Watching that series makes you see how much communism relied on destroying people's lives in order to keep the system alive, but we don't see anybody happy in that country, nobody can have a normal life, and every neighbor and coworker might report you to the secret police, where you would be tortured despite being innocent.

It is very educational, I recommend the series.

This decade, Germany has produced dozens of good films and series about life and habits during Cold War around FRG/GDR/West-Berlin, with versatile and intertwined plots, good character actors and apt understanding of environment and way of life. Der gleiche Himmel is another good brick in this wall, where focus is not entirely on one family, enabling to provide a broader picture of repressve, yet tragicomic life in socialist parts of Germany. The events seem realistic, perhaps the last episode rounded them up a bit hastily and "by halves" - apparently according to the filmmakers´vision. As mentioned, the cast is good as well, but here, I would like to spotlight the Swedish actress Sofia Helin as Lauren; for comparison, just watch here in "The Bridge" (Scandinavian version) and you will find out how talented and varied she is! Recommended to all those interested in German lifestyle prior to unification.

The show mainly revolves around Lars Weber (Tom Schilling) - A Romeo agent from East Germany sent out to seduce and retrieve information from certain female personnel of the West German government.

Though the plot seems deeply rooted in James Bond territory, the show quickly dispels this assumption by deviating from the generic alpha-male lead and instead opting for a young neophyte agent. One whose lack of experience leads him to act like an obedient schoolboy, scarcely questioning his superiors, still prone to rookie mistakes, but undoubtedly capable of maneuvering himself with impeccable finesse and apt vigilance.

Apart from Lars Weber is a multitude of well researched and astutely written characters and sub plots that successfully depict the daily struggles and momentary triumphs of Germans during the cold war. And while the story transpires in that era, many of its themes, such as the pursuit of freedom, the willingness to sacrifice oneself, or the unapologetic demonstration of fervent (albeit misguided) patriotism prove to be remarkably relevant to date.

The Same Sky is not a facile series that hinges itself on historical clichés and typical Hollywood thrills. It does not carelessly dismiss the east as a stifling communist dystopia nor does it gratify the west as a freedom-bloated paradise. Rather, it is a cleverly crafted opus that tells the story of the people of the cold war through an unbiased lens

It helps if one lived in the time when this takes place as that would confirm what you understood was the case, but if not it accurately shows the tense, edgy and somewhat disconcerting feel of the time - when spying was not linked simply to some international government secret but an undercover operation when certain hired people spied on family, friends, coworkers and reported them in such a way as to make them enemies of the state. in that sense it's scary because it lives on in radical political environments even today. the 'Romeo' is not what one might expect in that he doesn't seem to fit into that category, but he does well with the role. one has to remind oneself that he is the enemy preying on unsuspecting victims in the name of the state. the production itself is not necessarily the best I've seen. it has a sort of cheap feel to it, BUT it seems to work anyway. it was good enough as an entertainment that if there is a follow up season, i definitely want to see what happens.

I was actually quite enjoying it and was looking forward to see how it ended and I realized when there was about 20 minutes left of the last episode that there was no possible way the story could be wrapped up that quickly. I then assumed there must be a second season, but lo and behold, there is no second season and from what I could find out there won't be one. This isn't the first time this has happened watching a series and I can't believe I haven't learned from previous mistakes. If you want to see what life was like in East Germany during the Cold War (I can't even attest to how accurate it is) and a bit of suspense here and there I would recommend watching. If it drives you crazy to be left with all the story plot lines hanging and knowing you will never find out, then don't bother. I'm annoyed I invested almost 6 hours to be left hanging permanently.