Tannbach

I was curious to know what really happened in the Second World War after the defeat of the Nazis in Germany. It shows step by step the construction of the new Eastern Germany DDR with the socialism values that I won't give away further here. Very good educational material with wonderful actors. They played their roles so well that I could feel with them how hard it was to live in the new zone without any democratic hopes. For every one who wants to understand how the processes in the DDR worked this is a great opportunity. It was never boring with lot of twists. Excellent direction with authentic sceneries and costumes. Check it out. 9/10.

This production is so awful it made me write this review.

The dialogues, acting and filming (esp. Lighting and grading) are so incredibly bad that it's not possible to follow the storyline.

My guess is that the positive feedback is based on the main/true story and the interpretation of the translation into different languages but the direction and acting are simply bad, yes almost silly in the original German language.

It's disturbing how insensitive a post WWII story can be. I'm German and I watched the German original and I can assure you that it's a waste of time and you'd better be off with one of the documentaries about this topic. Which is of course incredible interesting.

It's a shame that broadcasting fees have been used to produce yet another lousy German TV production.

Intriguing story about a real village divided by the Iron Curtain. Many personal destinies are told here, from Nazi heritage to socialist idealism, although some aspects seem poltically overloaded and hinder credibility. Some of the story twists seem very plotted, especially the second "season" is overall less well done (6*). Many talented actors don't live up to their potential, perhaps due to plot and character arc issues. Good costumes and village flair. Okay to watch but not a must see.

Very often we think of WWII in terms of the horrors, be it an atomic bomb, or a concentration camp. This series brings us to the continuation of the ''end'', and how, in a sense, continues to this day. It's a village version of the seperation of Berlin. As such, you get much closer to the small village feel, and as a result, to the people. The acting is first rate - no stupid one-liners or unecessary expressions. . Lauterbach is excellent as the distant and guilt-ridden aristocrat/father. Uhl is first rate as a stoic mother with survival instincts that will surprise you. The others are just as fanatastic. I have rarely seen such a touching series that portrays so effectively the two sides of the same and one coin. A sad and touching testimony of a moment in history of a great and proud nation, and a very human one at that.

WW II brought misery to all the countries involved - particularly for the common people who lost a lot, irrespective of being part of a "winning" or a "losing" nation. The battles were over, Nazi structures dismantled - but people in many parts of Europe could not find the solution they had hoped. A culprit here was the Soviet Union, its Stalinism hoping to evolve their world revolution idea on the ashes of dismantled states and emerging hopes.

Tannbach gives a realistic picture of the era and events not too much depicted so far. Well, as the time frame is apparently too long for a miniseries, the course of events is not always smooth, and some motives may remain vague or incomprehensible to outsiders. Still, the characters are good, dynamic, so are the performances, particularly the female ones; and the changes in moods and attitudes are tackled in realistic manner. I really wanted to see what would happen next, and there were more interesting angles than clichés.

True, I am unable to know how all this is perceived by those remembering similar events or Germans today or those living outside Europe, so I can comprehend if this series does not bespeak very wide audiences. It is definitely not a story for "clear minds" and ignorant people.

PS Season 2 is a bit arid, and death of an interesting main character did not amend this either... But still, a good series, and realistic. The ending scenes hinted that Season 3 might come.