xiaowei-bond

Surprised to see a German TV series on Amazon Prime just as we were getting bored with other programmes. We started watching this without much expectation knowing the ratings and reviews of this series being just about average. While we persisted in watching it, the story is getting better and better with twists and turns and a very surprising ending.

The story was weird to start with as the protagonist - Dr Victor Larenz, a psychiatrist with his wife and daughter living in a luxury villa near Berlin - was experiencing a personal crisis after the disappearance of his only child. The story goes back and forth mixing the present and flashbacks to trace the trajectory of his daughter's experience of growing up in a bourgeois family with a strict discipline imposed by her parents. Then we see the usual story of a teenager's rebellion and her final disappearance which resulted in the bitter separation of the parents. The personal crisis prompted Larenz to quit his job and travelled to a completely deserted North Sea island in the middle of a cold winter to have a soul-searching holiday alone. With excellent cinematography, the bleak winter beach scene perfectly conveys the feeling of desolation and despair of the protagonist. Then a series of weird things happened on the island.

At the same time, a side-plot developed in Berlin with Dr Larenz's colleague Dr Roth working in the same psychiatric clinic. The story exposes some of the common problems in the West - drug abuse and other social ills in the streets of Berlin. Roth helped Larenz to the end to solve the mystery of his daughter's disappearance.

A thought-provoking series which mixes the hallucinatory scenes with the bleak reality in the style of a psychological thriller. The story is not tinted by the usual "political correctness" and does not seek to sell any political agenda. It is both satisfying as an intriguing story as well as an example of aesthetically appealing cinematography without any special effects. Well worth watching. Highly recommended.

The only regret is the dubbing voices (in English) which sound a bit robotic - not natural enough as the native speakers.

Don't understand how this series could get such glowing reviews. No comparison to the original Westworld of Yul Brenner. Since the premises of the programme is based on the original's idea, before you start watching it, you already know most of the characters aren't humans. It certainly take away the thrill if there was any. The actings of most actors are wooden - maybe intentionally so as an effort to act robotically. But even the characters supposed to be humans cannot act naturally. Those supposed to be rational science or inventors are constantly raving and ranting with "F" word mixed in every sentence. Even then, there is no tension in the plots. One falls asleep after watching it for ten minutes.

Maybe the music is the source of the dullness - the slow relaxation music fit for a yoga studio runs through the whole episodes. To sum it up, the story is insipid, vacuous and pointless. It gives the science fiction a bad name.

Keeler/Profumo affair, a scandal that's been told million times, some reviewers ask why make another dramatisation again and again? Like the old saying, Sex turns the world around. The Brits might be bored with Profumo scandal and the saucy picture of Christine Keeler striding over a chair. But the rest of the world may not. The resurfacing of the story is not entirely a remake of the old film. This programme, although entitled "the trial of Christine Keeler," actually climaxed on the trial of Stephen Ward, who was convicted for "living off immoral earnings" implying that he was in the business of procuring young girls for the pleasure of the rich and famous. Sounds familiar? A predecessor of Epstein maybe? But the parallels are not quite the same. Epstein seemed to have made millions out of his sleaze trade, whereas Steven Ward never demanded payment for his "social fixing". Ward was a reputable Harley Street doctor, living on the earnings from his medical practice. It was a travesty of justice to convict him as "living off immoral earnings". What's more interesting is that in the case of Stephen Ward, foreign secret agencies were implicated. In the 60s, it was referred to as "honey trap" espionage. But in Epstein case, the hidden agenda was not just about espionage.

Imagine if Christine Keeler were like Virginia Roberts Giuffre, she would have become multi-millionaire several times over. But Keeler had too much pride, she had never sold herself as one of those "me too" fortune hunters.

Unfortunately in this world of hypocrisy, the honest ones always ended badly. Feel sorry for Steven Ward and Profumo, who had been made scapegoat to cover up the sleaze business of more important figures higher up in the establishment.

Artistically speaking, it's a watchable programme with a boring start but gets better from Episode 3 onwards. Sophie Cookson and James Norton did a good job as Keeler and Ward acting with true emotions. The script could be made more coherent by rearranging the timeline. Too many flashbacks jumping back and forth can be quite confusing.

A depressing story but on the whole a thought-provoking programme that reminds us of what's happening now. As Keeler's lawyer told her, Justice is not about truth. Justice is a game. A game of deception.