There is a new German series on Netflix, and after "Dark" was a very passable, internationally acclaimed mystery series, I thought, let's give "Dogs of Berlin" a shot. But when the name "Christian Alvart" appeared in the opening credits all alarm bells went off for me. The German Michael Bay is mainly known for the pretty awful Til Schweiger "Tatort" movies. It is one of the most popular german TV shows, which Alvart unsuccessfully tried to reinvent by turning mostly lame and old-fashioned whodunit crime stories into bad rip-offs of 90s action films. Well, Til Schweiger is absent from Dogs of Berlin. And that's actually the best thing you can say about this gruesome concoction.
Before we talk about the most despicable parts of Dogs of Berlin, let's start with what's just plain awful. Point 1: The dialogues are written by someone who does not care about language and words. Any sentences the actors are forced to utter have been copied and pasted from some Guy Ritchie movies. And not from the good ones. "At some point he will make a mistake. And then we are there." - "I have the money. I just need more time." - "I give you a chance. And you do not get many of them here." It's the entire vocabulary of bad gangster movies.
Point 2: Just as crappy as the dialogues are the characters written. The policeman with the neo-Nazi past, the homosexual Turkish investigator, the tough lesbian police chief, such personas come about when one puts together his main characters with a choice-o-mat. Alvart surely thinks of these people as multi-layered characters. But Alvart also thinks, Til Schweiger is a charismatic action actor. But he lacks any empathy for his characters. They are used uninspiringly to advance the stupid plot of the murder of a Turkish-born football player, which eventually leads to a sort of civil war in Berlin. This is supposed to be loosely inspired by real-life events, but let me tell you, as someone, who is from Germany: It does not even come close to the complexe issues, German society is facing at the moment.
Point 3: Speaking of empathy: Lebanese clans play an important role in Dogs of Berlin. And of course, Alvart has also stolen this plot element, namely from the pretty gripping drama series "4 Blocks". Earlier this year, I happened to sit next to one of the authors of 4 Blocks on a panel. Hanno Hackfort reported, that the writers had researched the complex and ambivalent portrait of a Lebanese clan family for almost three years. Alvart's research was this: Watch 4 Blocks and then just throw anything beyond his mental capacities out the window. Then simply copy and squeeze the rest into Dogs of Berlin. Nothing in this series feels original or new.
Besides all those things, that are just stupid, there is one thing, that makes Dogs of Berlin really unspeakable. The depiction of female characters in this series is disgusting. There are two things women characters in Dogs of Berlin are allowed to do: the first is to show their breasts. The second is to be the victim of terrible acts of violence. And sometimes both. For Alvart women are objects in a testosterone-filled world. They can only be strong if they submit to the male rituals of dominance and violence. Like the tough police officer who is even tougher than her male colleagues. There is no solidarity among women, on the contrary: If women interact with women here, then only to harm each other physically or mentally. It is a concept of feminity, that is otherwise found only in hardcore porn: big breasts everywhere, the dominant, potent man, who owns his female partners, of whom he has many, of course, and fights between women, that end up with one urinating on the other. It is these scenes in which Alvart reveals the foul, appalling inside of "Dogs of Berlin". Unfortunately, there is no manure bag large enough to dispose of the droppings of these pooches properly.
Before we talk about the most despicable parts of Dogs of Berlin, let's start with what's just plain awful. Point 1: The dialogues are written by someone who does not care about language and words. Any sentences the actors are forced to utter have been copied and pasted from some Guy Ritchie movies. And not from the good ones. "At some point he will make a mistake. And then we are there." - "I have the money. I just need more time." - "I give you a chance. And you do not get many of them here." It's the entire vocabulary of bad gangster movies.
Point 2: Just as crappy as the dialogues are the characters written. The policeman with the neo-Nazi past, the homosexual Turkish investigator, the tough lesbian police chief, such personas come about when one puts together his main characters with a choice-o-mat. Alvart surely thinks of these people as multi-layered characters. But Alvart also thinks, Til Schweiger is a charismatic action actor. But he lacks any empathy for his characters. They are used uninspiringly to advance the stupid plot of the murder of a Turkish-born football player, which eventually leads to a sort of civil war in Berlin. This is supposed to be loosely inspired by real-life events, but let me tell you, as someone, who is from Germany: It does not even come close to the complexe issues, German society is facing at the moment.
Point 3: Speaking of empathy: Lebanese clans play an important role in Dogs of Berlin. And of course, Alvart has also stolen this plot element, namely from the pretty gripping drama series "4 Blocks". Earlier this year, I happened to sit next to one of the authors of 4 Blocks on a panel. Hanno Hackfort reported, that the writers had researched the complex and ambivalent portrait of a Lebanese clan family for almost three years. Alvart's research was this: Watch 4 Blocks and then just throw anything beyond his mental capacities out the window. Then simply copy and squeeze the rest into Dogs of Berlin. Nothing in this series feels original or new.
Besides all those things, that are just stupid, there is one thing, that makes Dogs of Berlin really unspeakable. The depiction of female characters in this series is disgusting. There are two things women characters in Dogs of Berlin are allowed to do: the first is to show their breasts. The second is to be the victim of terrible acts of violence. And sometimes both. For Alvart women are objects in a testosterone-filled world. They can only be strong if they submit to the male rituals of dominance and violence. Like the tough police officer who is even tougher than her male colleagues. There is no solidarity among women, on the contrary: If women interact with women here, then only to harm each other physically or mentally. It is a concept of feminity, that is otherwise found only in hardcore porn: big breasts everywhere, the dominant, potent man, who owns his female partners, of whom he has many, of course, and fights between women, that end up with one urinating on the other. It is these scenes in which Alvart reveals the foul, appalling inside of "Dogs of Berlin". Unfortunately, there is no manure bag large enough to dispose of the droppings of these pooches properly.