Just finished watching the first series and was totally captivated by the plot and characters. Amazon get your finger out I want to see the Second Series.
I regularly watch Foreign language TV through Walter Presents on Channel 4, Netflix and Amazon Prime and this rates as one of the best series I have seen.
Central European politics of the 1920s is totally unknown to English speaking audiences so the storyline is fresh and the world of the Belgrade underworld unknown. Itis reminiscent of Peaky Blinders and fans of that will enjoy this fix as like there the actions and experiences of the First World War motivate the actions of many of the characters and unfinished business fuels the plotline.
Well worth a box set binge
59 Reviews
Maybe, something that we could sell to the world!!!
bosko_kv_915 November 2017
First of all, this is something completely different than anything else that was released in Serbia in a past decade. It's too exciting and pilot was great. Bjela did a great job like with Montevideo. There is a murder, twists, suspects, there are Cozacs from Russia, VMRO from Macedonia, there are Germans, Serbs and a few more interesting groups. If I can compare this one with something famous it will be Peaky Blinders for sure. My recommendations to everyone.
Best show on Balkan for sure.
vuko200223 August 2020
This is amazing show. I was amazed that something from serbia can be so good. In my opinion its better than all world-popular series like breaking bad, wire, sherlock. My favorite show. Story so dark and misterious, best actors from serbia and good charachterization.
Excellent
branislavnovakovic9 May 2020
A right turn on the crossroads for Serbian production
cipiosvajac23 June 2021
Before this show came along, Serbian production was mostly centered on family dramedies in the form of telenovelas. Bjelogrlic did something special when he came up with Black Sun. Not only did he raise the bar, he also fueled the production of other awesome Serbian production tv shows( Beleznica profesora Miskovica and Kalkanski Krugovi being a prime example). As for the show itself, it focuses on political games and underground of post-WWI Belgrade and Yugoslavia. It's not historically accurate but it's interesting take on the history of Balkan Peninsula. Show is full of awesome, believable plot-twists, interesting characters(the main trio is just superb) and the production values are equal to HBO, Netflix... Some of these big corps should give a lot of money to Bjelogrlic because he showed here that he can make a captivating, interesting, quality tv-show with not that much money. Just imagine what he can do with a true big budget.
This is how world-class level TV Series should look like
nikdjikic4 December 2017
I am very demanding as audience about Movies and especially TV Series, because they last longer and take more of viewers time. What I always hated in TV Series is the pace, plot is usually unfolding slower than it should, and there are always numerous filler characters and subplots that are only there to prolong series run-time. After watching 7 episodes of "Senke nad Balkanom", I can be sure that this wasn't just lucky shot with the pilot episode, the series is expanding, developing and becoming even better and better. Each episode brings us new plot twists and complications that are not forced, they emerge from character relations and events that have happened in previous episodes. They are somehow logical, natural and fluid with the main story-line, yet they are unexpected. Nothing is predictable in the series and that is absolutely amazing. Those screenwriters done their job right this time. Characters - there are no "filler" characters. Whoever takes screen time, it will have it's importance and impact on the plot, sooner or later. Sex scenes and secret love affairs - those are not there only for nudity. Every affair has its own impact on the story. I am absolutely amazed how every character is a piece of a puzzle that is coming together in such a perfect way. Every subplot is interesting on its own, but how subplots are intertwined is what is fascinating (perfection of that can be compared with Westworld series, season 1). And all of that put together in a historical frame. This is what historical fiction is all about, this is how historical fiction should look like. I can only hope that Dragan Bjelogrlic will keep up the good work. This is his Magnum opus and I hope that this series can become international hit, can pay off and enable Dragan Bjelogrlic to finish all planned 3 seasons at this quality level.
Excellent
soranus27 November 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I could not believe that somebody was able to make such a series in today's Serbia or any country that came out of Yugoslavia. As any top product of this type, it is based on rock-solid writing and characters you cannot forget. If I was Netflix, I would shower Bjelogrlic with money for some future production. He is really worth it!
Something truly incredible.
ivo9520 November 2017
I won't tell much. I'll just say: This show is so good that I've decided to voluntarily translate it to English. The translation of the first episode has already been uploaded. Players that auto-download subtitles will instantly get it for you, while you can also just search for it. See it, and you'll realize why someone would go to that extent to show it to you.
Possibly the best TV Show produced in Serbia ever
riseofeagle9 May 2020
Dragan Bjelogrlic did remarkable thing! Almost all characters really lived in those times and had huge influence on historical course of Yugoslavia and Europe as well. From watching the show you can really see that He had put Serbian production on totaly another level. I recommend this to anyone!
Amazing
minamiletic27 April 2020
second season
mitrovicdanka17 December 2019
Finally something different !
mysterionmysterion29 December 2019
Let me start that as a Serb, I really think the show is of great quility. I've been living several years in the West, and have fallen a bit out of touch what's going on back home when it comes to cinema and TV productions. Boy, was this a pleasent surprise. The TV shows (and majority of movies) we've been fed in maybe past 10-20 years, are to be honest,quite cringy. Shalow story lines with stereotipical characters, aimed probably to same audiance at home. However, at least I want to belive, most of us want something more then stupid dialogs, unbelivable characters and low producation standards. This was the main goal of this prodaction team lead by Bjela, to give our audiance something new, this reneasance of TV shows thats happening in the rest of the world. And I am so glad it finally did happen.
This is a historical crime thriller, set in turbolent times between 2 world wars. The show kept my interest through out, especailly as a history nerd I really liked to see the historical characters and events intertwined with the storyline. Of course, there is a lot of artistic freedom, so if you want it accurate - go watch a documentary. There were ocassions where the dialog or story line seemed a tad unrealistic and through me off, also acting by some of the actors was a bit poor. I give it an 8 because I really hope that this is just the beginning of a new wave of high quility Serbian shows. There is definitly room for improvement, as I really want to belive we can paralel whats going in rest of the world, and that this is just a beginning.
Thank you to the whole producation team for giving me new hope that something really good can come out of this region. Maybe soon we will have Serbian show even with Netflix producation ?!
This is a historical crime thriller, set in turbolent times between 2 world wars. The show kept my interest through out, especailly as a history nerd I really liked to see the historical characters and events intertwined with the storyline. Of course, there is a lot of artistic freedom, so if you want it accurate - go watch a documentary. There were ocassions where the dialog or story line seemed a tad unrealistic and through me off, also acting by some of the actors was a bit poor. I give it an 8 because I really hope that this is just the beginning of a new wave of high quility Serbian shows. There is definitly room for improvement, as I really want to belive we can paralel whats going in rest of the world, and that this is just a beginning.
Thank you to the whole producation team for giving me new hope that something really good can come out of this region. Maybe soon we will have Serbian show even with Netflix producation ?!
second season
smitihana17 December 2019
lOVED IT!
miljkovicmilorad18 May 2020
Love this show
mywordsdidglow29 June 2020
This incredible show is definitely for adults only. Having a little historical background helps (the fraternal connection between Tsarist Russia and Serbia for example) but is not required. Violence, international intrigue. street level gangs, soldiers still dealing with the aftermath of WW1, new forensic science, independence fighters/terrorists, opium fueled hedonism/social decay all come together to make an amazingly enjoyable binge watch. The acting is great. A must watch for fans of The Wire and Peaky Blinders. It is hard at first to keep some of the characters straight in your head, but it gets easier as the show progresses.
A Serbian classics that should become an international success
Nik_Smerkolj14 March 2020
Black Sun (Serbian: Senke nad Balkanom) is a unique series - based on the historical background of Balkan region, this criminal series is enriched with Balkan character, mindset and language. From this perspective, Black Sun is not just a normal TV Series, but a documentary set of episodes that bring a valuable content to all viewers, regardless of the reason for choosing this series. The historical background is precise and made easy to comprehend, however, some knowledge is mandatory in order to cope with the episodes. Viewers from the former Yugoslav republic will find series even more interesting, due to easier understanding of topic and language, that brings plentiful of meaningful proverbs, advice and also quite some curse words.
HBO level production!
zoki_1921 January 2020
10/10 OMG This is a masterpiece! A must see for all of the world
learnvicpa17 May 2021
I think this is my first review and I was overwelmhed! The writing, sound, production, locations, make-up storyline, dark, but in moments funny, historical the portrayal of that time in some scenes I was Whoa, they managed to...produce the series at the HBO, Netflix,..level. This should be one of the best show in the world...hope the 3. Season come soon
Some of those actors were in theaters mostly Cro/Serb/Monten/NewMaced/Slov/Bosnians....and all others were at the top, Dragan Bjelogrlic and crew seems to have an abillity to extract the best of them and they did a great job. Leona Paraminski, Nebojsa Dugalic suprised me in a great way cause i haven't saw her much, German, French language speaking, Maja Bergam also and not just that but changing accents were perfect because I know it's not easy to do that I was working a job where I was all around the Balkan so I learned and maybe had in in me but my friends can't shift accents how hard they tried so I'm not he POINT the point is Leona, Bojan Navojec, Nebojsa Dugalic with foreign language speaking! Gordan Kicic was a psycho for an Emmy, Golden Globe and which statue is in play.....Andrija Kuzmanovic also! All of them were best in their role not one of them sticks out wrongly!
Some of those actors were in theaters mostly Cro/Serb/Monten/NewMaced/Slov/Bosnians....and all others were at the top, Dragan Bjelogrlic and crew seems to have an abillity to extract the best of them and they did a great job. Leona Paraminski, Nebojsa Dugalic suprised me in a great way cause i haven't saw her much, German, French language speaking, Maja Bergam also and not just that but changing accents were perfect because I know it's not easy to do that I was working a job where I was all around the Balkan so I learned and maybe had in in me but my friends can't shift accents how hard they tried so I'm not he POINT the point is Leona, Bojan Navojec, Nebojsa Dugalic with foreign language speaking! Gordan Kicic was a psycho for an Emmy, Golden Globe and which statue is in play.....Andrija Kuzmanovic also! All of them were best in their role not one of them sticks out wrongly!
Masterpiece
mladendmaric12 December 2017
Absolutely brilliant, not worse then any of the high profile Netflix/Amazon shows currently running.
Lots of real history packed into context as well even though it is sort of historical fiction - you can enjoy by reading about the real historical figures on Wikipedia (almost interesting as much) alone.
Add to it great costumes, genuine locations & excellent acting and you have a winner.
Lots of real history packed into context as well even though it is sort of historical fiction - you can enjoy by reading about the real historical figures on Wikipedia (almost interesting as much) alone.
Add to it great costumes, genuine locations & excellent acting and you have a winner.
Wow
koolest_smile3 April 2020
By far the best Serbian/exYu tv show ever made
steamroller_9129 April 2021
Nothing like this was ever made by domestic cinematography. This tv show deserves to be among the best and most popular tv shows worldwide. There is a language barrier and it is reasonable, but for those who are not repelled by non-english speaking shows this is a 'must watch'. The storyline, the drama, the plot and the perfect cast make watching every episode with high tension and antitipation of the next one.
Hope to see at least 2-3 seasons more :)
Hoping for.
Hope to see at least 2-3 seasons more :)
Hoping for.
most accomplished Serbian TV show in well over a decade
dragokin20 February 2021
If you're looking for a historically accurate depiction of Yugoslavia between world wars, you're in a wrong place. However, if you're looking for a crime thriller in which actual historical figures play important roles, then this might be interesting.
In terms of story and production values ("look and feel") this is the most accomplished TV show from Serbia in well over a decade. It has an ambitious plot playing on several levels.
The only thing that bothered me was the choice of language, which seems to be a conscious decision in Serbian cinema and, for that matter, in the whole former Yugoslavia. At a certain point I've realized that the F-word and it's derivatives constitute a good part of the script. The Serbian language is particularly creative in this area, but even that didn't help in the long run.
To be clear, I'm not complaining that a wealthy socialite in the show might use the vocabulary of the lowest social strata. Although i find it highly unlikely, my thoughts on the topic have been covered in my comment above that this is not a documentary. What I mean is that there are scenes where, instead of writing a generic dialogue, the writer(s) opted for profanities. This I can attribute solely to lazy script writing...
In terms of story and production values ("look and feel") this is the most accomplished TV show from Serbia in well over a decade. It has an ambitious plot playing on several levels.
The only thing that bothered me was the choice of language, which seems to be a conscious decision in Serbian cinema and, for that matter, in the whole former Yugoslavia. At a certain point I've realized that the F-word and it's derivatives constitute a good part of the script. The Serbian language is particularly creative in this area, but even that didn't help in the long run.
To be clear, I'm not complaining that a wealthy socialite in the show might use the vocabulary of the lowest social strata. Although i find it highly unlikely, my thoughts on the topic have been covered in my comment above that this is not a documentary. What I mean is that there are scenes where, instead of writing a generic dialogue, the writer(s) opted for profanities. This I can attribute solely to lazy script writing...
Don't Believe the Reviews
wvinson-6718224 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I am stunned that his show has an IMDB score of 9.1. I usually agree with the scores, but not this time. A very confusing plot difficult to follow. And episode 1 ended with a gala costume party discovering the head of a beheaded participant in the middle of the dance floor. Really!! I had to burst out laughing. I started to watch episode 2 and gave up.
Sooo good and refreshing!
sanjasilver9 April 2021
Love it! Can't wait for season 3.
Interesting plot through historical events and many many unique and interesting characters. Bjelogrlic, talented actor showed us how talented director he is too.
Wonderful series and looking forward to season 3.
Interesting plot through historical events and many many unique and interesting characters. Bjelogrlic, talented actor showed us how talented director he is too.
Wonderful series and looking forward to season 3.
See also
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