Im Angesicht des Verbrechens (In Face of the Crime) (TV Series created by Domikin Graf 2010)

I have no idea whether this 10-part tv show is or will ever be available internationally, but it is certainly the best I have seen come out of German tv studios in a long time. Unsurprisingly (given Dominik Graf’s long history in entertaining AND ambitious movie making), it works best when seen in one go, it looks and feels very cinematic, and mostly ignores the conventions of tv productions: harmlessness, low production values, isolated one-episode plot developments. This is great cinema made for tv (for arte tv, primarily, which confirms that despite all its flaws, this French-German channel still is the heart of European quality production). And I do believe it is a show that could work on international markets: a team of cops investigating the Berlin mafia, which is run by an Eastern European mob, Vietnamese cigarette dealers and slimy German business men. Drug trafficking, human trafficking, murder, but also serious attention to the parallel societies that exist in modern Germany, with traditions and expectations that not only pose a challenge for politicians calling for better migrant integration, but also for the families themselves that feel all the rifts domestically, between their own generations. It is violent and funny, thrilling and authentic. Fantastic show!

thomas4cinema