"Ku'damm 56" is a German television mini-series from roughly 2 weeks ago. It consists of 3 episodes, each of them roughly 90 minutes long, 2 of them a bit longer. The story is set in Berlin in the year 1956 and tells us about a dance teacher and her 3 daughters. The contents include love, (unhappy) relationships, motherhood, fatherhood, homosexuality, careers, cheating and a lot more. After all, they had 270 minutes to fill, 4.5 hours. This series received lots of praise the rating here on IMDb is not bad either. However, it is not a good watch. The only reason i can think of why people are praising this is how bad German television is at this point. Mediocre contents is seen as something outstanding. People are even asking for a sequel here, but I do not need to see that. This reviews was made after the three original episodes.
Lets look a bit at the cast. It includes young rising German actors and more experienced ones who have been in the industry for decades. The three young women are played by Sonja Gerhardt, Maria Ehrich and Emilia Schüle. Unfortunately, I cannot say that they are particularly great actresses. Most of the time, they are fairly mediocre. Then again, at least their age gives them the option to become great in the future. I cannot say that about the likes of Heino Ferch, Uwe Ochsenknecht and Claudia Michelsen. These are really more known for being charismatic and having decent recognition value, but all three of them are not very gifted in terms of their range. And last but not least, speaking about the young male actors in here: They are equally forgettable. I am not buying the Sabin Tambrea hype at all, even if it has been going on for a while. I see no talent with him. Oh well, at least he is just supporting here.
Finally, lets look at the script. I mentioned the contents earlier already and the action in this series is the perfect example of screen-writers touching material that they simply are not capable of delivering with credibility. The writers' talent is too small compared to their ambitions and you have to say in the actors' favor (even if they weren't good either) that it was almost impossible to make this script work. One really negative example is how there is little to no credible transition between the three episodes. All that connects them is that the characters return, but the stories develop into completely different areas and sometimes it feels as if you were watching movies that had nothing to do with each other. Lets look at Tambrea's character here. In the first 90 minutes, he is a rapist. In the second 90 minutes, he turns into a potential love interest to his rape victim that we are supposed to cheer for? Are you kidding me? Do not be fooled by some critics reviews. Either they were paid for giving this a positive reception or otherwise they have no taste at all. I do not recommend "Ku'damm 56". By the way, Ku'damm or Kurfürstendamm is a street and as Berlin citizen myself, I have to say that the title does not make any sense at all as there are little to no references at all to Berlin. Another disappointment. The film could have played in any other town or even country. Watch something else instead. This is a really weak outcome. Only the costumes and set decoration are kinda okay, but that was no challenge either.
Lets look a bit at the cast. It includes young rising German actors and more experienced ones who have been in the industry for decades. The three young women are played by Sonja Gerhardt, Maria Ehrich and Emilia Schüle. Unfortunately, I cannot say that they are particularly great actresses. Most of the time, they are fairly mediocre. Then again, at least their age gives them the option to become great in the future. I cannot say that about the likes of Heino Ferch, Uwe Ochsenknecht and Claudia Michelsen. These are really more known for being charismatic and having decent recognition value, but all three of them are not very gifted in terms of their range. And last but not least, speaking about the young male actors in here: They are equally forgettable. I am not buying the Sabin Tambrea hype at all, even if it has been going on for a while. I see no talent with him. Oh well, at least he is just supporting here.
Finally, lets look at the script. I mentioned the contents earlier already and the action in this series is the perfect example of screen-writers touching material that they simply are not capable of delivering with credibility. The writers' talent is too small compared to their ambitions and you have to say in the actors' favor (even if they weren't good either) that it was almost impossible to make this script work. One really negative example is how there is little to no credible transition between the three episodes. All that connects them is that the characters return, but the stories develop into completely different areas and sometimes it feels as if you were watching movies that had nothing to do with each other. Lets look at Tambrea's character here. In the first 90 minutes, he is a rapist. In the second 90 minutes, he turns into a potential love interest to his rape victim that we are supposed to cheer for? Are you kidding me? Do not be fooled by some critics reviews. Either they were paid for giving this a positive reception or otherwise they have no taste at all. I do not recommend "Ku'damm 56". By the way, Ku'damm or Kurfürstendamm is a street and as Berlin citizen myself, I have to say that the title does not make any sense at all as there are little to no references at all to Berlin. Another disappointment. The film could have played in any other town or even country. Watch something else instead. This is a really weak outcome. Only the costumes and set decoration are kinda okay, but that was no challenge either.