The subject of the Berlin Wall and its destruction has been dramatized numerous times in recent years in various TV productions, and often very successfully. And this new German mini-series from Walter Presents is a highly worthy addition to the pool.
If you want to avoid all spoilers, stop reading this article.
Set in the late 1980s, it’s the story of three sisters with very differing journeys in Germany. Known as Preis der Freiheit in its original German, ‘Berlin Wall' is about the lives of Margot, Lotte and Silvia.
Margot Spindler works for the GDR government, doing her best to keep the crumbling economy afloat in turbulent times. She is involved in a scheme whereby East Germans are driven by coach to the West for huge sums of money to fund the failing East. However, discussions between Margot’s representative, Ilja Schneider, and the newly appointed representative from West Germany, Ina Winter, are stalling due to her hard-nosed approach.
Lotte is the polar opposite of her sister; she runs a bookstore (dealing in books banned by the East German authorities) and is desperate to see Germany reunited and assists those who are fighting to cause rebellion on the street of the Berlin.
The third sister, Silvia, is presumed dead. But is she?
Partly narrated by Marcus Welsch, a naïve young recruit to Margot’s department, he cannot believe his luck when he’s given a passport that gives him free passage from East to West, with its untold riches and decadence, He’s there to do deals to aid the ailing economy, but is also able to enjoy all the West can offer.
The series is accompanied by a soundtrack of fabulous 80s music from the likes of The Eurythmics and David Bowie. It also has footage of a concert by Genesis that happened in 1987 on the West side of wall, but which could also be heard by young people in the East. When the GDR police tried to break up the crowds, things turned violent. This became known as the Berlin Whitsun Riots. Caught up in those riots was Ingo – Lotte’s son. He gets badly beaten and is recruited by a neo-Nazi group.
There’s a lot going on in just the first episode (each of which last 90 minutes, incidentally), but it’s worth sticking with, because this is another superb piece of storytelling about the human cost of a divided Germany; the corruption, the poverty, and the family divisions. It’s the very best of character-driven drama – quite possibly one of the finest that Walter Presents has ever given us. And that is very high praise indeed.
It looks quite superb on screen – the fashions, the cars, the music – it’s all evocative of a torrid time in world history. The acting is universally exceptional. Barbara Auer, who plays Margot, is quite extraordinary as the high-ranking government official whose life and family has been ripped apart by the politics that divided a nation.
This is the very definition of essential viewing.
Walter Presents: ‘Berlin Wall' is available as a boxset on C4 Streaming now.
