Dark, a Netflix Series
Imagine if the Duffer Brothers (Stranger Things), David Lynch (Twin Peaks)and Alfred Hitchcock got together … it’d be something like Dark.
Imagine if the Duffer Brothers (Stranger Things), David Lynch (Twin Peaks)and Alfred Hitchcock got together to create a show … it’d be something like Dark.
SEASON THREE DROPS SATURDAY JUNE 27
Originally written in 2017:
Let’s get this over with, here are the things that will make you not want to watch Dark.
First, it’s German.
From Germany.
So yea, you will need to set up your subtitles on Netflix. For those that hate to read subtitles, you can view the show dubbed in English but, and I can’t stress this strong enough, you’d be silly to do that. It’s never a good idea to watch anything foreign dubbed into English.
It turns watching even the best film or television show into an awful experience. You can take a look at this quick read from Meagan Fredette at Refinery29 for a better explanation.
Second, you might be coming down off of your Stranger Things high and aren’t in the mood for a similar show. Make no mistake, there are similarities here. And while I enjoyed Stranger Things, I never quite understood the incessant adulation the show received.
Stranger Things is good, I agree. I get it.
Dark is better.
Third, there are multiple storylines and they jump around in time. You do have to pay attention to what’s going on. If you have the attention span of a gnat, are easily confused or think that The Big Bang Theory is good, this may not be the best show for you.
Lastly, if you have some sort of deep-rooted hatred towards Germany it’s probably best to skip this one.
So why should you watch Dark? Because it’s fucking brilliant!
Created by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese who are, as near as I can tell, Swiss and unafraid of the comparisons to Stranger Things, “It’s really exciting because if all those people who watched Stranger Things will at least think about watching Dark, I think that’s a great opportunity for us,” Friese says. “So keep comparing it.”
The atmosphere, or vibe, of the shows is what sets them apart.
Where Stranger Things is a little cheeky, Dark is brooding. From the very first scene, a sense of worry engulfs you and you know that some dark shit is going to happen.
Visually, the show is, well, dark and it does rain a lot in the small town of Winden, where everything unfolds. It’s visual American kissing cousin would be David Fincher’s Seven. So if you like a darker aesthetic and lots of rain, you’ll find Dark satisfying.
This first season, all ten episodes were directed by Baran bo Odar and all ten were shot by Nikolaus Summerer, which will allow for a visual consistency you don’t always get with American shows. Keep in mind, the show is called Dark, so anticipate the show being tonally and visually dark.
I’ll have leave it to the internet to describe Dark:
“The disappearance of two young children in a German town brings light to the fractured relationships, double lives and past of four families living there, revealing a mystery that spans across three generations.”
I think that seems about right so far.
The theme song, created by German electronic musician Apparat (Sascha Ring), is the perfect introduction to the show … and I by and large dislike electronic music.
The relationship between the sound design, the music and the visuals all converge to shoot the tension of the narrative up tenfold. I’ve never at once been so aware, yet not at all distracted by, the sounds and music that lay underneath the images of Dark. Australian composer, and current Iceland resident, Ben Frost is the guy behind the music in the show. Frost’s music here is the absolute perfect marriage of sight and sound; it raises the bar for this creative element.
Because the show goes back to the 80’s you’ll hear some music from that era as well. Nena (obviously, Germany), Tears for Fears, ABC are a few that pop up in the early episodes. There are also a bunch of songs by artists that I don’t recognize and those are interesting enough. They sound to me to be mostly electronic and neither add nor take away from the story.
The acting is great. I don’t know any of these actors so I can’t compare it to anything they have done in the past. The show appears to focus around Jonas Kahnwald, played by Louis Hofmann who is more than adept at carrying the scenes he’s in.
The woman with the “it” factor is Jördis Triebel, who plays Katharina Nielsen. Whenever she is onscreen you gravitate to her, waiting to find out what she does. That is a unique trait for actors to have and not one that can be taught.
The actors are mostly German, so the guys have a stern, or ‘resting dick face”, look about them and the women have a sort of cranky, or “resting bitch face”, look about them.
This is even true of the child actors … but I am guessing that this may just be the normal German disposition. I know very little of German culture, but they do seem like very severe people.
I will say this — and this seems much more prevalent in foreign programs — it’s nice to see actors their age portraying characters their age. The adult characters are all middle age and so are the actors, the children and teen characters are all children and teens and the older characters are all older actors. No one is playing outside of their respective demographic. And, at least so far, all the physical relationships are age-appropriate too.
Because the show hops decades, the child actors need to resemble their adult counterparts and, a big shout-out to the casting directors, they all do.
In addition to creating the show, producing the show, and in Baran bo Odar’s case directing the show, both Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar wrote or co-wrote all ten episodes of the show. Other writers listed are Martin Behnke, Ronny Schalk and Marc O. Seng.
All of these names are, literally, foreign to me but the writing is amazing. Having the ability to maintain all of these storylines, and do so effectively, is no small accomplishment.
For as complicated and conceptually wide as Dark is, it’s at the same time quite taut. Nothing is extraneous or out of place; the music, the sound, the acting, the look, the writing and the directing all coalesce into an extremely tight narrative.
The show doesn’t deploy any cheap tricks as it builds tension — more than once in each episode I felt my heart beating a little faster — and you will find yourself deeply engrossed rather quickly.
While Dark moves at a somewhat glacial pace, if you’re not paying attention, it can get a little confusing. This is not the type of show you can watch, go away for a few days and come back to, there is no “Previously on Dark” synopsis up front.
I think Dark was designed to be viewed in rapid succession. And if it wasn’t, I think it’s the best way to watch it.
The comparisons between Dark and Stranger Things exist. I can see them but don’t feel they’re worth mentioning because I don’t find them debilitating to the narrative or distracting. For a lot of people, I don’t suspect Dark will be as fun as Stranger Things — I’m not sure “fun” is part of the German vernacular.
Dark is much, well, darker. This may seem like heresy to Stranger Things fans, but I think if you’re open to it, and give it a chance, Dark will be a much more satisfying experience.
Dark will certainly be a different experience.