1899, a new Netflix series, became one of the biggest hits of the year. The story of Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, which narrates an inexplicable and extraordinary event in the middle of the sea, dazzled the public. In addition, it showed that the director and screenwriter couple is one of the great creative duos of the last decade.
With his elaborate, mysterious style and his ability to endow the inexplicable with an emotional element, 1899 surprises as much as moves. As if that weren’t enough, she travels through a split version of reality, as complicated as it is strange that it surprises with its forcefulness. Nothing is simple in the new Netflix series. However, it is not only its complexity that makes the production a success. At the same time, it is the enigmatic component that sustains each of its narrative threads and settings.
But the success of the showrunners is not accidental. Even before the worldwide phenomenon it became its previous title on Netflix, Dark, both had already demonstrated their ability to create extraordinary stories. So much so that his short filmography showed that his talent lies in exploring human nature through beauty and elegance. something that both Dark What 1899 fully demonstrated, but it was already obvious in the previous productions of the duo of creators.
We leave you three movies that you should see if Dark Y 1899 they moved and surprised you. A way to better understand Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese’s work as a creative team, if not their deep artistic sensibility.
Who Am I: No system is secure
What was considered in 2014 one of the best German films of all time, is a prodigy of economy of resources and visual elegance. The film before 1899 tells the story of a young hacker who understands that his skills are more than just tools for cheating or illegal. What gives the story an air of vindication in the midst of a well-constructed, ultra-technological setting that surprises with its narrative effectiveness.
What all cyber thriller worth its salt, it is also a reflection on the journey through modern morality. The subversive and the need to rebel against the system becomes a sophisticated vision of good and evil. Baran bo Odar turns the scenario of a cynical Europe and in the midst of relevant social debates, into a look towards more complex places. Especially when the ability to influence — or not — information networks is interconnected with identity, the need to understand the environment, and power.
But the triumph of the film is found in its characters. Benjamin (Tom Schilling) is an anonymous genius who ends up finding his way to recognition through computer hacking. But what might seem like a dark game about intelligence and goal-seeking, it becomes a fancy take on the possibility of evil. What is violence, cruelty and manipulation in a time full of nuances? The film explores it properly until it finds the most painful and perhaps cynical of answers.
revenge night
Vincent Downs (Jamie Foxx) finds himself in the middle of a violent scenario. One that could lead to his death or, worse, the murder of his son. As a policeman involved in a network of corruption that surpasses him, he is both a hostage and a victimizer. So he must make an impossible choice to stay alive or fight the corrupted world around him.
Baran bo Odar manages to create an atmosphere of dark and bright tension to this police thriller that bases its effectiveness and power on the revision of the moral. Away from ultra-technological settings, such as those of 1899 or Dark, which until then he used as narrative elements, the German director shines in his ability to explore pain. Also to advance through unusual places that are interconnected with a type of morality tinged with gray spaces that surprises with its subtlety.
Despite revenge night It is an intelligent combination between frenetic action and violence, it is also a look at human nature. What would we be willing to do to save what is most precious to us? Much more, what would we sacrifice to battle and fight against the fears and the possibilities of fear that are shown through multiple scenarios? Odar does not answer all questions. But yes make an elegant roadmap for them to be part of an in-depth look through the contemporary human spirit.
ice silence
When a terrifying crime seems to repeat itself, a retired police officer must find a way to find the elements to unite both events. On this occasion, the duo Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese manage to find a dark and sophisticated vision of violence that is astonishing for its precision –precisely in the style of 1899 or Dark–. Ice Silence it is much more than a journey to pernicious places over time and the perception of moral pain.
Also, it’s a well built look through unexplored regions about time, the passing of stories of violence and their collective impact. With its air of haunting beauty —attention to the frozen and silent landscapes loaded with symbology — the film about violence, goes beyond the conventional scenarioss. At the same time, beyond the possibility of the power of time and the correlation between good and evil as something more than a decision.
What makes a murderer kill? What turns the possibility of finding the answers to a crime into a moral duty? The big questions become a space of enormous hardness that lead to a single answer. The darkest sites of the human mind and behavior.