A few years ago, the German Netflix series “Dark” caused a storm of enthusiasm among fans of the mystery genre. Now the “Dark” co-creators of the series Jantje Friese (45) and Baran bo Odar (44) have created a successor with “1899”. The eight episodes from season one will be released on Netflix on November 17th. Will the show be able to build on the great “Dark” success?
“1899” takes place on board an ocean liner at the turn of the century. Leading actor Andreas Pietschmann (53) told the news agency spot on news in an interview that it was “about the journey of an emigrant ship” with which “a group of migrants with great hopes and even bigger dreams set off from the old to the new continent”.
The steamship “Kerberos” is supposed to reach New York, but on the way Captain Eyk Larsen (Pietschmann) picks up a radio message from another ship. The “Prometheus” belongs to the same shipping company and went missing in the Atlantic some time ago. A rescue mission is launched. Meanwhile, strange and inexplicable incidents are beginning to increase on the “Kerberos”…
The aforementioned “Dark” returnee Pietschmann plays the German captain of the ocean liner in “1899”. The actor, who lives in Berlin, describes his character as a “dull, withdrawn and taciturn character with a dark secret”. Larsen tries to drown this in alcohol.
Emily Beecham (“Cruella”, 38) embodies the Englishwoman Maura Franklin. Her long-cherished dream is to become a doctor. At the turn of the century, however, this profession was reserved for men only.
In addition, the actor Miguel Bernardeau (25), known from the Netflix series “Elite”, Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen (22) and Clara Rosager (26) from “The Rain” and Maciej Musiał (“The Witcher”, 27) appear in front of the camera With. Hong Kong-born actress Gabby Wong previously starred in the 2016 Star Wars film Rogue One.
Netflix viewers should preferably stream “1899” in the original English. Because in the mystery series, German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Polish, Danish, Norwegian, Cantonese and Japanese are spoken. With the audio setting “English [Original]”, all the characters then speak in their mother tongue, which means that German can also be heard from time to time.
In the completely synchronized audio version, on the other hand, reading the subtitles, which is tedious for some viewers, is omitted, but a piece of the meaning is also lost here. Because in this version, the numerous communication problems across language barriers are no longer really understandable.
Netflix star Pietschmann is enthusiastic about this variety and adds that “you could always feel the international breath of this production while working on the set”.
Fans and friends of the mystery genre will get their money’s worth with the new Netflix series “1899”. Because every character carries a dark secret that needs to be deciphered. In addition, the series creators Friese and bo Odar – as in “Dark” – skilfully intersperse clues and pieces of the puzzle that suggest a larger whole, which, however, persistently and amusingly eludes the viewer.
