Sit down first. This might come as a shocker. I know many people who have watched won’t believe. But hear me out. *crescendo builds*
I understood Dark.
Dark is Netflix’s first German-language original series. It is not a horror show and the name is totally misleading. It is actually a family show. It is not my place to spoil it for you but I am going to only share my opinion about it below.
It revolves around few families who have interconnected past, present, and future. They are connected via time traveling portals and time machines. It has 3 seasons and each one gets better than the previous. If you like Sci-fi shows, this is for you. Clearly it is one of the most interesting and brilliant Sci-Fi shows I have watched yet. It is all about how Time-Travelling affects relation ships (if time is linear) and the only thing I can reveal about the show is that its tagline is tell-all.
"Everything is Connected".
Huh. So, they themselves tell you about it. And, when I say I understood it, I meant it. I could understand it more easily because the linkages and relationships which they depict in the show can also easily happen in any close-knit community in India in which Intra-Caste Marriages are still commonplace. Hold my Oktoberfest non-alcoholic drink, but I am not known to bluff in normal circumstances so here are some logical analogies:
Places and Time
Places in India look the same no matter which year it is but somehow you can still tell, right? Same as the eponymous Dark Cave in the show Dark. (is it why they named it Dark? Just because of the Dark cave? They could’ve named it ‘Years’.) It was easy to guess the timeline for me. They also tell you about the year in writing.
People
Every person in the community I mentioned above will have many people who would be doubly-linked to others in the families. At least I have cousins who are also distant relatives of my other cousins and then they get married to someone close by and they become closer relatives although they were still distant. But now, since they have got married to someone close to me, have become doubly or sometimes triply linked to me. See, that might be the case with me only but if you really try, you will also find relatives who are linked to you in more than one way. No? Then sorry, you will not understand Dark.
Reality apart, Dark is brilliant in multiple ways. In spite of non-linear timelines, the creators give ample information (like I did) so that viewers can understand it. They don’t leave it hanging in balance like Nolan and all. Secondly, the cast is amazing but they never smile. Never. But, the direction, the cinematography, the music, all work in tandem and there’s never a dull moment.
Highly recommended.
I was reluctant to watch the series as many ppl shared their difficulty to understand the family circle. But, now I am confident to watch 🙂 As usual, good blog Abhinav.