User Reviews

DEUTSCHLAND 83 "Quantum Jump" (2015)

DEUTSCHLAND 83 is cold war television series made in Germany. The 8 episodes are set in 1983 during the height of the sabre rattling between the West and the Soviet Eastern Bloc. Stuck in the middle are the two Germany's, East and West. This is the first episode of the series.

Jonas Nay plays an East German border officer who is seconded into the East German Stasi. The Foreign Intelligence section needs a body to slip into West Germany to spy on a German General. The man, Ulrich Noethen, is in charge of working with his American counterpart to set up Pershing Missile sites.

Nay is to replace a just out of Military Staff College officer. Said officer will be "taken out" by the East Germans. Nay's files have been altered by other East German types to fit right in as Noethen's new aide de camp. Nay is to gather as much intelligence as he can to pass back to the Stasi.

Nay is not in the least pleased with the whole idea. He is given little choice in the matter however. His mother, Carina Wiese needs a kidney transplant and this is held over Nay's head. The neat part here is that it is aunt, Maria Schrader, a Stasi recruiter and agent that is applying the pressure.

Nay is quickly transplanted to Bonn on the Western side, for a crash course on the differences between the two Germanys. Though still somewhat rattled, he reports to his post.

Also in the mix here is Nay's girl, Sonja Gerhardt, the Stasi Commander, Sylvester Groth and Noethen's daughter, Lisa Tomaschewsky.

This is a pretty tense and suspenseful bit of television, and I must admit I was somewhat surprised just how entertaining it was. This production gets full marks all around with excellent acting, writing, period detail and direction.

Already this series has gripped me from the first episode with its unique flair. The story isn't that original, consisting of a reluctant East German becoming a spy on West Germany. However, it's executed with style in a way that often makes you chuckle (as well as feel tension). There are lots of nice details, such as how Martin is wowed by the variety of fruits in a Western supermarket. There are a fair bit of funny moments that show his experience, like when he accidentally reveals that he went to Cuba and has to quickly cover his mistake.

Despite the show's stylish feel, the actors are mainly unremarkable. They get the job done, but none of the acting I saw in this episode stood out to me as brilliant. It's all fairly average.

The premise is also a bit unrealistic, and it's almost comical how the woman who overhears Martin on the phone keeps missing her chance to tell anyone about it before he drugs her. However, the show doesn't take itself too seriously to let itself be harmed too much by these flaws.