User Reviews

A well told depiction of the diaries and how they were a major discussion in the 80s. Eidinger plays his role superbly as usual and makes the series very watchable.. The series made the alleged discovery come to light more as I had never really looked into it and didn't realise how they could have been used to humanise one of the worlds worst dictators. It also raised awareness of the France Ascq massacre for me. Stylishly filmed with a feeling of how the 80s were, how women were considered a joke in the workplace by men who thought themselves better and all characters portrayed well, even though I knew what the outcome was, I watched and felt quite sad when it ended as I could have watched more. The main character is still alive today and was sent into a life of hardship after this incident.

German-language series are not often appealing or as successful in their execution as this one has been. As an ex-Austrian, it's interesting to see how the writers tackled the difficult subject matter, yet presented in this format rather than a dry documentary. The acting is above-average by just about everyone and each character is believable to a large degree. Sure, there were a few farcical scenarios and a bit too much about the personal issues of the protagonists, but the talent of the main actors shone through. The period details were excellent and the underlying dark themes of the old DDR and Stasi threats blended in nicely. The pace and timing of the episodes was just right and there were enough real facts about this bizarre episode in German journalism that almost destroyed the publication, that it is also of historical value. It was also fun seeing the daily routines of some of the characters, like their taking baths, having breakfast and going to cafes. All little scenes that gave an authentic 'feel' of the time and place. An enjoyable and interesting look at a piece of real 'fake news'!

The true story of the forged Hitler diaries is certainly one of the strangest and funniest in German history. The story itself was made into a movie in 1992 already. At that time as a satire with all kinds of comical exaggerations which may seem somewhat dated today. This time, however, the story is told as a six-part drama series. After all, the fact based story of forged Hitler diaries is absurd enough as it is.

The two main characters are well written and can be perceived as real people instead of just silly cartoon characters. The characters' drama and humor are well balanced. Also thanks to the good performances of the actors. All actors actually. I did enjoy the soundtrack as well.

What is annoying, however, is the unnecessary fictional B-story about Elisabeth, a young journalist. A father-daughter conflict is told at length here, which has nothing to do with the actual story. To make things worse, Elisabeth has an extremely unpleasant character. She basically is nothing else than a selfish, prejudiced, ungrateful know-it-all. At times I didn't know if the creators saw her as a heroine or a villain. But in the end I think: why was so much time wasted on this storyline?

Apart from that, this is a very nice mini series. Too bad about the B plot. It was unnecessary and prevented a better rating.