Dark - cerebral storytelling in a non-cerebral world

I know it feels like I say this every time, but I'll say it again: Dark is the greatest thing I've ever watched, and that's about it. If I had to publish my ranking of television shows, I have no doubt that Dark would take the throne, and I have a feeling that nothing would change my mind. As a work of art, I would rank it amongst humanity's greatest accomplishments. Congratulations to the show-runners, Baran Bo Odar and Jantje Friese, for proving to the rest of the planet that they reside on levels we can't even comprehend yet.

Dark is an experiment of human intellect, of philosophical deliberations, of literary craft, of storytelling, of moral judgement and most importantly, of that which makes us human: us. And while I realise how pretentious that sounds coming from an amateur reviewer with rigid opinions and absolutely no credibility, I stand by my words, and let me tell you why.

You have a much bigger part to play in this than you think

Dark begins with a simple premise: a boy missing in a small, quaint yet eerie German town, Winden, where there is always more happening than what meets the eye. Desolate yet intricately built, the people of Winden find themselves in perpetual dread. The assimilation and portrayal of this morose and anxiety-inducing tone is done effectively with a setting fitting of the title, Dark. Gloomy skies and dense forests provide the perfect background to the extra-marital affairs and the teenage drug use which tends to exemplify the predictability of human behaviour quite evidently. Valuably enough, Winden becomes a character in the show, with the town representing so much of what the show is about as the vulnerability of human nature tends to surface often. But, more on that later.

Jonas Kahnwald, our protagonist played by the charming and groundbreaking talent, Louis Hofmann, is still reeling from his father's confusing suicide. Turns out the therapy didn't work. Factor in losing the girl you had a thing with a year ago to your best friend (does hurt) and therein lies a recipe for a high-school character drama as clichéd as any. However, Dark is anything but cliché. What follows next is an experience of a sequence of events that one wouldn't predict in their wildest dreams. A complaint that I usually reserve for science fiction, that it all comes down to some easy deus-ex-machina with the plot, is a notion that is discarded when it comes to Dark. Once the fundamental plot points set in, every detail is organically introduced and the audience embarks on the same excruciating and impactful journey as its protagonist.

The entire time, Jonas carries his emotions on his sleeve. When the situation demands anger and frustration, the passion belts out an exasperated scream. When melancholy and fear drape the story, Jonas' tears spell the sadness that envelopes the audience's hearts. For that reason, Louis Hofmann deserves some serious recognition because as we follow him over the course of a tense 3 seasons, there is never a moment he goes unnoticed. Young and talented, the actor prevents the show from becoming a convoluted mind-twister which requires notebooks to keep track of all the details, but rather into a grounded, real and heart-wrenchingly sombre character drama about a boy trying to understand the mystery of his father's death, and what comes next.

A monumental performance by Hofmann

While I so very want to, delving into the details of Dark's plot would spoil the wonderful journey it builds for the audience. So while I cannot discuss more of Dark's story without risking your eventual wrath (provided you watch the show), I can discuss another excellent component of Dark's cast: literally everyone else. Let me preface my comments by saying I know nothing else about German television, but I'd imagine that this is what an excellent German ensemble cast looks like. In fact, I will go so far as to say that this might be the only show in any language I have watched that could truly claim the moniker of an ensemble cast.

Multiple principal actors? Check. Talented? Check. Bring life to their respective characters in a way wherein I cannot dissociate between the identity of the actor and their role? Check. Considering the volume of characters in the show, the different points at which we encounter these characters and the evolving dynamics and the myriad of storylines that they share with one another mise-en-scène, the writers and the actors do an astounding job of just staying on track and nailing each scene in isolation but also in context of the story (which one gains a further appreciation of upon finishing the show and realising all the subtleties that lay inherent in the performances).

A few personal favourites do stand out from the cast and they include, for one, Mark Waschke's tragically compelling performance as the menacing yet sensitive Sic Mundus acolyte, Noah. He steals the scene each time he is in it, and anyone who has watched the show will appreciate the nuances of Noah's emotional narrative journey in only wanting to protect that which he loves most in the world, his family. Lisa Vicari obviously holds center stage as Martha Nielsen, Jonas' love interest, whose role was expanded by the characters just because of her sensational talent, and rest assured, it was a well-serving decision. But perhaps my favourite of the rest of the cast is Maja Schöne as Hannah Kahnwald who despite being a wonderfully nice person in real life, revels in the desperation, obsession and pure psychopathic urges of her character and her narcissistic actions. Akin to a character transformation like Bryan Cranston from Hal in Malcolm in the Middle, to Heisenberg in Breaking Bad, the audience will come to despise Maja for just being exactly what the story calls for, to near perfection.

Everything is Connected

Now onto Winden and how visual content can arrestingly use its setting to stunning stylistic effect without compromising on its aesthetic value. An obvious observation of Dark is that the entire show takes place in Winden and audiences are only increasingly immersed in its atmosphere as the story proceeds through the intricacies of its narrative. I consistently stress that Dark is a complex human drama about the residents of Winden and their complicated relationships, with beautiful chords of science fiction, and that is majorly in part due to how it establishes the motif of Winden's visual pathos to be representative of the inner demons that reside in the mountain of characters that we follow.

In Winden, it always rains, the leaves are always brown, and the skies are always grey. In Winden, the night encapsulates its inhabitants with vengeance for its sins, and the silence screams loudly with the pain that its people inflict on each other. In Winden, people suffer again, and again, and again. Winden has its secrets, its lies and its dirty truths, and all Winden does is let the inevitability of its desires foster into devastating consequences repeatedly. Winden is a character in Dark because like its people, Winden's fate is wrapped in the sins of its past and destined for the same fiery ruin (except in the case of the town, the ruin isn't metaphorical). Winden looks scary, and that is because Winden represents and reflects the worst of human behaviour, making it a frightening reality to the audience.

Be it symbolism or set design, Dark aces every necessary category of visual storytelling. The cinematography is immaculate, provocative and memorable because in each scene, the sets are thoroughly composed, the elements are minimal and the lighting is precise. The soundtrack is as innovative as it is harrowing and composer Ben Frost does a wonderful job of incorporating jarring orchestral tones to complement each scene, and especially those of the Winden landscape (not to mention a legendary theme sequence). The aforementioned symbolism is plentiful and the visual parallels are inspired.

The gloriously horrifying Winden Caves

Dark is successful because it does what audiences have been searching for a long time: a unique style. Dark is wholly itself. It never tries to be anything else or something that it is not. It understands it has a complex narrative, a plethora of characters and just a lot to resolve insofar as the story is concerned. But it carves that emotional journey with authorial precision to craft something that we've literally never seen before. Dark is a story of the mind as much as it is of the heart. Perhaps that is why it has gained a following. Because even the most of cerebral of tales are founded upon the tenets of human nature. I can (and I have) spent hours with friends discussing every nuance, theory and frame of the visual spectacle that is Dark. But Dark merits more than that of us. It demands of us to experience it and if anything, that is what you should do.