1899 (2022)

Created by Janje Friese and Baran bo Odar

Another great TV series by couple Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar, a while ago I watched Dark (2017-2020) and I absolutely loved it - confusing, dark and very very atmospheric. So I knew that this production team could be trusted.

I’ll start with sound design. Music is one of the best things about this show. There’s this creepy and spooky silence as well as spine-tingling soundtracks that reminded me of previously mentioned Dark (2017-2020) as well as Mindhunter (2017-2019). In some scenes there would be some unison noise, like the clinging of tea cups. Even that brought chills. It made me wonder, what would happen next? Another part of the sound in this TV show is all the languages that characters speak. There were around 10 - English, French, Spanish, Danish, Japanese, German, Polish, Chinese, Portuguese and Norwegian. As a fan of languages, it was a pleasure to watch this. Although script-wise it baffled me sometimes how characters didn’t fully care if they were or were not understood. Only the viewer would see and understand the whole picture. People on the ship were stuck in their little worlds of the past, worries and their language. But it was not an obstacle to fall in love, lust or support.

Visuals. Dark, grim interior of the 19th century. New, just after renovation but scary nonetheless. Show creators used dark tones - deep reds, blues and greens in production as well as in costume design. And occasionally someone would be in white for the contrast, but what is the meaning? In some rare scenes we are also shown 50’s interiors or even spaceships. Creators had fun playing around and masterfully created scenes with massively different feelings.

The story of 1899 is confusing, it fucks with with the brain. There’s not much that we can understand and even if we can, it might be just a lie. It's absolutely one of the reasons I love it so much. In Dark they went with complicated time paradoxes and here they continue with very similar themes to confuse the viewer while tightening the story knot rapidly.

After the final scene in this season, a question appeared in my head. What is better: flying through never ending space or reliving the same 8 days again and again. Death or Death?

P.S. The show sadly has been cancelled. Which is devastating as this is one of a few stories where having full 3 seasons would’ve been crucial to see and understand the whole storyline.