4 blocks

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Television series
Original title 4 blocks
4 blocks Logo.png
Country of production Germany
original language German
Year (s) 2017-2019
Production
company		 Wiedemann & Berg Television
length 51-59 minutes
Episodes 19 in 3 seasons ( list )
genre drama
Theme music Hasan.K & Gringo - Nb4
Director Marvin Kren ,
Oliver Hirschbiegel ,
Özgür Yıldırım
script Richard Kropf ,
Bob Konrad ,
Hanno Hackfort ,
Marvin Kren,
Benjamin Hessler ,
Niko Schulz-Dornburg ,
Felix Charin
music Stefan Will ,
Marco Dreckkötter
camera Moritz Schultheiß ,
Timon Schäppi ,
Matthias Bolliger
cut Jan Hille ,
Lars Jordan
First broadcast May 8, 2017 on TNT Series
occupation

4 Blocks is a German drama series that was broadcast on TNT series from 2017 . In December 2018 it was announced that the series would end with the third season and thus a total of 19 episodes. It started on November 7, 2019. Directed by Marvin Kren , Oliver Hirschbiegel and Özgür Yıldırım . The series, which starred Kida Khodr Ramadan as the leader of an Arab family clan, received critical acclaim and won several prestigious awards.

action

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season 1

The Lebanese Ali "Toni" Hamady has lived with his family in Germany for 26 years. He is the leader of a family clan living in Berlin-Neukölln and belonging to organized crime . The actual boss, his uncle Ibrahim, has largely withdrawn from the business, but is still giving the important orders in the background. Toni, however, is dissatisfied with his role and wishes to be able to live a life free of crime with his wife Kalila and daughter Serin. In order to make this happen, however, he needs a permanent residence permit, which he has been waiting for for years. Then he wants to get into the real estate business.

After his brother-in-law Latif is arrested with nine kilograms of cocaine in the car, Toni has to react. Under no circumstances does he want to hand over control of the Hamady clan to his unpredictable brother Abbas. He has just killed an investigating officer who was on his payroll and whom he charged with arresting Latif. Under investigation leader Hagen Kutscha, the police penetrate ever deeper into the circles of the Hamadys. But it is not just the police who disputes the Hamadys' core business, drug trafficking. The rocker club Cthulhus also disrupts business and does everything to harm the Hamadys.

In his distress, Toni meets Vince, an old friend whom he trusts and who is at his side. Toni doesn't know, however, that Vince is actually an undercover police officer. Things get even more complicated when Vince meets Latif's wife, Amara, for whom he had a soft spot before. As Vince penetrates deeper and deeper into the orbit of the Hamadys and even gets to know Ibrahim, the gap between Abbas and Toni widening. When the Cthulhus raided Ibrahim's house following a tip from the police, Abbas happened to be there. They leave the uncle seriously injured, but Abbas kills the leader of the Hamadys in revenge for a reprimand he has received. However, he makes it look like it was the Cthulhus.

Vince tries to complete his investigation and urges witness protection for him and Amara, who tries to run away with him. But when Toni finds out that his friend is an undercover agent, he wants to kill him. But Vince can change his mind. He wants a strong Toni at the head of the Hamadys in order to prevent an open war, especially since he also realizes that a megalomaniac Abbas is not the solution. Latif is released, however, because Zeki, a younger clan member, took the blame instead of him. This complicates things as Latif found out about Vince's true identity in jail.

Vince gets the gun Abbas used to shoot the policeman and gives it to his colleagues. Abbas' arrest has already been scheduled and a safe apartment has been prepared. But just as Vince is about to go into hiding with Amara, he learns that the Cthulhus have kidnapped Toni. Against all common sense, he informs Abbas and leads the Hamadys to the Cthulhus refuge. The season one showdown ends with Vince being stabbed to death. Abbas is arrested and Toni kills the leader of the Cthulhus in violation of his own code of honor (“We don't kill people”). In the end, he is at the head of the Hamady family.

season 2

The second season takes place a year later. Toni is the undisputed head of the Hamady clan, while Latif runs the street business. Toni travels to Lebanon, where he negotiates with the big bosses. They were disappointed by their former partner, Mohammad al-Saafi, and now put Toni in charge of Berlin. In the course of the conversation, Omar al-Saafi, Mohammad's nephew, is killed. Toni has now entered the real estate business and maintains an emergency shelter for refugees . He buys a large piece of land on the Spree , on which he plans to build hotels and other properties later, but gets into a clash with the young real estate shark Matthias Keil. In private life too, many things are not going well with Toni. He lives separately from his wife Kalila and rarely sees their daughter. He's trying to bring the family back together.

A war with the al-Saafis begins after they burn down the refugee accommodation with the help of Chechen gangsters. The war weighs heavily on family businesses, and mutual attacks ensue. When Mohammad's brother, who had previously served as bargaining chip, dies in a Lebanese prison, the Hamadys have no leverage. Zeki, meanwhile at large again, could not improve his status in the clan and is still being put off. This drives him into the clutches of Mohammad, who recruits him as a spy for his clan. Information from him leads to the murder of Akhmed "Potato" Hamady, who is shot by Chechens while on a courier trip. This seriously unsettles the base, and calls for revenge are loud. However, the clan is still under increased surveillance by Hagen Kutscha and the police.

Abbas is meanwhile being sentenced to life imprisonment and subsequent preventive detention. The Hamadys demand an appeal, but in the meantime Abbas is billeted in the Tegel JVA , which is under the control of the al-Saafis. Toni, whose dispute with his brother has still not been resolved, tries to get him out or at least to have him embarrassed, while Abbas takes on Frankie, who runs the drug business in prison. The situation escalated when Abbas was attacked in solitary confinement by two Chechens and seriously injured. When he was to be transported to a clinic, however, he managed to escape on the way. Badly damaged, he arrives at Toni, who is now planning to transfer him to Lebanon. Toni puts Abbas in an old warehouse where Ewa can visit him.

Due to dubious payments Toni receives from Lebanon, his bank accounts are frozen. As a result, the contract for the property on the Spree does not come into being. Matthias Keil sees his chance and, to Toni's annoyance, buys the property himself. After Toni attempts to intimidate Keil, he shoots Keil's girlfriend, which visibly shakes her. Keil is furious and contacts Nico, a former member of the Cthulhus, who still has an outstanding account with Toni.

After Toni's daughter Shirin is kidnapped, he immediately suspects Mohammad. However, it turns out that Zaur, the leader of the Chechens, kidnapped Shirin. Mohammad is angry that Zaur kidnapped the girl without his instructions and cuts her throat. Then he brings Shirin back to her parents.

Kalila persuades Toni to finally make peace with Mohammad, which the two want to achieve with a forced wedding between Maruf and Djamila, Mohammad's niece. In addition, Mohammad tells Toni that Zeki was the traitor in his ranks. Toni threatens Zeki that he will kill him if he doesn't leave Berlin immediately, which Zeki eventually does.

The murdered Zaur's uncle wants to take revenge on Mohammad, but he convinces him that Toni was responsible for the murder and promises to hand over Toni and his family to him. Mohammad plans to murder Toni and his family at his niece's wedding. Djamila gets wind of it and manages to tell Kalila about the murder plans, whereupon Toni executes Mohammad.

Meanwhile, Toni makes a deal with Kutscha: He offers him the capture of Abbas and the Chechens. For this, Kutscha is supposed to convince the police that Abbas did not kill the police officer. Kutscha accepts the offer and Abbas is released.

After everything seems to have been settled, Toni, Kalila and Shirin pack their bags for their long-awaited vacation. Suddenly, in the garden, Nico, hired by Keil, appears to murder Toni. He shoots, but Toni bends down at that moment and the bullet hits Kalila in the chest. Toni is then hit by a second shot, but the bullet only grazes his neck. Kemal manages to save Toni from further shots and pursues the fleeing Nico while Kalila collapses.

production

development

The idea for the series originally came from the authors Richard Kropf , Hanno Hackfort and Bob Konrad. Together with Quirin Berg , one of the managing directors of the production company Wiedemann & Berg Television , the idea was developed for series production. The Austrian Marvin Kren , who was already in contact with some of the later leading actors ( Kida Khodr Ramadan , Sami Nasser ), was hired to direct the first season .

The authors and Kren did extensive research in advance. In the implementation, Kren set great store by including real people from the Berlin underground in the cast of the series. In an interview with Deadline magazine , Kren said: “That also included driving around this area a lot at night and taking part in deals . I did a crash course in crime, so to speak. "

The series was originally intended to reproduce the plot from Vince's point of view, but was rewritten at the suggestion of Anke Greifeneder, program director of the station TNT, so that the clan leader Toni Hamady takes center stage.

Filming

The first season of the series was filmed in Berlin from July 2016 . Here, predominantly original locations in were neighborhood of Neukölln and Kreuzberg , such as the Sun Alley , the Kottbusser Tor or Görlitzer Park used as film locations. A budget of four million euros was available for the first season, of which 250,000 euros were made available by the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg . The last flap for the first season fell after 50 days of shooting in September 2016.

In April 2017, the broadcaster announced that a second season of the series had already been ordered. It consists of seven one-hour episodes directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel (Episodes 1-3) and Özgür Yıldırım (Episodes 4-7). In addition to the cast from the first season, the Hamburg rapper Gzuz , the rapper Eunique and the actors David Schütter and Uwe Preuss play in the second season . Since the second season the series has borne its own costs and is no longer financed by the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg; the advance payment for the first season has been refunded. Instead, TBS , the parent company of TNT Serie , invested 5.5 million euros in the second season.

In December 2018 it was announced that the series would end with the third season. It was shot from March to June 2019.

publication

The first two episodes of the series were shown on February 15, 2017 at the Berlinale 2017 . The complete first season consisting of six episodes was finally broadcast weekly on TNT series from May to June .

Since October 2017, the video-on-demand provider Amazon Video has been offering the series in the original sound in more than 150 countries. From summer 2018, another 50 countries followed, including Germany. From November 28, 2017, the series was broadcast for the first time on free TV on ZDFneo .

The second season aired on TNT Serie from October 11th to November 22nd, 2018. The third season has also been broadcast on TNT since November 7, 2019.

All full episodes of the series can be viewed from July 31, 2020, every Friday at 11:05 p.m. on ProSieben . From Friday, September 11, 2020, ProSieben will show the third season from 10:50 p.m.

occupation

main actor

All actors who were featured in at least one season in the opening credits are listed under the main actors.

Role name actor Main role
(seasons) 		Supporting role
(seasons)
Ali "Toni" Hamady Kida Khodr Ramadan 1.01-3.06
Abbas Hamady Veysel Gelin 1.01-3.06
Kemal "Jamal" Hamady Sami Nasser 1.01-3.06
Matthias Wedge David Schuetter 2.04-3.06
Zeki Rauand Taleb 2.01-2.04, 3.01-3.06 1.01–1.06
Maruf Hamady Hassan Akkouch 2.01-3.06
Samir Hamady Ilfan Calendar / Gringo 2.01-3.06
Vince Kerner Frederick Lau 1.01–1.06
Rainer "Ruffi" Ruff Ronald Zehrfeld 1.01–1.06
Nico Ludwig Trepte 1.01–1.06 2.04 & 2.07
Hagen Kutscha Oliver Masucci 1.01-2.07
Achmed "Potato" Hamady Erkan Sulcani 1.01-2.03
Kalila Hamady Maryam Zaree 1.01-2.07 3.01
Latif Hamady Solid / Wasiem Taha 1.01-3.04
Ewa Hamady Karolina Lodyga 1.01-3.05
Amara Hamady Almila Bagriacik 1.01-3.05
Hamit al-Saafi Neil Malik Abdullah 2.01-2.04
Isha Eunique Berkeley 2.01-2.04
Junah Meryem Moutaoukkil 2.01-2.04
Hermann von Schönfließ Tilo Nest 2.01-2.04 1.01, 1.03-1.04, 1.06
Georg Nickel Dirk Nocker 2.01-2.04 1.01, 1.03-1.04, 1.06
Mohammad al-Saafi Ahmed Hafiene 2.01-2.07
Djamila al-Saafi Sabrina Amali 2.01-2.07 3.03-3.06

supporting cast

Role name actor Supporting role
(seasons)
Issam Emilio Sakraya 1
Leonie Tijan Marei 1
Achmed "Potato" Hamady Erkan Sulcani 1-2
Hakeem / "Ibrahim" Raymond Tarabay 1
Robert John Marc Hosemann 1
Klaus Schiller Jan Georg Schütte 1
Serin Hamady Dunja Ramadan 1-2
Adam Hamady Isaiah Corr 1-2
Alexander Gerdy Zint 1
Real estate agent Andreas Schröders 1
JVA Officer # 1 David Bredin 1
Yassin Ercan Durmaz 1
Arslan Ulas Kilic 1
Ogulcan Rojhat Eren 1
Ronny Maximilian Jaenisch 1
junkie Merlin Leonhardt 1
Shpend Nik Xhelilaj 1
Clerk Uhlmann Gisa Flake 1
Lisa Jaëla Probst 1
Lebanese # 1 David A. Hamade 1
Lebanese # 2 Rabih-Rabea Hijazi 1
Rocker "Cthulhus" # 1 Ismail Yesil 1
Rocker "Cthulhus" # 2 Senay Gueler 1
Rocker "Cthulhus" # 3 Mesut Ulugercek 1
Rocker "Cthulhus" # 4 Arman Shokouri Partovi 1
Rocker "Cthulhus" # 5 Stephan Khatib 1
Ladyboy Timm Olano 1
neighbor Brigitte Kren 1
prostitute India Antony 1
Pub Thomas Marcus O'Shea 1
Disco girl Kirsten Hiller Kren 1
Ahmed Kerim Ahmed Kerim 1
Dealer # 1 Nicholas van Pittman 1
Dealer # 2 Rodney Jones 1
Hamady Clan # 1 Firat Aygul 1-2
Bakery saleswoman # 1 Manal Omairat 1
Bakery saleswoman # 2 Nabila Atyeh 1
DJ skyline Erhan Kuzay 1
imam Taha Hussain Elnaimi 1
Carpet dealer Ulas Kilic 1
Son of carpet dealer Rojhat Eren 1
Frankie Gzuz 2
Tarik Blerim Destani 2
Baraa Hasan Kilo 2
Edy Prince Kuhlmann 2
Amir al-Saafi David A. Hamade 2
Zaur Adam Nalgiev 2
Yandar Said Ibragimov 2
Tapa Yusup Sobol 2
Dzokhar Abus Magomedov 2
Chechens # 1 Kevin Lavrov 2
Chechens # 2 Daoud Idiev 2
Prisoner # 1 Florian Wandel 2
Prisoner # 2 Torro West 2
Refugees Zainab Alsawah 2
Man from language course Sami Alkomi 2
Marie Marie Lang 2
Ingo Wachowski Leon Ullrich 2
Harald "Elvis" Trebbe Uwe Preuss 2
JVA Officer # 2 Martin Baden 2
JVA officials Judith Rosa Klein 2
judge Brigitte Kren 2
Klausner Harald Polzin 2
Joanna Beerbaum Laura Cuenca Serrano 2
Gerd Keil Jörn Knebel 2
Bernhard Roth Peter Trabner 2
Halim Karami Moussa Sullaiman 2
Omar al-Saafi Cem Ali Gültekin 2
Pascal Florian Renner 2
class teacher Catherine Palm 2
Arms dealer Marko Dyrlich 2
Hamady Clan # 2 Cemal Baris 2
Rainer Markus Hammer 3

Episode list

season 1

No.
( total ) 		No.
( St. ) 		Original title First broadcast Director
1 1 brothers May 8, 2017 Marvin Kren
2 2 The wrong nine 15th May 2017 Marvin Kren
3 3 Ibrahim May 22, 2017 Marvin Kren
4th 4th Treason 29 May 2017 Marvin Kren
5 5 Powerless 5th June 2017 Marvin Kren
6th 6th Dead man walking June 12, 2017 Marvin Kren

season 2

No.
( total ) 		No.
( St. ) 		Original title First broadcast Director
7th 1 Fire October 11, 2018 Oliver Hirschbiegel
8th 2 Sheep and lions October 18, 2018 Oliver Hirschbiegel
9 3 blood October 25, 2018 Oliver Hirschbiegel
10 4th Free 1st November 2018 Özgür Yıldırım
11 5 peace November 8, 2018 Özgür Yıldırım
12 6th Reparation 15th November 2018 Özgür Yıldırım
13 7th Win and lose 22nd November 2018 Özgür Yıldırım

season 3

No.
( total ) 		No.
( St. ) 		Original title First broadcast Director
14th 1 Ali 7th November 2019 Özgür Yıldırım
15th 2 The way of money November 14, 2019 Özgür Yıldırım
16 3 Familiar enemy November 21, 2019 Özgür Yıldırım
17th 4th Diamonds November 28, 2019 Özgür Yıldırım
18th 5 The pact with the devil 5th December 2019 Özgür Yıldırım
19th 6th Brothers Forever December 12, 2019 Özgür Yıldırım

reception

Audience numbers

According to TBS (as of October 2017) more than 1.5 million people should have seen the first season of the series. For the second season, TBS stated that more than 2.5 million viewers were recorded just one week after the finale was broadcast.

On iTunes , where the series was offered for sale, seasons 1 and 2 reached positions 1 and 2 of the best-selling series of 2018 and were therefore ahead of productions such as The Big Bang Theory or Game of Thrones .

criticism

The first season received mostly positive reviews and was very popular, especially in the feature pages. Some critics even described it as “the best German television series of all time”. Above all, the authenticity was praised. Die Zeit referred to 4 blocks as “the German Gomorrah ” and went on to say: “The scriptwriters managed to take a pleasantly cliché-free look at Neukölln [...]. 4 blocks is a successful experiment. "The Süddeutsche Zeitung compared 4 blocks with the US drama series The Sopranos and described it as" more gripping than much that is otherwise on TV. "

In addition to the positive criticism, there were debates about the depiction of violence and the glorification of gangsterism. The series was also controversial among the critics when the Grimme Prize was awarded in 2018 . After debates about whether it was “gangster porn” or a “reflection of the social conditions in Neukölln”, the decision was nevertheless made to award the series.

If this criticism remained in the background in view of the first season, the media are much harder with the second season. The second season on Spiegel Online was heavily criticized by Christian Buß . In contrast to the successful first season, he described the sequel as laden with clichés and too conventional. He criticized the presentation and the "often punched-sounding dialogues." Caroline Ströbele from Zeit Online also rated the second season rather negatively. In particular, a hasty production led to “saving on the plot”: in contrast to the first season, the second season was “arranged and assembled without care,” the actors would act rather woodenly, “the expressiveness of the actors [was] with the first season exhausted ”.

Awards

Karsten Rühle, Christian Honeck, Eva Stadler, Marvin Kren , Iris Baumüller, Quirin Berg and Stefan Will at the award ceremony of the German Academy for Television (DAFF) 2017
Leading actor Kida Khodr Ramadan at the presentation of the German TV Prize 2018

The series won numerous national and international prizes as well as other nominations:

  • Award from the German Academy for Television
  • C21 International Drama Awards
    • 2017: nomination for Best Casting of a Drama Series (best casting of a drama series)
    • 2017: Nomination in the category Best male performance in a drama series for Kida Khodr Ramadan ( Best male performance in a drama series )
    • 2017: nomination for best non-English drama series (best non-English language drama series)
  • German Digital Award
    • 2018: Silver in the Social / Dialog category - Social Media Campaign for the The Viewer campaign as part of the series
  • German television award
  • German camera award
    • 2018: Award in the TV film editing category for Jan Hille and Lars Jordan
    • 2018: Nomination in the camera TV film category for Moritz Schultheiß
  • German Prize for Online Communication
    • 2018: Award in the Campaign of the Year category for the The Viewer campaign as part of the series
  • German Director Award Metropolis
    • 2017: Award in the category Best Director TV Series / Series Episode for Marvin Kren
  • Festival Séries Mania
    • 2017: Awarded the jury prize of the international press in the category of best leading actor for Kida Khodr Ramadan (Prix du jury de la presse internationale - Meilleure interprétation masculine)
  • Golden camera
    • 2018 : Award in the category best German miniseries / multi-part series
  • Grimme Prize
  • International Eyes & Ears Awards
    • 2018: 1st prize in the Best Digital Marketing Campaign category for the The Viewer campaign as part of the series
  • Jupiter Award
    • 2018: Award in the category Best TV Series (National)
    • 2019: Nomination in the category Best TV Series (National)
  • Romy
    • 2018 : Nomination in the category Best Director of TV Film for Marvin Kren
  • Odds meter television price
    • 2017: Nomination in the Best Series or Series category
    • 2017: Nomination in the category Best Actor in a Series or Row for Kida Khodr Ramadan
    • 2017: Nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Series for Almila Bagriacik
  • Venice TV Award
    • 2018: Award in the category Best TV Series (Best TV Series)

Web links

Commons : 4 Blocks  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 4 blocks: TNT orders 3rd and last season , accessed on December 10, 2018
  2. ↑ 4 blocks - the start date for season 3 is finally fixed. In: Moviepilot.de. Retrieved July 25, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Sven Ilgner: Pictures of a development of material: “4 BLOCKS” - Filmbüro NW. Retrieved January 16, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Carolin Ströbele: Anke Greifeneder: "I wanted '4 Blocks' to be told from the clan's perspective" . In: The time . November 28, 2017, ISSN  0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed January 16, 2019]).
  5. ↑ Patrick Winkler: Interview with Marvin Kren for 4 blocks. Deadline , November 17, 2017, accessed November 8, 2018 .
  6. ↑ The city is turning up . ( tagesspiegel.de [accessed on November 4, 2018]).
  7. ↑ 32 million euros for the regional film and television industry . ( tagesspiegel.de [accessed on November 4, 2018]).
  8. ↑ TNT series gives an insight into in-house production "4 Blocks". From: dwdl.de , accessed on May 19, 2017.
  9. ^ A b Jens Mayer: Second season “4 Blocks”: Successful, grim and rushed. The daily newspaper , October 10, 2018, accessed on October 16, 2018 .
  10. ↑ Back on the set: "4 Blocks" goes into the second round. Turner Broadcasting System , January 17, 2018, accessed February 1, 2018 .
  11. ↑ Melanie Berger: Medienboard annual balance sheet 2017: 32 million euros for the regional film and television industry. Der Tagesspiegel , August 29, 2018, accessed on October 16, 2018 .
  12. ↑ 4 blocks. From: berlinale.de , accessed on May 17, 2017.
  13. ↑ 4 blocks soon on Amazon Prime and on free TV . From: medienboard.de , accessed October 30, 2017.
  14. ↑ "4 Blocks": ProSieben shows successful gangster drama on: fernsehserien.de , accessed on July 2, 2020.
  15. ↑ Mainly thanks to heavy online usage: “4 Blocks” continues. From: quotenmeter.de , accessed on October 30, 2017.
  16. ↑ "4 Blocks" receives its final third season and celebrates wide-spread success. Turner Broadcasting System , December 10, 2018, accessed January 11, 2019 .
  17. ↑ Kristina Kielblock: "4 Blocks" Season 2: Probably already at the start in May 2018! In: kino.de. Ströer Media , November 27, 2017, accessed on December 29, 2017 .
  18. ↑ 4 blocks: The pecking order in the neighborhood is merciless. From: zeit.de , accessed on May 17, 2017.
  19. ↑ "4 blocks" on TNT series: Neukölln crooks among themselves . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , accessed on May 19, 2017.
  20. ↑ a b Carolin Ströbele: "4 Blocks": lovelessly arranged and assembled . In: ZEIT ONLINE . ( zeit.de [accessed on January 6, 2019]).
  21. ↑ 4 blocks (TNT series) . ( grimme-preis.de [accessed on November 4, 2018]).
  22. ↑ Christian Buß: New "4 Blocks" season: We rap the world as we like it . In: Spiegel Online . October 11, 2018 ( spiegel.de [accessed November 4, 2018]).
  23. ↑ Winner 2018. In: German Digital Award | BVDW. Retrieved February 25, 2020 .