West of Liberty
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| German title | West of Liberty |
| Original title | West of Liberty, Väster om friheten |
| Country of production | Germany , Sweden , United Kingdom |
| original language | German , Swedish , English |
| year | 2019 |
| length | 43 minutes |
| Episodes | 6th |
| genre | Agent thriller |
| Director | Barbara Eder |
| script | Sara Heldt , Donna Sharpe |
| camera | Carl Sundberg |
| Initial release | February 2019 |
First publication in German |
November 19, 2019 on ZDF mediathek |
| occupation | |
| |
West of Liberty is the television adaptation of the novel of the same name by the Swedish writer Thomas Engström as a multi-part agent thriller from 2019. It is an international co-production with German, Swedish and British participation and in the original version is a 6-part television series that will be featured in the ZDFmediathek was published. In the ZDF aired a shorter version in the form of a two-parter on two consecutive evenings.
Wotan Wilke Möhring plays the main male role as the former, run-down Stasi and CIA agent and bar owner Ludwig Licht . Michelle Meadows plays the lead role as former legal advisor to the Hydraleaks platform. Austrian director Barbara Eder directed it . The film was shot in Berlin, which plays an important role in the novel.
action
Four people, three of whom are American, are murdered in the Moroccan city of Marrakech . Then the American Faye Morris, former advisor to the Hydraleaks disclosure platform, contacted the US embassy in Berlin and said by telephone that she knew something about the background to the murders before hanging up. After the CIA chief Clive Barner, who was stationed there, learned of the call, he hired his former colleague, former double agent Ludwig Licht, to arrange a meeting with her. It becomes clear that Morris feels persecuted and that Hydraleaks boss Lucien Gell has been missing for months. At Morris' meeting with Barner, in exchange for legal amnesty, she offers him a list of people who have delivered secrets to Hydraleaks. She tells him beforehand that the name of the US ambassador in Berlin is also on it. Barner then puts this under pressure, hoping to be saved from his announced retirement. Meanwhile, Morris hides from her pursuers in Licht's apartment, but flees there when Moldovan debt collectors appear there. She goes to her friend's apartment, which she only finds murdered.
publication
In Germany, the series was first published in the 6-part version on November 19, 2019 in the ZDFmediathek, both in the original language version and in dubbing. The TV premiere took place on ZDF as a multi-part in a shortened version in two parts with 99 and 97 minutes respectively on November 24th and 25th, 2019. (As part of the Berlinale 2019 there was a non-public market screening of the first two episodes of the series version.)
criticism
The lexicon of the international film rated the two-part version with two out of five possible stars and judged that the work “succeeded in“ sometimes atmospheric images ”, but the characters and conflicts overall remained“ schematic and bloodless ”.
literature
- Michael Pickard: Go West , in: Drama Quarterly from February 11, 2019 - production report
Web links
- West of Liberty in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Viola Bolduan: "West of Liberty": International agent thriller in two parts , in: Allgemeine Zeitung from Nov. 22, 2019, accessed on Nov. 25, 2019
- ↑ Heike Hupertz: Who still needs spies made from real shot and grain? , in: FAZ of Nov. 24, 2019, accessed on Nov. 25, 2019
- ↑ a b c Michael Pickard: Go West , in: Drama Quarterly of February 11, 2019, accessed on Nov. 24, 2019
- ↑ Entry at fernsehserien.de , accessed on Nov. 24, 2019
- ↑ a b West of Liberty. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed February 22, 2020 .
- ↑ Market screenings , Berlinale website , accessed on Nov. 24, 2019