Actually, this is really good show for US audience. Set in gloomy 1989 Prague and surroundings, it gets you right into the world of secret services battling for their turf. Acting is great, as is the deliverance of the story, which is for me little bit over the top, and that is why I cannot give it 10. There are moments when you are pulled out of reality of the story by obvious. Yet... Really great job by everyone who worked on this series.
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ruuk20 November 2019
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iwalrus4 July 2021Interesting spy mini series which could have been one or two episodes shorter to tighten it up.
Well acted and the cinematography was spot on depicting the period.
It keeps you guessing to the end who are good and who are bad and even then there are question marks.
Jevgenij Libeznuk is particularly good as the menacing Soviet agent. -
I used to go to Prague a lot at this time from the UK. I was mainly interested in the pubs and drinking cheap Prazdroj but one night met an East German girl while sheltering from the rain on Charles Bridge. She was one of the young revolutionaries from the DDR who frequented Prague in those days. I made several trips to East Berlin after that to visit her, and she was very worried that the Stasi were going to clamp down on them, so it came as a pleasant shock to see the Berlin Wall fall on TV. I accompanied a friend of hers to job interviews (people were anxious to get a good job while they could) and sitting in the waiting room he pointed out all the ex-Stasi, saying he could smell them! I then spent some nice weeks in Strbske Pleso, Vysoké Tatry with a Slovak hezka holka - eventually my visa expired so I went to the police in Poprad to get an extension. He noticed that I had no receipts for exchanging money (having done it on the black market, of course) and was going to refuse until I said "I thought everything was better now under Vaclav Havel?" - he relented and stamped my passport! These were heady days indeed and I am glad to have been there at that time, though of course I could never know all the torment caused by the StB and communism in general. This series should be required viewing for all the young people now in BLM etc. Who seem to want to bring communism back again.
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danmincea17 November 2019Like other productions that describe those terrible moments of the history of Eastern Europe, this series capture the feel of the years of comunist era. And most important the "changes" that follows in the 90's. Very good acting, music and camera. I saw all 6 episodes in one day! Bravo!
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neuroman-424 November 2019I've been a teenager by the time those events occurred, but the depiction of the regime and the whole situation and uncertainty during the last days of the socialist era is impeccable. It's not overdone - it's not deliberately gloomy. Well done, HBO for portraying these cloudy times as accurate as possible. Every detail is just perfect - the vehicles, the sets, the manners. Bravo!
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BeneCumb27 December 2022I remember most of the era depicted living in a country with similar fate, where political bureaucracy, fear of expressing nonconformity, shabby public buildings, etc. Were part of daily life. Here, the creators of Bez vedomi have maintained a high grade of plausibility, highlighted by pleasant character actors (females in particular) and skilled camerawork; however, the thrill and dynamism vanished from time to time (so I guess the No. Of episodes could have 4 or 5 instead of present 6).
Although I am aware that there were several double agents between East and West and some of them were not "abandoned" after the fall of Iron Curtain, the escape, return and new career of Viktor Skála seemed a bit far-fetched to me. Thus, the very end/solution of the Series made me shrug me shoulders more than it seemed a decent round-up of the events depicted earlier. -
triadbb15 July 2020Not sure why this series has not gathered more attention. It is really god and has a good pacing. Also the photography is superb and the attention to details. Bravo!
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Good-Will25 November 2019Great sets and it captures the atmosphere of Prague in that era to perfection. But what was the point of it? There weren't many sympathetic characters apart from the wife, and although the plot twisted and turned a lot, which I liked, then by the end scene I felt let down and a bit baffled by what the producers were trying to achieve. As a "slice of life" type of production then it worked to a degree, but it could have been so much better with less characters and more background details. Above average so 6/10.
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barbmatejkova7 November 2020Everyone should to watch this story. So realistic and raw, i watched all episodes in row.
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alexgorco19 August 2021Interesting intrigue and rather good immersion in the dark communist era. Though the behavior of personnages is sometimes simplistically and unrealistically stupid. Moreover, I can't believe that 95% Czechs in 1989 smoked. If you watch the series, you have an impression that life without cigarettes didn't exist in the communist Prague.
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mgroberts-4422619 June 2021Love a gritty spy drama and this one was the best I've seen in a very long time. The atmosphere and attention to period detail was beautifully done. Very Kafka.
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The things that happen in this series and the choices people make(writers wrote what the characters do), are not reality or even close to it. I enjoyed the 1st three episodes, And even then I kept asking myself why would this character do this??? It's sad when great actors have to play out rubbish roles! To much money was put into this, the writer's should not be allowed to publish anything written ever again!
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mallaverack29 May 2021Laughed out loud when noticing series specifications saying that this series was in colour!! Presumably, the atmosphere and very appearance of Czechoslavakia at the time is faithfully portrayed here but were all the citizens as represented by characters here so dour, bleak and devoid of humour?
Am prepared to stick with the series although a major implausibility (woman gets thrown in the air from direct collision with car, massively injured but up and about in two days seeking answers to her dilemma) is very annoying. Compounding the implausibility here is the unbelieveable depiction of incident involving the kidnapping, threatened torture, interrogation and eventual return of the female cultural attache. This was followed by the completely heartless and heedless dismissal of said attache by her British superiors and her ejection from Czechoslavakia. These flaws in plot are jarring and hopefully will be kept to a minimum!
Perhaps I'll be able to update the rating to a higher score by series end but finding the going very tough at the moment.