Moksha World

Crime drama is a popular genre for television, film, video games, and more. It is my favorite genre along with mysteries. I seem to have formed the idea early in life that German film and television was not entertaining so I’ve never watched a lot of German-language programming. I don’t remember anyone telling me this specifically, it could have been a reaction to my mother wanting me to watch some “artsy” German film that I thought was boring. During my last few years with the International Emmy Awards, there was an increase in programs from Germany, many of which turned out to be really good. So when I read that Netflix and Amazon Prime were promoting German programming, I decided to look into it and see if in fact there might be some good programs.

The storyline of 4 Blocks quickly establishes itself around a Lebanese family running a drug organization. The head of the family, Toni Hamady, wants to stay out of the family business and establish a legitimate real estate business. As he waits for permanent resident status, he becomes more and more involved in the drug business. The police have started an investigation of the operation making arrests and proceeding to deny his resident request. There are many twists as the characters plot internally against each other and their business rivals. 

The story reminded me of The Godfather in terms of telling the story of an immigrant family but also because of the conflicts and choices Toni faces. Michael Corleone also wanted to establish a legitimate lifestyle for himself outside of his family’s business. As he was faced with different circumstances, he chose to take actions that ultimately made that impossible. In 4 Blocks, Toni sets up low-income housing for immigrants as he continues to work on his dream project. But conflicts with a rival drug operation escalate and his building is burned down. Each move he makes to separate himself from the business actually brings him closer to it. I was rather surprised by how long Toni had to wait for his resident status in order to work legally in Germany. Most people need to earn money in order to support themselves and without legal status, options are limited. If Toni had been given resident status, could he have achieved success legally? An ambitious person often takes advantage of opportunities to create success and wealth and in some cases they might choose options that are illegal. As viewers of these dramas, we identify with the character’s ambitions and conflicts. We want to see them find success in life. We often excuse the violence of fictional characters empathizing with their difficult childhoods or whatever the case may be. Why then would it be so hard for us to empathize with real people trying to create a good life?

I enjoyed watching the series and I felt it presented a different take on Germany than I had expected. I also didn’t know that rap was a thing in Germany. I must still have images of the 99 Balloons from MTV in my head (time for another update of my preconceptions!). You could select the dubbed version if you’re not keen on subtitles but at least give German a try!