Review of 'Hours of Decision'

An odd documentary was made and shown in Germany in the past day or two....called 'Hours of Decision'.  It's a explanation of the refugee crisis of 2014-2016, and how the Merkel team came to be a participant in it.

You can go over to ZDF (public TV, Channel Two) and watch it there (in German). 

First, it is done in an odd way.  There are actors to play key roles and carry the bulk of the 88-minute documentary piece.  However, there are real political figures who do come in and explain how this occurred or why people felt this way.  It is a conflicting way of telling the story.  Added to this....the Chancellor did not participate in any fashion, and rumor has it that she's a bit negative about the documentary. 

Second, the acted scenes.....well....they just come across in a phony way.  I'm not saying it's poorly done, but it's obvious that you had 2nd-rate actors doing their best to convince you of a scene and it just didn't work.

Third, the live TV or radio announcements?  They are actual pieces of what was going on in 2015.  It is fairly accurate and helps to tell this story.

Fourth, this flipping from acting moments to news segment tapes?  This probably did not help in telling the story. 

Fifth, it centers precisely on 2015.  It is a decisive point and really lays out the landscape of events, public perception at the moment, and the decision-making process going on.  If you wanted more of 2013, 2014, or 2016....you'd have to go and find a different source to explain those periods and events.

Sixth, after watching the whole thing (88 minutes), I will say....a lot of effort was made to make it look authentic and to lay out the landscape.  There are ways that I think it could have been done better, or maybe even making it a 3-part series.  But if you wanted one simple story over a 88-minute period....it did a decent job.

Seventh, lets be honest....the leadership of Germany in 2015 were in a vacuum-chamber, with journalists leading them through the sequences of the year.  The leadership agreed to be the door-openers, but beyond that....they didn't grasp at that point what happened after the entry through the door was achieved.  How the mechanism worked in German cities, where successful and failed integration occurred, or the cost of the whole situation....were never really understood in 2015.  In some ways....2016 and 2017 became 'clean-up' years. 

Eighth, at some point in the 88 minutes....here is the female actress portraying Merkel....lugging around a forty-pound mega purse.  It's a comical scene, and I have to wonder if it's accurate, and what the heck she carries in such a mega-purse. 

Ninth, the documentary is trying to tell the prospective of 2015, through the eyes of Merkel, the political figures, journalists and the refugees.  Beyond that....with regular Germans?  Nothing. 

Tenth, oddly, this was just four years ago.  The question has to be asked....are Germans that forgetful that this needs to be made?  I would argue that a lot of Germany (at least in the working class)....have never understood how things occurred in 2015, and the general landscape of the political folks (cut off from reality with their atmosphere existing in Berlin).  The 88-minute piece does a decent job of telling the story.

If you wanted to watch it?  It's up on the ZDF site and will be there at least a year.

Here's the thing.....as much as this tells the story of 2015 and the refugee crisis.....it also lays out how some Germans saw this in a negative light....went to a political mechanism (the AfD) to send a message, and how that AfD message is still being pursued even today. 

I do recommend viewing of the piece but you need to settle back after it ends, and ask yourself a few questions.  Germans are often self-critical, and even in this case....there ought to be lessons-learned.