Streaming miniseries review - Algiers Confidential

Algiers Confidential ***½ (out of 5) (NR) When you’re ready to binge an intricate geopolitical thriller, this four-episode miniseries from German TV just might be your ticket. As the title portends, most of the action occurs in Algeria, as a slew of competing factions and parties variably cooperate and compete in the aftermath of a German arms dealer’s kidnaping. No one is quite sure who is responsible, or what their agenda may be, but it triggers this mad scramble covering parts of two continents before the dust settles.

Our protagonist is a German intelligence agent (Ken Duken), assigned to the embassy in Algiers. Besides the covert aspects of his job, he’s engaged in a secret affair with a highly-placed magistrate (Hania Amar). When the kidnaping occurs, both are thrust into the center of the intrigue and rescue efforts, which requires navigating though an ever-shifting web of allies, obstructors, and some who may be both. Nothing is as it seems, or at least doesn’t remain so for long. Trust is an elusive, if not ephemeral, commodity for all.

Plot details would take forever to summarize, due to the wide array of characters and the ways their interests variably coincide and clash. Production values are comparable to those of major theatrical films. Sets in both North Africa and Europe are first-rate, including the depictions of local residents and lifestyles, wealthy and poor, providing rich texture in many diverse exterior locations. The action sequences play out in realistic in scale, free of oversized heroics. The morass of personal ambitions and national interests is presented in a tight script with taut direction, making its four-hour running time seem much shorter. The political maneuvering seems illustrative of comparable issues and events in today’s world, with particular insights into the lingering aftereffects of the region’s colonial era.

The size of the cast and the number of twists will be easier to keep straight in a binge than it must have been for its original TV audience, getting only one episode at a time. For me, the series provided an intense and satisfying day of viewing.

(Original title: Ein paar Tage Licht). Multiple languages, primarily German and French, with subtitles. Streaming on MHz Choice as of 2/22/22)