“Herrhausen – The Banker and the Bomb” opens with a disclaimer that states upfront it is based on true events, but only “as far as history can be true.” This cautionary additive sets the tone of the show, which is ostensibly a biographical chronicle but also one that alarms us to question constructed narratives and bend it to allow new scope. Set in the 1980s and based on the life of Deutsche Bank chairman Alfred Herrhausen (Oliver Masucci), the series is a portrait of a time of turbulence and heightened paranoia when the world was ruthlessly divided between two blocs, and Germany split between East and West.
However, Herrhausen is propelled by a radical imagination that pushes beyond these boundaries. One of his guiding mantras, which he keeps reiterating, is a thrust for innovation. He isn’t someone who goes by traditional expectations and norms, rather defying industry practice and frequently shocking those of his own ilk. He is daring and unconventional, perceiving his decisions that are often prone to upsetting many as vital to give a shot of resurgence to international finance. So, while the American-Russian ties are rocky, he doesn’t let that chafe at his own independent thinking.
The series opens with his sudden declaration in Washington that his bank is appealing for debt relief of all the third world countries. No one from his board saw it coming. Herrhausen hadn’t discussed it with his team members. He insists he felt the desperate, urgent need for such a measure after what he had witnessed on his recent trip to Mexico. This move displeases almost everyone. His board members remind him he is powerless without their backing, but he is perfectly fine with alienating everyone as long as he sees merit and credence in his audacious vision.
One of his team members snidely remarks that he is talking like a left-wing journalist. None of the denunciations and warnings have any effect on him, which only increases his prospects of being everyone’s enemy. Disliked as he is among his own community, the West sharpens its surveillance on him, and soon, the Soviet Union jumps into the frame as well. Bolstered by his statements, he gets summoned by Gorbachev’s men to seal a massive loan for the USSR and help them out of bankruptcy. Despite seeing the huge risk in it, he slips into a shadowy operation, taking the offer with more seriousness when most would flinch from associating with the USSR.
As he plunges into high-stakes situations, he ends up endangering himself as severely as it gets. In the first two episodes that premiered at the festival, the series skips between the US, Germany, and Baghdad, establishing the global whirlpool Herrhausen is letting himself be sucked into. Thomas Wendrick’s screenplay ratchets up the tension as the dealings get murkier and perilous. Also interwoven are streaks of the protagonist’s own dreams and inner world that occasionally float up to the surface.
The Pia Strietmann-directed show snakes through multiple parallel tangents, situating Herrhausen as a man who’s on everyone’s radar. As vigilant as the others are to his unpredictable moves, he is reckless and heedless of their consequences. Besides the CIA monitoring him, the newly recouping Red Army Faction, a far-left-wing militant faction, poses an immediate threat. When the show switches to the faction’s maneuverings, it is at its weakest, turning into a blur of thinly realized characters and dull dramatic action. But as soon as the narrative pivots to Herrhausen, it retains its footing.
He’s a fascinating character wielding a charisma as heady as it is provocative. He is not eager to be liked. He doesn’t factor any of that in making his choices. Masucci brilliantly hones this brash confidence as Herrhausen seems to hurtle toward his doom. With a sneer and a glint in his eyes, he steers the show through the thrilling momentum it gathers through the first two episodes. This is a smoothly captivating, intelligently paced show that stays on track as long as it doesn’t take too many detours and eschews unnecessary emotional drama.
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