Netflix: Binge Watching Peaky Blinders

(Drivebycuriosity) - In the recent days I have been binge watching Peaky Blinders (imdb). The Netflix original series, which has 4 seasons (season 5 is announced for 2019), is an history drama set in a fictional England short after World War I. Peaky Blinders, produced by the BBC, is an ambitious project. The series follows a family-led gang, the "Peaky Blinders", who controls Birmingham. The plot focuses on the ambitious gang leader Tommy Shelby, the head of the family played by Cillian Murphy. The testosterone driven show has a lot of violence but integrated that into an intelligent plot and touches many other aspects which make the series more interesting than the usual crime show.

Peaky Blinders shows the evolution & rise of a small group of outlaws who are adapting to manifold challenges, including conflicts with government, police, rivaling gangs & more. They are driven by ambitions & greed but also benefit from the intelligence & communicative strengths of their leader. Tommy and others are still traumatized by the horrors they experienced as soldiers in the trenches which influences their behavior. "Peaky" outshines other historical crime dramas because there is much room for the political & economic background and the series deals with England`s social conflicts in the early 20th century and the rise of England´s Communist Party encouraged by the Russian Revolution. Part of the fun is the participation of a fictional Winston Churchill.

I enjoyed watching the splendid cast, especially Cillian Murphy as a cool criminal mind & Tom Hardy as the jocular leader of a Jewish gang. Unfortunately women have only a subdued role but they were not so much into the bloody gang business. "Peaky Blinders" benefits a lot from the convincing cinematography and shows a dreary & poor England. Birmingham is presented as an industrial hell. The series could be called dystopian if it would not be set in the past. And I really indulged into the soundtrack, mostly rough alternative contemporary rock songs which fit perfectly.

Well done BBC & Netflix!