# Ku'damm 56 – Rebel With a Cause (2016)

> In 1956 Berlin, a middle daughter at a strict dance school discovers rock and roll and rebels against her mother's rigid expectations.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/62508

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 3
- Episode runtime: 90 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, music, history
- Created by: Annette Hess
- Network: ZDF
- Cast: Sonja Gerhardt, Claudia Michelsen, Maria Ehrich, Emilia Schüle, Heino Ferch, Uwe Ochsenknecht, Sabin Tambrea, Trystan Pütter
- TMDB rating: 7.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4863504/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: spirited, wistful, sincere, hopeful

## Synopsis

Ku'damm 56 (2016) is a German miniseries created by Annette Hess for ZDF, a three-episode period drama of ninety-minute installments produced by UFA Fiction. Set in 1956 West Berlin, it follows Monika, the middle daughter of Caterina Schöllack (Claudia Michelsen), who runs the strict Berlin dance school Galant. Caterina is determined to mold her three daughters into proper members of a hierarchically structured postwar society, and two of them seem willing to comply. Monika, played by Sonja Gerhardt, refuses the prescribed path and discovers rock and roll, setting her against her mother and the stifling expectations of her milieu. Maria Ehrich and Emilia Schüle portray her sisters, whose choices reveal how the family's pressures play out differently for each of them. The drama moves through rehearsals, romances and small defiances in a city still divided by its recent past. Its tone is spirited and wistful, with a sincere undercurrent of frustration and hope. Its central theme is female emancipation against prudish conformity, shown through music, dance and generational conflict. Fans of Babylon Berlin, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Grease will find resonance in its period style and its story of youthful rebellion.

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- [The Red Band Society (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/56806)
- [Almost Fly (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/124682)
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- [Bonn (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/136268)

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