Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Colors of Evil: Red’ focuses on the investigation into the murder of a young woman named Monika, whose body is found by the sea in a mutilated state. At first glance, it appears that she might have been killed by a killer who had recently been released from prison for committing a murder with the same MO fifteen years ago. However, as the investigation proceeds and new details about Monika’s life come to light, it becomes clear that she had landed herself in very dangerous waters, and it might have been one of the reasons behind her death. Of the several places that the cops investigate, Monika’s workplace, The Shipyard Club, emerges as the most important. Interestingly, it is not as fictional as the story that features it.
The Shipyard Club is Based on a Real Location in Poland
The events in ‘Colors of Evil: Red’ take place in the Tricity area of Poland. It falls in Pomeranian Voivodeship and includes the cities of Gdańsk, Gdynia, and Sopot. The Netflix series’ crew resorted to real locations in the three cities for filming, and the shipyard they refer to actually exists in Gdańsk.
Located by the Martwa Wisła River, the Gdańsk shipyard is a culturally important location in Poland. It is termed as the birthplace of the Solidarity movement that gained momentum in the late 1980s and was important in throwing away the communist ideology from the country, resulting in democratic elections in the country in the early 1990s with the complete dissolution of the Soviet Union. However, the thing that the shipyard became famous for didn’t turn out quite as well for itself. Reportedly, the free-market reforms brought in by the new government resulted in the shipyard going bankrupt, with about seven thousand people working there becoming unemployed.
In the late 1990s, the authorities decided to give the place a makeover to reform it and find a way to generate revenue from it again. This is where the nightclubs come in. The shipyard occupies a vast area, which opened the doors for the establishment to develop the party scene in the city. The place now hosts a vibrant nightlife with some great nightclubs. It made sense to include the location in the series when setting the story in the Tricity area as it is the most happening place there, having hosted international artists like Pink Floyd. It also houses an art gallery.
The Shipyard Club referred to in the Netflix series is not real, but it does refer to the real-life location, which actually has several nightclubs. It makes sense that the show couldn’t use the name of a real nightclub in the place for legal reasons and, hence, had to come up with a fictional name with roots in real life. The crew filmed in various locations around Gdańsk, with several exterior scenes shot in and around the shipyard. As for the interior scenes, the crew most likely erected a set, which would provide a better space for them to film, considering that a significant part of the story is set in the nightclub.
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