The Man in the High Castle; or, Watch out Netflix, Here Comes Amazon

This may sound strange, but I first got a whiff of this show from the newspaper. I’ve found some interesting things whilst reading the newspaper, including the sesquicentennial San Francisco Caledonian Club Scottish Highlander festival, but that’s a different story.

When I told my dad about this show, he scoffed and said that it had been done before. I don’t know about you, but I sure haven’t watched anything along these lines. Certainly not anything memorable. And let me tell you, this one will definitely stay with me.

Based on a novel, The Man in the High Castle reimagines America in the 1960s if the Axis powers had won World War II instead of the Allies. The East Coast and the majority of the Midwest is controlled by the Nazis, effectively creating a Reich of the Nazi State, while the Pacific Coastal region is controlled by the Japanese Empire as a Pacific colony. There’s a little strip somewhere in the Rockies known as the Neutral Zone, and the partition of the United States is eerily reminiscent of how Germany was divided by the Allies post-WWII.

Happy V-A Day!

In the pilot episode, a strange reel of film made by a mysterious entity only known as “The Man in the High Castle” is the center of the rebellion’s cause, and the Nazis and the Japanese both see the existence of the film as a subversive matter of national security. A girl named Trudy passes off the reel to her half-sister, Juliana, seconds before being shot in the streets of San Francisco by the Japanese secret police. Juliana heads to the Neutral Zone with the reel in hand, intent on meeting up with Trudy’s contact and finding out just what is going on. At the same time, in New York City, Joe Blake barely manages to drive away in a truck, headed to the Neutral Zone for a mysterious job. He unknowingly also carries a film reel containing a documentary by the Man in the High Castle. When Juliana watches her film reel, she sees a world that could have been if the Allies had won WWII. Her curiosity and her hope for a better life get her into more trouble than she’s ready for.

“Hello?” “Hey it’s the Kempeitai, we’re tapping all your phone lines.”

There are a number of interesting characters in each episode besides Juliana and Joe, including Mr. Tagomi, the Japanese foreign minister in San Francisco, Obergruppenführer John Smith, a high-ranking American Nazi agent in New York, Inspector Kido, the head of the Kempeitai, the Japanese secret police, and Frank, Juliana’s boyfriend left behind in San Francisco. What I found interesting is that Alexa Davalos, the actress who stars as Juliana, is given the first billing during credits. A true female lead is something that is rare but I’m happy to say seems to be more and more frequent these days. Plus, this show passes the Bechdel Test which is always exciting.

Clockwise from top left: Obergruppenführer John Smith, Juliana Crane, Mr. Tagomi, Frank. 

The complexity of the politics at play are riveting, and it’s clear that the joint Japanese-Nazi hold on America is based on a system of fear and submission that is somehow fragile and impenetrable at the same time. This is like the Capitol’s control of the districts in The Hunger Games, but instead of sending children off to fight to the death, you get tortured for information before being executed by firing squad or dumped in a mass grave. People wonder what the world would have turned into if the Nazis took over, and here you have it.

“It takes a lot of effort to not be free”

The Book Thief: A Not-too-shabby Book Adaptation

This film adaptation of a book was honestly a pretty good adaptation. That being said, I strongly recommend everyone to read the book first, and then watch the movie. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy the film, but seriously: the book is amazing. The narrator is Death, and the amazing wordplay and poetic imagery just doesn’t come across the same in the film as a voiceover as it does in the book. It’s just the nature of the beast. Having Death narrate the story in a book is one thing, but transferring that into a film is tricky, and that was the number 1 thing I was concerned about before watching the movie.

“Hey Death, it’s WWII and I’m concerned about things” “Shut up and dance, Liesel”

Enough about books already.* Who reads those?** After all, this blog isn’t about books, now is it?

“Not another WWII movie,” you groan. But wait! It’s different!

This story is centered around a German girl named Liesel who is adopted by the Hubermanns. They live in a suburb of Munich on Himmelstrasse, German for “Heaven Street,” which is quite fitting since the family hides a young Jewish man in their basement. Liesel discovers a love for reading and resorts to stealing books because, you know, Nazis are burning anything that is considered anti-German.

Definitely Liesel’s book-stealing face

Since this movie was based on a young adult novel, the film itself manages to keep from being too depressing, even though it is based around some dark historical events. So don’t worry, this is no Schindler’s List in terms of getting your heart ripped out over and over again. It has lots of cute moments to balance out the upsetting moments.

I will make one comment about the ending, and no, I will not spoil anything because I hate spoilers more than anything. I was prepared for the ending since I read the book first, but there was a slight change in the way one of the ending scenes was filmed, and all I have to say is: How dare you. How DARE you.***

“I saved your book from the river can I have a kiss” “No Rudy”

*This review is on The Book Thief, so clearly we’re going to be talking about books. Sorry if I offend. 
**Anyone who says “I don’t read books” and isn’t being sarcastic can leave my life. Please. Just leave.
***I quite nearly had my heart ripped out. Thanks, Hollywood.