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Joe Obenberger · 11-29-2015, 06:02 PM

I just finished watching the ten episodes last night, I'd been watching since Wednesday.

I really, really was impressed. This is what I posted on FaceBook:

What would the world we live in be like if the Nazis and Japan had won World War II and had gone on to occupy the US, dividing the country between them? That's the surface question of THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, a book I read thirty years ago and now a TV series on Amazon Prime. It broke all of Amazon's records for viewings on the release date. Ten episodes have been released and I went through them over last week. It is really masterful, well acted, abundant believable detail, it's really created an alternate universe. On a deeper level, it's about what it feels to live in a tyranny, the choices people make, and ultimately how people understand what is real and what is fake. It seems to express that there are certain trends/tendencies that will inevitably happen in history no matter the details, and so there are events comparable to the Cold War and the Kennedy assassination, as though these kinds of events are deeply impressed into humanity's destiny, no matter an individual's choices. It presents a certain moral theme that was more present in the book, centering on Chinese mysticism - the I Ching. In many ways, one shares the depression and futility of life that all of the protagonists must endure living in a totalitarian state, in that sense, it's a bit morose. It's about a society in which no one can trust anyone else, not one's parents, not one's lover, not one's best friend. The result of such tyranny is the corrosion of trust among people. It's about moral compromises, honesty and what honesty really means as a value to most people. It is extremely fast-paced with cuts to another story line exactly at a moment of tension - and the viewer must keep three or four simultaneous plot lines in mind at all times. That becomes easier after watching a few episodes. The effort really is worth it. The editing and cutting is downright aggressive, but the result is, I think, pretty high art, and an extremely entertaining result. It's visually excellent, like cinema. Very highly recommended. I hate to shill for Amazon, but it's worth going through an Amazon Prime membership to see this series for no additional cost. And then, if you wish, cancel the free trial membership.

Many thoughts will come to you - a better appreciation of the horror that was life under the Stasi in East Germany - a Pole between 1946 and the downfall of Communism or anywhere in Eastern Europe controlled by the USSR - and what it felt like to be a German or Japanese civilian during Allied occupation. Maybe even what it felt like to live in the South during Reconstruction. It's all kind of sad and grim, but there are a few flickers of hope. And whether or not one is justified in hope for change against evil is a subject that this series touches lightly, maybe too lightly. Adolph Hitler enters series at the very end, in a scene that is sure to shock viewers - who then must ask themselves whether Hitler, in the end, is the Man in the High Castle? If he is that, as he appears to be, it's a fundamentally different idea than the book presented.

11-29-2015, 06:02 PM
Joe Obenberger Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: May 2003 Location: Chicago Posts: 466	I just finished watching the ten episodes last night, I'd been watching since Wednesday. I really, really was impressed. This is what I posted on FaceBook: What would the world we live in be like if the Nazis and Japan had won World War II and had gone on to occupy the US, dividing the country between them? That's the surface question of THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, a book I read thirty years ago and now a TV series on Amazon Prime. It broke all of Amazon's records for viewings on the release date. Ten episodes have been released and I went through them over last week. It is really masterful, well acted, abundant believable detail, it's really created an alternate universe. On a deeper level, it's about what it feels to live in a tyranny, the choices people make, and ultimately how people understand what is real and what is fake. It seems to express that there are certain trends/tendencies that will inevitably happen in history no matter the details, and so there are events comparable to the Cold War and the Kennedy assassination, as though these kinds of events are deeply impressed into humanity's destiny, no matter an individual's choices. It presents a certain moral theme that was more present in the book, centering on Chinese mysticism - the I Ching. In many ways, one shares the depression and futility of life that all of the protagonists must endure living in a totalitarian state, in that sense, it's a bit morose. It's about a society in which no one can trust anyone else, not one's parents, not one's lover, not one's best friend. The result of such tyranny is the corrosion of trust among people. It's about moral compromises, honesty and what honesty really means as a value to most people. It is extremely fast-paced with cuts to another story line exactly at a moment of tension - and the viewer must keep three or four simultaneous plot lines in mind at all times. That becomes easier after watching a few episodes. The effort really is worth it. The editing and cutting is downright aggressive, but the result is, I think, pretty high art, and an extremely entertaining result. It's visually excellent, like cinema. Very highly recommended. I hate to shill for Amazon, but it's worth going through an Amazon Prime membership to see this series for no additional cost. And then, if you wish, cancel the free trial membership. Many thoughts will come to you - a better appreciation of the horror that was life under the Stasi in East Germany - a Pole between 1946 and the downfall of Communism or anywhere in Eastern Europe controlled by the USSR - and what it felt like to be a German or Japanese civilian during Allied occupation. Maybe even what it felt like to live in the South during Reconstruction. It's all kind of sad and grim, but there are a few flickers of hope. And whether or not one is justified in hope for change against evil is a subject that this series touches lightly, maybe too lightly. Adolph Hitler enters series at the very end, in a scene that is sure to shock viewers - who then must ask themselves whether Hitler, in the end, is the Man in the High Castle? If he is that, as he appears to be, it's a fundamentally different idea than the book presented. __________________ Extremism in the defense of Liberty is no vice. . . Restraint in the pursuit of Justice is no virtue. Senator Barry Goldwater, 1964