Man In the High Castle | Your Thoughts?
 

I just finished watching season I of the Amazon series, "Man In the High Castle". I'm not sure what to think. I like the idea behind it, but the acting seems a little washed up and tired. I think my biggest fear is that it's treading into territory I'd rather not explore. *See Below

This is one of the only shows where I will watch the opening credits in its entirety. The video sequence and song are chilling. Love it! :thumbsup











ACHTUNG! SPOILER INFO BELOW!

The direction I hope it doesn't take, but it's almost a sure bet is the supernatural time travel, alternate reality, parallel universe route. They're trying to get us to think the Heisenberg device is an atomic weapon because of the general coming to find uranium deposits. But atomic energy can also be used for time travel in this scenario. I would have been happier if they let the American resistance fight a good old fashioned underground war, sans all the dicey scifi bullshit we're about to experience in heavy doses for season II.

The characters are very weak, too. Julianna Crane is shown in episode I throwing people around in a Aikido dojo, but has been physically, emotionally, and morally weak since then. Frank Frink is a bargain bin Brad Pitt looking fellow, but his character is also weak. And what in the fuck is DJ Qualls even doing on the show? He seems like an over obsessed friend with no real validation for the friendship other than they work together.

It's upsetting because this could have been a fucking incredible show. I hope it shapes up and it doesn't turn into another LOST, where the writers write themselves into corners until the show sucks balls.

All in all, I'll give it a couple more shots when they release season II, but it's on thin ice.

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.

First episode is free here, no sign up

The New World: Amazon.co.uk: Welcome

Same people who funded NAZI Germany still own United States

It needs to show more of Germany and Japan. Too American centric...

What he said.

True, it misses the fact that all decisions would have been made in Germany and Japan. The Allies would not have surrendered without ultimate proof Germany had the Bomb. And Hitler would not have hesitated on using it against the Russians where he was losing the war. Then maybe London. It ignores the capability of getting a bomb to the US.

In all it's watchable, but too concentrated, making the truer, bigger picture disappear.

Any resistance without a major Nation funding and supplying it would have failed. And the all important film is rubbish. How does anyone make such a film at the time, with occupation forces breathing down their necks. Look at the achievements and retribution of the real Resistance in France, Czech and Japanese atrocities in china.

Once a film or series delves into the real world, it has to be there. Are there any references to Concentration Camps in the US? I saw one part about Japanese threatening someone with a concentration camp, because his Grandmother was Jewish.

Only on the Second Episode, forgive me if all I suggest comes later.

Any departure from real facts in History Style films and programs, annoy me. Such as Saxons living in Castles or bathing in Roman Baths, and as for them swallowing the water in the bath. :upsidedow