Since we are starting into the "Awards" season, there are many limited series that have completely taken me in over many years. Six Feet Under and Pushing Daisies are two that continue to percolate in my mind long after I have finished them. But Man in the High Castle certainly sits there among the best of them. I am NOT a binge watcher and like to take time to revisit them and let them expose themselves to me over time. With this one, I was late to the game to start with. And it has taken me a good 18 months to invest in 4 epic Seasons of the show. I am still a few episodes away from the ultimate reveal. But damn, if I don't have to take a breather and just talk about each show after I am finished with it.
The premise for the show examines what our country could/ would have become if WW II had ended much differently. It takes our American landscape with the West Coast occupied by the Japanese with their headquarters in San Francisco & the East Coast controlled by the German Reich based in New York City which has been rechristened New Berlin. In between, the Rocky Mountains operate as a Neutral Zone where renegades from the old states operate in clandestine sects. Throughout the course of the show, there are these mysterious films that emerge to show other possible outcomes where neither side actually wins. Over the course of its arc, it becomes clearer how the movies foreshadow. Japan remains staunch in their culture and traditions. Germany is resolute to be the pioneer in all technological and artistic advances. Even at the inhumane cost of purging all other races.
Let me state that so often media does not translate the written word well. In this case, the novel on which this is based is so far surpassed by this crew of screenwriters. The book featured the mainstay of the characters but was based more on the assimilation of US citizens into their cultures and the blackmail market of Americana artifacts. The political aspect was there, but not to the extent the series provokes it. Talk about a culture clash! It explores not only Japanese and Nazi cultures, but also American idealism where all three are willing to succeed at all costs. The entire scope of the show is political and spirals around courage, sacrifice and a hunger for power.
I love literature that takes history and then commingles it with fiction. I have admired the work of Michener, Leon Uris and Doctorow for those reasons. I am currently reading All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr which also takes place during the struggle of WW II. High Castle takes the macro of a global setting and plays it out in the heavy reality of small but important lives.
For starters, they pack so much content into an hour, it takes time to process each chapter when I am done with it. It is not that they move too quickly; it is just that the density of the time period and the material is sprawling. It is written with purpose and there are no supporting characters here. Every role introduced has a major stake revealed over time. And each one is not 2 dimensional - but a deep character that is somehow ensnared with inner and outward struggles based on the world in which they live. Even more so - each one is not guaranteed a reward. Spoiler alert - the writers have no qualms about eliminating a major actor regardless of the size of the role. Those are the harsh consequences of the world they are all living in. As it spirals out of control in Season 4, it gets more convoluted but also richer. We see it play out in the next generations based on the faults of their parents and the racial outrage ignites to impact even more cultures. This list of both writers and episode directors is massive which speaks to the depth of the storyboards. It could have been a calamity with no consistency, but instead is a wealth of detail.
Too much to digest. Why yes! It is a slow burn that haunts. Tell me if you do not agree. Skip the current list of "must watches" and pull this one up for a chilling winter binge.
No comments:
Post a Comment