Fatherland (1994)

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Movie
German title Fatherland
Original title Fatherland
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1994
length 106 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Christopher Menaul
script Stanley Weiser ,
Ron Hutchinson
production Frederick Muller ,
Ilene Kahn
music Gary Chang
camera Peter Sova
cut Tariq Anwar
occupation

Fatherland is a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by the English author Robert Harris by Christopher Menaul in 1994. The film was shot in Prague . The film did not appear in German cinemas and was marketed on VHS from January 27, 1995 .

The film is based on the counterfactual scenario that the invasion of Normandy failed, Germany conquered Europe, and that only a handful of people knew about the Holocaust . For Berlin it is assumed in this scenario that the conversion into the world capital Germania has been completed. The backdrops used correspond to the designs of Albert Speer .

action

Germany in 1964: A young SS cadet discovers the naked body of a man in the Havel who is later identified as the party functionary Josef Bühler . The criminal police officer SS-Sturmbannführer Xaver März is initially entrusted with the investigation into this case . But the case will soon be handed over to the Gestapo , as it affects national security. According to official information, the perpetrators are a group of art smugglers who have contacts in Switzerland.

Charlotte "Charlie" Maguire, one of the American journalists who are allowed into the Reich for the first time, receives an envelope from an unknown person. The stranger wants her to meet an NSDAP official named Stuckart in his private apartment. When Charlie gets there, she finds the man dead in bed with a prostitute . Charlie is taken to the station by the SS, where März interrogates them. March drives Charlie to the dead man's apartment, where they are surprised by the Gestapo, which March can keep quiet. March meets again with Charlie, who tells him about the man who gave her the envelope. Inside was only a large photo of a few people. In the photo, the two recognize a building that is now used as an institution for the blind for soldiers from the Russian campaign . The director of the institution tells them that Heydrich used the building for a conference during the war , which was subject to the strictest secrecy.

März, who has an old acquaintance in the party's Reich Archives, has the documents given to him and finds that all participants in the conference have since been murdered - with the exception of Franz Luther. March asked Charlie after visiting the archive to leave Germany as soon as possible - for her own safety. Shortly before departure, she receives a bouquet of roses at the hotel with a card that was handed in for her. On the card, she asks Franz Luther to meet him on a train at a certain time at the Humboldt station. Luther tells her in the S-Bahn that he has documents that contain the “greatest secret” of the war. He tells her that everyone who was privy to this secret has meanwhile been murdered by the Gestapo, and that he is the only one left in this group. He asks Charlie for her help in escaping to the USA and hands her an envelope containing everything she needs for the exit papers. When they get off at the next station, they are surprised by the SS, who are now chasing Luther through the station. When Luther is cornered, he draws a pistol, fires, and is fatally hit by a bullet.

March brings Charlie to the car and wants to take her to the airport, but Charlie wants to investigate further. March blackmailed his colleague Günther with his predilection for child pornographic material in order to get the files about Luther from the archive. The documents received from Luther lead Charlie to Frau von Hagen, Luther's lover, with whom Luther wanted to flee. By claiming to be on Luther's behalf, Charlie succeeds in obtaining evidence from Frau von Hagen. From her, Charlie finally learns the secret that Luther could no longer tell her: during the war, over six million Jews were murdered in a planned operation.

In the park, März and Charlie go through the evidence together and März, who was stationed on a submarine during the war , is confronted with the gruesome truth of having served criminals all his life. He asks Charlie to hand over the files to President Joseph P. Kennedy, who is arriving in Berlin , and to meet with him again in the park after the handover. March lures his wife out of her apartment with a phone call so that he can talk to his son alone, whom he wants to take with him to the United States. However, he secretly notifies the Gestapo. After their appearance, March escapes seriously injured and tries to get to the meeting point by bike.

Charlie shows the documents to the American ambassador. Thereupon the two manage to stop Kennedy's convoy and hand over the documents to the president personally. Horrified by its content, the President immediately breaks off his visit. With difficulty, March can drag himself to a phone booth and have a final conversation with his son, who now realizes the truth. Shortly afterwards, March dies of his injuries; Charlie is arrested by the Gestapo in the park.

In the closing words of the film one learns that Hitler's “Germania” eventually collapsed without the alliance with America.

Remarks

  • Some images from the black and white opening credits are taken directly from the film, for example the scene in which the coach drives through the Arc de Triomphe or the scene in which Luther's wife is "picked up" by the Gestapo.
  • In the film, posters often appear on which the words Greater Germania (" Greater Germania ") can be read. It is not known why these posters are in English. In addition, the word "better" was incorrectly spelled with "ßß" instead of double s on one of the posters in German.
  • At one point in the film, March walks past a poster depicting the Beatles . The existence of the band is only hinted at in the novel.
  • The vehicles used for the film are a mixture of models from the then Federal Republic and the former GDR : the taxi in which Charlie Maguire drives to one of the meetings is, for example, a Wartburg 311 ; the same model that the Gestapo men drive. In addition, the East German IFA F9 automobile can often be seen in the film, as well as VW buses , Beetles and Mercedes cars from the W120 and W110 series . However, some vehicles are too modern for 1964, in which the film is set, such as B. the Mercedes bus type O 303 (built from 1974).
  • In the final scenes you can see Hitler's car, a Rolls-Royce with a Mercedes star.
  • Instead of the possible rotation in a Berlin S-Bahn car , a Czech diesel railcar of the M 240 series was used.
  • A S-Bahn journey from Humboldthain to Gesundbrunnen takes you through a typical low mountain range instead of through an urban settlement area and takes significantly longer than in reality.
  • It is remarkable that not a single actor from the German-speaking area is represented in this film.

Differences from the novel

The film deviates from the novel publishers in many places.

  • In the film, the war against the Western powers ended in 1945 and not in 1946 as in the book.
  • The German Empire is now called "Germania" in the film.
  • The book states that there is a Cold War between Germany and the United States because the Americans have the atomic bomb and the Germans have the novel "V-3" ICBM . In the film you learn that the Germans also have an atomic bomb that they used to threaten London .
  • Charlie Maguire has only just arrived in Germania in the film, in the book she has been there much longer.
  • The first names of two of the three characters whose deaths are being investigated by the main character Xaver March have been renamed in the film. The Wannsee participant Martin Luther is called Franz Luther in the film and Wilhelm Stuckart was renamed to Walter Stuckart in the film .
  • While in the book Charlie can probably get the documents to the USA and pass them on to the press, in the film there is an indirect meeting with Kennedy and the subsequent handover.
  • Xaver March dies of his injuries in the film, while the novel has an open ending.
  • It is also missing that Jäger betrayed him.

Awards

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