History Film / Fatherland

A 1994 movie based on [[Literature/{{Fatherland}} a 1992 novel by Robert Harris]].

In 1964 within an [[AlternateHistory alternate timeline]] where Hitler won the war, Hitler invites U.S. president Joseph P. Kennedy (JFK's father) to his 75th birthday celebrations, hoping to reach a détente that helps beating the Russian partisans.

* AdaptationDistillation:
** The movie simplifies the book's plot heavily, seems to mess with historical fact a good deal and makes the ending a lot more happy and victorious.
** For certain values of "happy". [[spoiler:Xavier March dies in the film, and Charlotte's fate is left uncertain; in the book it's implied she escapes the Reich, while Xavier's fate is left unknown, although seeing as he's surrounded by Gestapo agents... HOWEVER, in the film the evidence of the Holocaust is handed directly to President Kennedy who immediately leaves Germany in disgust. In the novel Charlie merely has the evidence on her when she reaches the US.]]

* DisconnectedByDeath - Invoked. An already wounded Xavi cycles to a phone booth to call Pili before his certain death to tell him that it wasn't his fault.
* EarnYourHappyEnding - [[spoiler: March gets killed, Gestapo came for Charlie, but Kennedy got the proof of the Holocaust, called off the meeting with Hitler, didn't help the Reich and latter soon collapsed.]]

** The sole fact that Welthauptsstadt Germania is shown littered with buildings such as the Arc of Triumph or the ''Grosse Halle''. While Speer certainly drew up plans for those structures and Hitler supplied constant pressure to have them built, geological and physical feasibility studies (such as this ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwerbelastungsk%C3%B6rper Schwerbelastungskörper]]'') quickly proved that Berlin's soil was too marshy to carry the weight of such monstrous structures, and - had they ever been built - they would have most likely just sunken in and collapsed, rendering the notion that these buildings would ever have stood very unrealistic at best.

** For certain values of "happy". [[spoiler:Xavier March dies in the film, and Charlotte's fate is left uncertain; in the book it's implied she escapes the Reich, while Xavier's fate is left unknown, although seeing as he's surrounded by Gestapo agents... HOWEVER, in the film the evidence of the Holocaust is handed directly to President Kennedy who immediately leaves Germany in disgust. In the novel Charlie merely has the evidence n her when she escapes to the US.]]

** The German on some of the wallpapers, Hitler's signature on a framed photo, too modern cars (it's still meant to be set in the 60s, not the 90s), etc. Also, it's rather ironic that a lot of the furnishings seen in some of the appartments are very obviously from Communist era Czechoslovakia (which of course couldn't have existed in the movie's and book's [[TheVerse verse]]).

!!! This film contains examples of the following Tropes:

* FakeNationality: All the Germans are either played by Americans, Britons, Czech extras or the Dutchman Rutger Hauer.

--> '''''Fellow inmate:''' [[ShellShockedSenior It's true! You must be blind of an eye apple to see!]]''

** For certain values of "happy". [[spoiler:Xavier March dies in the film, and Charlotte's fate is left uncertain; in the book it's implied she escapes the Reich, while Xavier's fate is left unknown, although seeing as he's surrounded by Gestapo agents...]]

The movie deals with [[IntrepidReporter Charlotte Maguire]], an American journalist, Franz Luther, the last witness contacting Maguire, and Xavier March (played by [[Film/BladeRunner Rutger Hauer]]), a good-natured police investigator digging deeper than Gestapo deems acceptable to solve the case.

* HollywoodCostuming - The 1960s Nazi uniforms are all [[WTHCostumingDepartment obviously taken from stock WW2 film props]], which implies in-universe that the uniforms didn't change in the slightest in ''twenty years''.

* HollywoodCostuming - The 1960s Nazi uniforms are all [[WTHCostumingDepartment obviously taken from stock WW2 film props]], which implies in-universe that the uniforms didn't change in the slightest in ''twenty years''. Also, for some reason, every single outside shot seems to feature at least two separate groups of uniformed soldiers/paramilitaries/policemen/Hitler Youths walking by in the background, giving off the ([[{{Narm}} very cartoonish]]) impression that in a 1960s Third Reich, one third of all Germans would only go outside in some kind of uniform.

* HollywoodCostuming - The present-day Nazi uniforms seem to have changed not a single bit over twenty years, seeing how this takes place in the 60s. Also, for some reason, every single outside shot seems to feature at least two separate groups of uniformed soldiers/paramilitaries/policemen/Hitler Youths walking by in the background, giving off the ([[{{Narm}} very cartoonish]]) impression that in a 1960s Third Reich, one third of all Germans would only go outside in some kind of uniform.

** The sole fact that Welthauptsstadt Germania is shown littered with buildings such as the Arc of Triumph or the ''Grosse Halle''. While Speer certainly planned those structures and Hitler supplied constant pressure to have them built, geological and physical feasibility studies (such as this ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwerbelastungsk%C3%B6rper Schwerbelastungskörper]]'') quickly proved that Berlin's soil was too marshy to carry the weight of such monstrous structures, and - had they ever been built - they would most likely just sunken in and collapsed, rendering the notion that these buildings would ever existed very unrealistic at best.

** The sole fact that Welthauptsstadt Germania is shown littered with buildings such as the Arc of Triumph or the ''Grosse Halle''. While Speer certainly planned those structures and Hitler supplied constant pressure to have them built, geological and physical feasibility studies (such as this''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwerbelastungsk%C3%B6rper Schwerbelastungskörper]]'') quickly proved that Berlin's soil was too marshy to carry the weight of such monstrous structures, and - had they ever been built - they would most likely just sunken in and collapsed, rendering the notion that these buildings would ever existed very unrealistic at best.

* AdaptationDistillation: The movie simplifies the book's plot heavily, seems to mess with historical fact a good deal and makes the ending a lot more happy and victorious.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The German on some of the wallpapers, Hitler's signature on a framed photo, too modern cars (it's still meant to be set in the 60s, not the 90s), etc. Also, it's rather ironic that a lot of the furnishings seen in some of the appartments are very obviously from Communist era Czechoslovakia (which of course couldn't have existed in the movie's and book's [[TheVerse verse]]).

** The film portrays Joseph P. Kennedy as a man sympathetic to the Jews and is disgusted when he finds out the truth, calling off the meeting with Hitler at the very last minute after Charlie gives him the documents. In reality, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_P._Kennedy#Anti-Semitism Joseph P. Kennedy was an open Nazi sympathizer and open admier of Hitler, an anti-semite and didn't feel as if the US should fight the Nazis. No doubt that if the film followed historical fact, the documents would not have made a difference.]]

* HumansAreBastards - Of course.

** For certain values of "happy". [[spoiler:Xavier March dies in the film, and Charlotte's fate is left uncertain; in the book it's implied she escapes the Reich, while Xavier's fate is left unknown.]]

---> '''Xavier:''' I was thinking of asking [[PaedoHunt interal affairs...]]

*** What's that got to do with it? He's a politician, and a journalist just handed him information that could throw a shadow over his attempt at detente. It seems like he just did the politically smart thing and got out of there. Besides the film does mention JPK's opposition to the war, and never says anything on whether he liked Jews. And I think anyone would look horrified when he saw those photos.
** There is also a poster for "Die Beatles" seen in the movie. While the book DOES reference an unnamed rock band forming in Britain around this same time, it is unlikely that the same four men would have formed the exact same band given a 20-year divergence in history. [[InSpiteOfANail Although they could have.]]
*** In the book, ''I Want to Hold Your Hand'' (as in the Beatles song) is heard on a radio at one point. There's also enough hints given that if they're not the ''actual'' Beatles then they're close enough to make no real difference.

--> '''Xavier:''' [[spoiler:I've been a loyal son of my fatherland. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone I served murderers all my life.]]]]

* HeyItsThatGuy: [[FoylesWar Christopher Foyle]] is still a cop, no matter where or when.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The German on some of the wallpapers, Hitler's signature on a framed photo, too modern cars (it's still meant to be set in the 60s, not the 90s), etc. Also, it's rather funny that a lot of the furnishings seen in some of the appartments are very obviously from Communist era Czechoslovakia (which of course couldn't have existed in the movie's and book's [[TheVerse verse]]).

The movie deals with [[IntrepidReporter Charlotte Maguire]], an American journalist, Franz Luther, the last witness contacting Maguire, and Xavier March (played by [[BladeRunner Rutger Hauer]]), a good-natured police investigator digging deeper than Gestapo deems acceptable to solve the case.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The German on some of the wallpapers, Hitler's signature on a framed photo, too modern cars (it's still meant to be set in the 60s, not the 90s), etc. Also, it's rather funny that a lot of the furnishings seen in some of the appartments are very obviously from Communist era Czechoslovakia (which of course couldn't have existed in the movie's and book's [[TheVerse verse]]).

** The premise of Nazi victory is changed from the book, with a German victory during the 1944 Normandy invasion now cited as the sole turning point. Cue a FacePalm from World War II buffs, who are usually a bit more aware of just how hopeless Germany's military situation was by the summer of 1944, successful D-Day landing or no.