History Film / Fatherland

** 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.
** Even the geographic dimensions of the Nazi empire are peculiar, based on the map shown in the beginning. Basically all of continental Europe west of the Ukraine has been subsumed into an expanded German empire, when Nazi territorial ambitions in the west were always limited. Even when they had the chance, the only western lands they incorporated into the Reich were Luxembourg and Alsace Lorraine. Historians discovered that the Nazis did in fact desire to incorporate nations such as Norway and the Netherlands because of the racist nordic ideology inherent in Nazism, but one can only speculate whether countries such as Spain, Italy, France, or Greece wouldn't ultimately have been annexed into the Third Reich if they already controlled everything else (which they don't in this timeline). During the war the focus of Nazist expansionism was directed towards Eastern Europe because they believed the Slavs to be "an inferior race", and consequently thought it needed to be conquered, depopulated, and resettled with Germans, who were supposedly in need of "living space". The book follows these events correctly.

** The real Stalin died in 1953. Here he is still alive in 1964 leading the Soviet partisans in their ongoing guerilla war against the Nazis.

In 1964 -- within an [[AlternateHistory alternate timeline]] where the Nazis won UsefulNotes/WorldWarII -- Hitler invites U.S. president Joseph P. Kennedy (JFK's father) to his 75th birthday celebrations, hoping to reach a détente that will help them finally win the ongoing war against partisans in Russia.

[[quoteright:261:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatherland1.jpg]]

* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: The original novel concluded with [[BolivianArmyEnding Xavier March locked in an armed stand-off at the former Auschwitz camp site]], and [[AmbiguousEnding not knowing if Maguire will be able to deliver evidence of the Nazi war crimes to the U.S.]]. The film provides a more conclusive ending when Maguire delivers the evidence in person to the visiting U.S. President Joseph Kennedy, who immediately calls off his meeting with Hitler. The ending narration by Xavier's grown-up son states that the Nazi state ultimately collapsed without U.S. support.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Wilhelm Stuckart, Josef Buhler, Arthr Nebe and Odilo Globocnik (Globus) were all real Nazis. Martin Luther was renamed Franz Luther to avoid confusion with the Protestant reformer. Hitler and Joseph Kennedy both appear briefly at the end. Reinhard Heydrich and Joseph Stalin are mentioned but never seen.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Wilhelm Stuckart, Josef Buhler, Arthr Nebe and Odilo Globocnik (Globus) were all real Nazis. Martin Luther was renamed Franz Luther to avoid confusion with the Protestant reformer. Hitler and Joseph Kennedy both appear briefly at the end. Reinhard Heydrich is mentioned but never seen.

In 1964 -- within an [[AlternateHistory alternate timeline]] where the Nazis won UsefulNotes/WorldWarII -- Hitler invites U.S. president Joseph P. Kennedy (JFK's father) to his 75th birthday celebrations, hoping to reach a détente that will help them finally win their 20-year war against partisans in Russia.

A dead body is found and Xavier March (Creator/RutgerHauer), a good-natured police investigator, takes on what appears to be a simple murder case. Together with American IntrepidReporter Charlotte Maguire (Miranda Richardson), they start digging deeper and discover that high ranking Nazi officials are being killed to protect that [[EmpireWithADarkSecret biggest secret of the war]], the [[DontExplainTheJoke Final Solution]]. March and Maguire soon come to the attention of the Gestapo, meaning they must get the last evidence of the Final Solution to President Kennedy before it is lost forever.

In 1964 -- within an [[AlternateHistory alternate timeline]] where the Nazis won UsefulNotes/WorldWarII -- 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.

Meanwhile a number of high ranking Nazi officers are found or getting killed, in order to remove the final obstacle to détente, the blackmailable existence of the last witnesses of the [[EmpireWithADarkSecret biggest secret of the war]], the [[DontExplainTheJoke Final Solution]].

The movie deals with Charlotte Maguire (Miranda Richardson), an American IntrepidReporter; Franz Luther (John Woodvine), the last witness contacting Maguire; and Xavier March (Creator/RutgerHauer), a good-natured police investigator digging deeper than Gestapo deems acceptable to solve the case.

** Even the geographic dimensions of the Nazi empire are peculiar, based on the map shown in the beginning. Basically all of continental Europe west of the Ukraine has been subsumed into an expanded German empire, when much of this was never the Nazis' intentions. Historians discovered that the Nazis did in fact desire to incorporate nations such as Norway and the Netherlands because of the racist nordic ideology inherent in Nazism, but one can only speculate whether countries such as Spain, Italy, France, or Greece wouldn't ultimately have been annexed into the Third Reich if they already controlled everything else (which they don't in this timeline). During the war the focus of Nazist expansionism was directed towards Eastern Europe because they believed the Slavs to be "an inferior race", and consequently thought it needed to be conquered, depopulated, and resettled with Germans, who were supposedly in need of "living space". The book follows these events correctly.

* InSpiteOfANail: As mentioned above, the Beatles still form despite twenty years of AlternateHistory.
** In the film, anyway- the novel just mentions an unnamed British band has become popular.
** The {{Atomic Bombings Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki}} still happen the same way it did in our timeline, as described by the narrator and March.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Though all Nazis named in the film indeed existed, the character of Martin Luther got the given name Franz in the movie to avoid connotations to the other Martin Luther, the Protestant religious reformer.

-->'''March:''' You actually dropped it on Japan.

* AlternateHistoryNaziVictory: The film, based on the Robert Harris novel, posits the same "Nazis Have Taken Over Europe And Are Now Engaged In A New Cold War With The Americans" world, though with a few changes (the point of divergence being a failed Normandy invasion rather than a more successful Operation Barbarossa) and a more hopeful ending for the protagonists.

%%* AlternateHistory

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The movie deals with [[IntrepidReporter Charlotte Maguire]] (Miranda Richardson), an American journalist; Franz Luther (John Woodvine), the last witness contacting Maguire; and Xavier March (Creator/RutgerHauer), a good-natured police investigator digging deeper than Gestapo deems acceptable to solve the case.

** 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.

** Winston Churchill died in exile in Canada in May 1953. This differs from the novel, which states that Churchill is still alive in April 1964.

* DisconnectedByDeath - Invoked. An already wounded March cycles to a phone booth to call Pili before his certain death to tell him that it wasn't his fault.
* EarnYourHappyEnding - [[spoiler: March dies and Charlie is arrested by the Gestapo, but Kennedy got the proof of the Holocaust and cancelled his alliance with Hitler, whose regime later collapsed.]]

* FromACertainPointOfView - Kind of. Rather the creepiest euphemism in movie history.

%%* GovernmentConspiracy - In-universe, the biggest one in history.
%%* HeKnowsTooMuch - The Movie

* HeroicRROD - The Eastern Front veterans in the house of the blind.

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

* ICouldaBeenAContender - Anna von Hagen when displaying her bitterness about failing in her acting career.
* InSpiteOfANail - As mentioned above, the Beatles still form despite twenty years of AlternateHistory.
*** In the film, anyway- the novel just mentions an unnamed British band has become popular.
** - The {{Atomic Bombings Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki}} still happen the same way it did in our timeline, as described by the narrator and March.

* IntrepidReporter - Charlie

* LiteraryAgentHypothesis - In-universe with the last surviving attendent of Wannsee, Franz Luther.
* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident - The death of [[KnightInSourArmor SS cadet]] [[HeKnowsTooMuch Jost jr.]]

* NarratorAllAlong - He's only heard at the beginning and at the end, but it's still notable to say that the narrator [[spoiler:is Pili, the son of Xavier March.]]
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed : Though all Nazis named in the film indeed existed, the character of Martin Luther got the given name Franz in the movie to avoid connotations to another Martin Luther, a major religious reformer.

* PunchClockVillain - Played completely straight with the ordinary police officers.
* PuttingOnTheReich - The city of Welthauptstadt Germania, formerly known as Berlin. [[FridgeHorror Nuff' said.]]

* SecretPolice - The Gestapo is anywhere out there to fetch you.

* WhiteDwarfStarlet - Anna von Hagen
* YouKilledMyFather - [[spoiler: Rather like I didn't know what I was doing when I phoned the Gestapo.]]

* AlternateHistory

* {{Blackmail}}

* CrapsackWorld

* FilmOfTheBook
* ForensicDrama

* GovernmentConspiracy - In-universe, the biggest one in history.
* HeKnowsTooMuch - The Movie
* HeroicBSOD

* JoggersFindDeath

* PoliceProcedural

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections

* ThoseWackyNazis

* CaliforniaDoubling - Besides the world capital Germania shots being [[ConspicuousCG completely artificial]], the whole movie was shot [[{{Irony}} in Prague and its environs]]. The shown Reichssicherheitshauptamt building was e.g. actually the site of the Czechoslovak parliament and later Radio Free Europe and the Adolf Hitler statue was placed in front of the Rudolfinum.

** 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 ''[[https://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.

In 1964 -- within an [[AlternateHistory alternate timeline]] where [[AdolfHitler Hitler]] won WorldWarII -- 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.

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