Review: The Man in the High Castle

An Amazon Prime Original Based on Philip K. Dick's Novel

There is always a danger in adapting novels to cinema, particularly when those novel are as well received as the highly honored The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick. The novel won the Hugo Award, the highest honor in science fiction, in 1963, one year after it was published.

From IMDb

Dick is no stranger to moving picture adaptations. The Man in the High Castle is not his first. If you've seen Blade Runner, it was adapted from Dick's 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Total Recall, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, was based on a short story titled "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale." Another short story titled "The Minority Report" was adapted into a movie starring Tom Cruise. It was called Minority Report. If you've seen any of these films, then you're familiar with Dick's work. He's become a science fiction icon.

What is The Man in the High Castle?

Dick specialized in futuristic dystopian tales. In that regard, The Man in the High Castle doesn't let us down. The novel is set in 1962, the year it was written, so it isn't futuristic. But is most certainly dystopian, featuring a United States that has been conquered by Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Besides "dystopian," it is also often classified as "alternative history." I like to call it speculative history, but "alternate" is certainly an appropriate term.

In Dick's version of the story, the German's rule the Eastern United States and the Japanese rule the Western coast. Everything in between is the neutral zone. Hitler is on his death bed and the Nazis are ruled by Chancellor Martin Bormann, who must contend with a cast of Nazi generals competing to take his place. Major characters include an Americana antique shop owner named Bob Childan, who lives in San Francisco, Japanese trade minister Nobusuke Tagomi, Jewish-American Frank Frink, Frink's ex-wife Juliana, and an Italian truck driver named Joe Cinnadella.

Throughout the book, characters make major decisions based on interpretations of the I Ching. They are also taken in by the popularity of a novel forbidden by the Germans in the areas where they rule. The novel is titled The Grasshopper Lies Heavy and written by a man named Hawthorne Abendsen, the man in the high castle, and tells the story of an alternate America that wins World War II.

One of the interesting features of the novel is a text from Abendsen's fictional novel, effectively creating a novel within a novel.

Another interesting twist to the story is the high technology possessed by the Germans. Far surpassing the technology of the U.S. at the same time, it showcases an interesting side of Dick's imagination. The culmination of the novel lies in the meeting of Juliana Frink and Abendsen and the conversation they have.

Amazon's Original Adaptation

Any time a novel is adapted for film, you can expect some changes. In this case, there were a lot of changes. None of them were bad.

As much as I liked the book, I like the Amazon series even better. The scripting was excellent, the acting was superb, and the filmography is top-notch. I've got nothing bad to say about it at all. I'd recommend reading the novel first before you watch the series as the series may very well ruin the novel for you if you don't.

Now is the apt time for this review because Amazon only recently released Season 4 of the series, and I completed watching the last episode over the weekend. From the first episode in Series 1 until the final end, there wasn't a single disappointment. But what changed between the novel and the film series?

For starters, Julian Frink has become Juliana Crain. Her relationship with Joe (Blake instead of Cinnadella in the film series) is the same (they were lovers), but her relationship to Frank Frink is downplayed a bit more. Frink and his best friend, in the Amazon series, join an armed resistance to fight against their imperial rulers, which heightens the drama quite a bit. Tagomi's loyalties are more ambiguous in the film, and there is the addition of another high-ranking Japanese official who adds to the tension. There is also the addition of Obergruppenführer John Smith, a major character in the film but who does not appear in the novel. He is an American who obtains a high position with the Reich as a result of his savvy political maneuvering and extreme loyalty to the Führer.

But the most important change from the novel has nothing to do with the characters. Rather, it's about the plot. Instead of being enthralled by a novel, the characters take a stunning interest in a collection of films (as in hundreds) about this alternative world. In the Amazon series, the idea of that world being prophetic and real is much more emphasized. And the characters are able to see alternative versions of themselves if they are brave enough to risk being caught watching them.

Another interesting twist is the technology possessed by the German superpower. Far surpassing what Dick himself imagined, the most incredible technology possessed by the Germans isn't a nuclear bomb as it is in the novel (though they do have that). It is, instead, a portal to alternative universes, and the characters are able to travel back and forth between them. Not only does this open up huge philosophical discoveries, but it thickens the plot and creates more tension.

One of the things I like most about the Amazon series is the deeper development of the characters. This is not a Dickian flaw. Rather, it's a component of the medium that allows such depth where in a novel certain parts of a character are more difficult to draw out, and the limitations of the two-dimensional page.

While much of Dick's novel shows characters living their mundane lives in the midst of incredible circumstances, the Amazon series is made for a different audience. Twenty-first century media consumers will appreciate the way the elements of film bring out plot points that can only be hinted at on the pages of a novel. I loved watching the way the characters interacted with each other in the film. If I had one criticism it would be that some scenes are a little difficult to understand at first due to jumps in time sequences and alternate realities, but those are easily overcome and do not interfere with the story to be told. The Man in the High Castle is a must-see film series just as the novel is a must-read.

Buy on Amazon.

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