The Man in the High Castle
Freedom is under control.
The Man in the High Castle (2015-2019)
Seasons: 4,
episodes: 40
Average rating:
7.8/10
147 156
Production
Status
Completed
Creators
Frank Spotnitz
Scenario
Philip K. Dick
Author
Composer
Producer
Michael Cedar
Actors
Alexa Davalos
Juliana Crain
Rufus Sewell
John Smith
Joel de la Fuente
Inspector Kido
Jason O'Mara
Wyatt Price
Brennan Brown
Robert Childan
Chelah Horsdal
Helen Smith
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
Nobusuke Tagomi
Frances Turner
Bell Mallory
Short description
Explore what it would be like if the Allied Powers had lost WWII, and Japan and Germany ruled the United States. Based on Philip K. Dick's award-winning novel.
Seasons
| Season | Episodes | Release date | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
Season 1 Some 20 years after that loss, the United States and much of the world has now been split between Japan and Germany, the major hegemonic states. But the tension between these two powers is mounting, and this stress is playing out in the western U.S.
|
10 | 2015-01-15 | 7.6 |
Season 2 After giving Joe the film, Juliana is forced to flee the fury of the Resistance while embarking on a new path to save her home from destruction. Joe confronts his absent father in Berlin, who is not as he seems. Smith wrestles with what to do about his ill son. Frank takes a gamble with his life …
|
10 | 2016-12-16 | 7.6 |
Season 3 Juliana uncovers a dangerous Nazi plan for ultimate supremacy. Can she convince others to join her in stopping it? Or is it already too late? Though recently celebrated by Himmler, Smith finds that the dangers to his family continue. As the GNR takes retaliatory measures toward the JPS, tensions …
|
10 | 2018-10-04 | 6.7 |
Season 4 Juliana Crain is on a mission to take down Reichsmarschall Smith, as the Nazis use the Die Nebenwelt Portal to infiltrate other worlds. Helen Smith struggles to protect her fractured family. Chief Inspector Kido is caught between the Imperial Army and the Royal Family as the Japanese Empire faces…
|
10 | 2019-11-15 | 6.8 |
What's left behind the scenes
- In the eighth episode, the Obergruppenführer goes to a doctor to consult about his son's health. The doctor asks to speak with him privately, and both enter his office, where a sign on the door reads "Doctor Adler." In real life, Robert Adler was a Jew who fled Austria when the Nazis entered the country.
- The series plays upon many cultural aspects of American life in the 1950s and 1960s, albeit in a suitably modified form. A striking example is the television show Jack Webb's 'Dragnet' (1951), depicted on screen in a 'Nazi version'.
- The standard closing credit disclaimer stating that all characters and events depicted in the series are fictional is provided in English, German, and Japanese.
- The Smith Tower skyscraper in Seattle is shown several times in the first episode. Flying above it is the Kyokujitsu-ki, or the 'Rising Sun Flag' (the military ensign of Japan).
- The Resistance forces must deliver newsreel reels to the mysterious "man in the high castle" in the Neutral Zone. Thus, the title of the TV series is somewhat ambiguous, because Hitler (who also collects newsreels) also lives in a castle in the Austrian mountains. The Führer could also be called the "man in the high castle."
- Only two historical figures appear in the first season (2015) of the series: Adolf Hitler and Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich (who, by general consensus, would have succeeded Himmler as Reichsführer-SS if not for the end of the war). Heydrich was killed in Prague by saboteurs from the British Special Operations Executive (a Czech and a Slovak). The names of the Japanese Crown Prince and Princess are not mentioned in the series, but these characters may be based on Akihito and Michiko (the current reigning Emperor of Japan and his spouse).
- "Teikoku Station" translates approximately as "Imperial Station."
- The Paramount cinema in the opening shots was filmed in Seattle, Washington, rather than in New York.
- Rick Worthy, who plays "Lem" Washington, played Number 4, or Simon, in the sci-fi TV series "Battlestar Galactica" (2004-2009). Hiro Kanagawa, who plays the Yakuza leader Okamura in "The Man in the High Castle," appeared in "Caprica" (2009-2010), the prequel to the "Battlestar Galactica" series.
- John Smith rose to the rank of Obergruppenführer, while his immediate superior, Reinhard Heydrich, holds the rank of Oberstgruppenführer. During World War II, these were the highest ranks in the SS hierarchy, and an Oberstgruppenführer reported directly to the Reichsführer-SS, Heinrich Himmler.
- Hitler's private castle and headquarters were filmed at Hohenwerfen Castle in Austria. This same castle was also used in Brian G. Hutton's film 'Where Eagles Dare' (1968).
- Filming began on April 20, 2015, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
- The production process for Amazon Studios series differs slightly from that of traditional television networks. They produce pilot episodes for a vast number of potential series and programs, release them, collect audience feedback, and only then develop the most promising projects into full-fledged series. The pilot episode premiered on January 15. Viewer interest exceeded all expectations, and on February 18, 2015, it was announced that a 10-episode season would be filmed. The subsequent 9 episodes were released on November 20, 2015.
- The World War II propaganda posters that completely cover the wall of the Sunrise restaurant in Canyon City actually conceal a mural in a cafe in the town of Roslyn, Washington. The mural was painted back in 1990 when the TV series 'Northwest Passage' (1990-1995) was filmed in Roslyn due to the high cost of filming in Alaska.
- Philip K. Dick not only incorporated the Chinese philosophical treatise 'I Ching' ('Book of Changes') into his novel, but also read the work to determine the direction in which to develop the plot. The surname of the character Mr. Baynes is borrowed from one of the translators of the 'I Ching' edition Dick used ('I Ching', Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, translated by Richard Wilhelm and Cary F. Baynes).
- The first episode features an elevated railway—this is a monorail viaduct line in Seattle, Washington, USA.
- There is a belief that the composition 'Edelweiss,' which opens the series, is an Austrian folk song. In reality, it was written for Robert Wise's musical film 'The Sound of Music' (1965), which would never have been created had the Nazis won World War II.
- The creators of the television series spent considerable time and effort studying fields such as fashion, technology, and music to create an alternative world that blends elements of Nazi culture from World War II and imperialist Japanese society on one hand, and mid-1950s American culture on the other. The series is set in 1962, but the presence of various traits from the previous decade points to a cultural stagnation that would be inevitable under a totalitarian regime.
- On November 24, 2015, shortly after the entire first season became available on Amazon Video, the appearance of promotional posters in the New York City subway featuring the emblem of the Third Reich (an eagle holding an oak wreath with a swastika in the center) caused a real scandal. The Governor of New York personally ordered all posters to be removed, which was done immediately.
- Screenwriter and executive producer Frank Spotnitz stated that he had planned the entire series to the end and knows how it will all conclude. Before writing the finale of the first season's script, Spotnitz secured approval from Amazon Studios for a second season, ensuring that the narrative would not be left hanging. Among other things, Spotnitz promised that in the second season, viewers would learn what happened to African Americans in the totalitarian world.
- The series is based on the novel of the same name by Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) about a world where the Axis powers won World War II. In Dick's book, there is a novel titled "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy," written by a man from the High Castle, which describes an "alternative reality" where the Allied powers won World War II, but the world is not like ours. In the series, instead of a novel, "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy" appears as a newsreel of the same name.
- A man in the Sunrise restaurant folds a paper origami unicorn. This is a tribute to the film "Blade Runner" (1982) directed by Ridley Scott, who also produced this television series. "Blade Runner" was based on Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" (1968). This series is an adaptation of Dick's novel "The Man in the High Castle" (1961).
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
