FATHERLAND (TV)
Summary
This made-for-television production, based on the novel by Robert Harris, is about how relations might have developed between Germany and the United States if Germany had won World War II. The program begins with news clips summing up the twenty years since America withdrew from Europe, which subsequently became known as the Nazi empire of Germania. Germania’s borders have opened up and the world press is invited to cover the Fuhrer’s seventy-fifth birthday celebration. However, rumors persist that Jews and minorities weren’t all relocated to the East and that “terrible things” are still happening in the New Berlin. In April of 1964, SS cadet Hermann Jost sees a group of men dump a body into a park’s lake before they hurriedly drive off. SS officer Xavier March subsequently gets a call to check out the corpse. Before leaving his apartment, Xavier tells his young son Pili that he may soon take him to visit America. At the crime scene, Xavier examines the body and makes some preliminary conclusions. At the autopsy, Xavier learns the identity of the murder victim: Josef Buhler, architect of the Jewish Resettlement Program and a close friend of Adolf Hitler. Meanwhile, a busload of journalists arrives to cover the festivities, including German-born Charlie Maguire. She tells colleague Walter Elliot how her father was a diplomat to Germany before the family left the country. Upon arriving in the bus station, a stranger gives a package to a puzzled Charlie. In her room, Charlie opens the parcel and finds a mysterious photograph with instructions from German official Franz Luther. In the meantime, Xavier searches Josef’s residence before asking Hermann about his discovery. Hermann tells of having seen three men driving away from the scene, including Gestapo general Odilo “Globus” Globocnik. Going to the address given to her by Franz, Charlie attempts to see Herr Stuckart. Inside his apartment, Charlie finds Stuckart and a prostitute dead. At SS headquarters, Xavier is told by Artur Nebe that he’s been taken off Josef’s case, then hears of Stuckart’s death and is told to talk to Charlie, who is being detained. The pair squabble as he takes her back to Stuckart’s apartment. Xavier says he knows that Charlie lied to him at the station, then sends her packing when Gestapo agents converge on the address. Afterward, Globus pays a visit to Artur to “broaden his horizons.” The next day, Artur shows Xavier what the Gestapo supposedly found: Josef’s cache of stolen art works. He says that Josef was in collusion with Stuckart and Franz. Xavier won’t accept Artur’s theory about Josef and Stuckart’s suicides, having found Josef’s prosthetic leg and doubting that he “hopped” to the lake to kill himself. The next day, Xavier hears that Hermann, who’d been taken into protective custody, had a fatal accident. Elsewhere, as Charlie watches a newscast about U.S President Joseph Kennedy’s peace talks with Hitler, Xavier calls her and arranges a meeting. The pair decide to team up to solve the mystery, first tracking down information about Franz’s photo via an old friend of Xavier’s with political connections. They soon realize that everyone in the photo, including Stuckart and Josef, have been murdered -- excepting Franz. Though Franz is spotted by officers, he meets Charlie and says he can tell her “the biggest secret of the war.” After giving incriminating photos to Charlie, Franz is killed in a shootout with the Gestapo. Later, Xavier and Charlie watch as Franz’s wife is spirited away by Gestapo agents. Charlie then goes to see Anna von Hagen, having found out that the actress was planning on leaving the country with her lover, Franz. Anna tells Charlie how Jews caused the war, leading to Hitler having them shipped to concentration camps and killed in gas chambers. Anna also tells Charlie how the secret was covered up, not realizing that the entire tale is a revelation to Charlie. Later, Charlie and Xavier look at the Holocaust photos left by Franz. Xavier has trouble believing the truth, stating that he has “served murderers” all his life. After saying that she’ll get the photos to Kennedy, Charlie tells Xavier that she won’t leave the country without him. As Xavier tries to kidnap Pili to take him to America, Charlie joins the press conference where Hitler will meet with Kennedy. There, she sees Walter and shows him the photos so that he’ll give them to Kennedy. The Gestapo shows up at the apartment after a confused Pili phones them to relay Xavier’s plan. Trying to escape, Xavier is shot but gets away on a bicycle. Walter finally gets the pictures to Kennedy, who subsequently leaves Hitler alone on the podium. A wounded Xavier calls Pili from a phone booth before succumbing to his wounds. Failing to meet up with Xavier, Charlie sits on a bench until the Gestapo finds her. A grownup Pili then tells how Hitler’s Reich subsequently collapsed without an American alliance to fight the Russians, a development which he believes would have made his father happy. This program is closed-captioned.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: November 26, 1994 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:43493
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama;
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV, 1994
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Frederick Muller … Producer
- Ilene Kahn … Producer
- Leonid Zisman … Associate Producer
- Gideon Amir … Line Producer
- Christopher Menaul … Director
- Stanley Weiser … Writer
- Ron Hutchinson … Writer
- Robert Harris … Based on the book by
- Gary Chang … Music by
- Rutger Hauer … Cast, Xavier March
- Miranda Richardson … Cast, Charlie Maguire
- Peter Vaughan … Cast, Artur Nebe
- Michael Kitchen … Cast, Max Jaeger
- John Woodvine … Cast, Franz Luther
- John Shrapnel … Cast, Odilo "Globus" Globocnik
- Clive Russell … Cast, Krebs
- Clare Higgins … Cast, Klara
- Jean Marsh … Cast, Anna von Hagen
- Pavel Andel … Cast, Man in Dark Coat
- Petronella O. Barker … Cast, Helga Schroter
- Sarah Berger … Cast, Leni Kalder
- Jan Bidlas … Cast, Bellboy
- Stuart Bunce … Cast, Blind Soldier
- Charles De'Ath … Cast, Fake Porter
- Neil Dudgeon … Cast, Sex Crimes Cop
- Rudolph Fleischer … Cast, Adolf Hitler
- Garrick Hagon … Cast, Walter Elliot
- David Hatton … Cast, Short Man
- Rupert Penry Jones … Cast, Hermann Jost
- Jan Kohout … Cast, Joseph Kennedy
- Rory Jennings … Cast, Pili March
- Bob Mason … Cast, Coroner Eisler
- David McAllister … Cast, Party Official Anchor
- Petr Meissel … Cast, Young Policeman
- Patrick Opaterny … Cast, Heinz
- David Ryall … Cast, Administrator Kruger
- Zdena Seifertova … Cast, Mrs. Jaeger
- Michael J. Shannon … Cast, U.S. Ambassador
- Milan Simacek … Cast, SS Man at Press Compound
- Marek Vasut … Cast, SS Cadet Instructor
- Jan Vlasak … Cast, First SS Man