I don't know how familiar you are with jazz singer Billy Holiday's song "Strange Fruit", but this song puts an end to the very end of the second episode of "The Man in High Castle". The song, which is initially an allegory for the lynching that African-Americans survived in the first half of the 20th century, describes beautiful flower fields with traces of blood and broken human bones. When the cult song builds on the theme of the series that follows the parallel dystopian universe in which the Germans won World War II, then you can roughly create an image of what awaits you in this hidden diamond.
The alternative history that hit humanity was originally written by Philip Dick. His work "Man in a High Castle" was published in 1962. Imperialist Japan and Nazi Germany have put their paws on the world order, but the world is beginning to face a new horror as Adolf Hitler prepares to meet the Mower, and his loyal associates and accomplices in the new world order prepare the ground for another massacre.
Half a century has passed since the novel by Philip Dick, our world is not as he described in the novel, but there are some connections and fears that overwhelm us when we think about the future. If history has taught us anything, it is that the crisis periods are marked by right-wing ideas and an attack of religious fanaticism. Maybe the world didn't become a dystopia from "The Man in the High Castle" or maybe it even did.
"The Man in High Castle" introduces us to the new world order in America. Those who survived World War II with the set remember their freedom and do not talk much about liberation ideas because they live either in the eastern part of the American continent which belongs to Nazi Germany or in the western part which belongs to Japan. Less unhappy or happy people live in the neutral central zone of America, which is technically nobody's country.
The story of the man in the high castle begins when our heroine Juliana Crane, who lives in San Francisco (under Japanese rule), comes into possession of footage showing that the Germans did not win World War II. Adolf Hitler has long wanted to come into possession of the tapes in order to destroy them because he considers them a subversive attack on his government that propagates ideas that could harm the new world.
On the other side of the coast, Joe Black joins the resistance movement against the Germans and the Japanese, but it turns out that it is a secret SS agent who wants to come into possession of footage that damages the "reputation" of the government. Juliana and Joe meet on no man's land, but not to exchange footage, but an unusual set of circumstances.
"The Man in High Castle" examines even more deeply the ideas of Nazi Germany and fascism, which we probably left behind a long time ago. Jews, African Americans, "deviant" individuals are still not desirable in this world. They are tortured, humiliated, but they are not the only problem. The elderly, the sick, the infirm, the disabled are burned in several hospitals in America, so in nearby cities they are often faced with a rain of ashes - that is, the remains of people who were once there, and then comes the song Billy Holiday.
"The Man in High Castle" is an alternative historical story, with elements of thriller, drama, but also science fiction. It is adorned with a slightly slower and darker tempo, but the atmosphere and theme make it very attractive.
This is one of those hidden diamonds that people have bypassed, but it promises you a creepy ride through a world ruled by Hitler. Every time someone utters Hail Hitler with a Nazi salute you will cringe because there is a worse horror than the one we see in fictional horror movies.
I'm interested!