Deniz72 I chose to eventually give this "movie" a 4/10 as, and although it did touch upon some very interesting themes and thought the acting was very good, I have to be honest and say that the film generally felt that it needed a little more money thrown into it! For instance, I am sure the Nazi uniform would have been changed twenty years after WW2, technology in "1964" Nazi Germany would surely have taken a more Modern turn as opposed to it being stuck in the 1942 era, and I am sure the former Nazi leaders would have been replaced or at least their NAZI Chants abolished. In my view, the film failed to ultimately grasp the everyday person/people feel of this new Germany, or adapt and show the viewer the social aspects of 1964 Post-War Germany. It's almost as if the film maker thought that Germany would not have dramatically changed twenty years after the war, where in fact I am certain that Germany would have done its utmost to not have any memories or indicators of its ultra-nationalistic past. Perhaps I am seeing this from another angle, but the Germans here are seen as a little backward. I am sure in reality it would have been the (complete) opposite in terms of a booming industry, technological advancement and even a new EU platform/cooperation. The film, therefore, appeared to miss a great deal of scope. It's central theme of pushing along this dark image and assuming that all its people were deeply brain-washed with utlra nationalism, failed to identify the true intelligence of what the Germans would have gained in this golden opportunity (after winning such a war!).In conclusion, by 1964, I am sure Germany would have moved things along much differently to what this film shows, more intelligently than what we may have thought! Perhaps, even, similarly to our current EU with Germany at the Top and the rest depending on its Economic and Political advancements! Looks like Germany was always destined to be the leader of the EU regardless of whether they had won or lost the war, changed or adapted a new name or even changed their geo-political and social wishes!

kellyhighfield-215-363324 I read the novel and loved it, couldn't put it down. I stumbled on the film by accident while flicking channels. I didn't know it had been made and as somebody says the Hollywood suits should be ashamed of themselves for turning down the opportunity to do it justice.Normally I hate films that introduce characters that are not in the original books but the Jean Marsh role as the embittered actress who failed to make it in Hollywood is superb. Jean Marsh is chilling and I've never seen her do better. She justifies her own existence. Just before seeing it I had seen a dramatisation of the Wannsee conference by BBC2 and the facts were fairly fresh for me. The names you hear were real people.The crowd scenes ARE too small but Rutger Hauer is believable as the decent German looking for the truth and though Miranda Richardson comes across as a bit neurotic (as usual) she is plausible.Lets start a campaign for a big budget version.

atanas_n1-1 i like this "how would the world look like if ..." (in any direction) and we have a good example here - what if the Germans had not lost the second world war (and the description on this site is not correct - they have not won - they just have not lost in the movie)? how would the society look like, the people, the politics... yes, in the movie the Americans do not know about the extermination of the Jews, while in reality they refused to bomb the railways leading to the camps, and yes, i have a problem with thisbut i think that the mood in the movie and the wonderful acting did compensate me for this mistake. i would like to know more about this world, about life in other countries in it... and a movie able to do this is a hot candidate for my favorites listwatch it if you like alternative settings and movies with well made mood

arijec I am so glad, that I have read the book first (total master piece, even better than Da Vinci's code, which integrated quite a lot of elements from Fatherland), cause the movie was a total disaster. In first 5 minutes the original story line is changed 4 times! after that I rather stopped counting mistakes. After half an hour I had to shot it down. I just couldn't stand the massacre of Harris's master piece. My advice to those who want to know the story is to read the book before seeing the movie cause there is a big possibility you will lose all your interest in the story if you start with that terrible movie. And missing this story is a sin! And now, can anybody answer me, why Americans always destroy all the good stories, when they turn them into movies?