(report for LA, originaly had pics after most quotes)
Fullmetal Alchemist The Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa
It's been two years since Edward Elric sacrificed himself to save his little brother. Now stranded in our world, in 1923 Munich Germany, Edward has been studying the science of rocketry alongside Alphonse Heiderich, the alternate version of his brother, in hopes of finding a way back home. Meanwhile in the alchemy world Al has been studying under Izumi and becoming a powerful alchemist in his own right. He is is constantly searching for a means to reunite with Ed. After saving a psychic gypsy girl Edward gets caught up in a plot by the Thule society and early Nazi party, one that could mean the destruction of both worlds.
A continuation of the wonderful TV series, Shamballa mixes fact with fiction, alchemy with science, and fantasy with history, creating a fitting end for the epic anime that also leaves plenty of room for more.
What's more there is so much more depth to the movie amazingly then first meets the eye. In order to experience the movie to it's whole you must investigate it's background. The purpose of this paper is to begin to do so.
The Thule society is featured prominently in the movie. They wish to harness the alchemic power of Ed's world to use in their own wars, starting with the over throwing of the current government, an event that is known to history as the failed Munich putsch.
“To Shamballa!”
Founded in 1918, the Thule society was a secret occultist group obsessed with furthering the “Aryan” race. They sought contact with supernatural beings residing beneath the earth in a place known as Shamballa or Thule. They hoped to contact these beings through arcane rituals. This provides an interesting parallel in the movie. They believe Ed's world to be Shamballa, so, in their heads, Edward and Hoenhiem would be some of the “supernatural” beings. The supposed power they hoped to gain would be the power of alchemy and the rituals would be the alchemy used to open the gate. The Thule society were also the subject of many interesting rumors, such as the creation of space craft and the possession of secret weapons. (experience fest) Starting to sound from earlier?
Shamballa also features a number or historic or historically based characters. Chief among these are the German silent film director Fritz Lang and the pro-nazi Dietlinde Eckhart
The Jewish film director Fritz Lang meets Ed after the later mistakes him for the deceased homunculi Furor King Bradly
“Why! Why is a homunculi here!”
Born in Austria Lang was one of the world’s greatest film directors. (Lang) A master of the silent screen his movies at the time of the movie included Halbblut, (Half caste) Die Spinnen, (The Spiders) Der mude Tod, (Destiny) and Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler (Dr Mabuse. The Gambler)
“Dr Mabuse The Gambler I understand that's a film you made”
His second wife Thea von Harbou became a fanatical believer of Adolf Hitler, A fact which caused some tension. When he left Germany in 1933, after being offered a prominent position in the Nazi film industry (Lang) his wife stayed behind and started working for the Nazis.
Eckhart, as depicted in the movie, is probably a merging of two Thule society members: Dietrich Eckart who was Hitler’s tutor in public speaking and Countess Heila von Westarp who functioned as a sort of secretary (Experience Fest)
Through out the movie Alphonse Heiderich suffers from an unnamed disease. While it first appears a to be a minor issue, manifesting itself in the form of a recurring cough, it is soon revealed to have a more sinister nature causing him to cough up blood. Alphonse knows he is dying and this greatly effects many of his actions and decisions throughout the movie.
“We're real Ed. Not just a part of your dreams like you thought. I care and I make mistakes. I might not live much longer but I'll still be here. Just don't forget me.”
“It’s just a little cold”
Pulmonary tuberculosis often starts showing itself in the form a persistent cough and is frequently dismissed by a cold that won't go away. However by the time coughing starts the disease is usually already fairly well established. As the disease progresses the patient starts coughing up blood, first in little, then large amounts. Eventually the damage to the lungs prohibits breathing and the victim dies. (TB1, P 47-9) At the time Shamballa takes place there was no real cure for the disease and its victims usually died. (Dr. C. Krohn) However, that didn’t stop them from trying. From the years 1910-1940 (TB2, P 21) patients were usually sent off, sometimes against their will, (Dr. C. Krohn) to “sanitariums”, basically mountain nature centers run by doctors, where, according to beliefs at the time, they could be cured by clean mountain air.(TB2, P 21) In reality the only useful thing the sanitariums did was contain the illness. However even this was not highly effective because, due possibly to the sanitariums many rules and regulations, many victims hid their disease from public view. In addition in places were the economy was down and the government wasn't very strong (like Weimar Germany) sanitariums were not very high on the priority list. (Dr. C. Krohn)
“The truth is...I'm running out of time. You say this world isn't yours well it is mine and I want to leave proof that I lived in it!”
Assuming that the disease killing Alphonse was indeed tuberculosis many of his actions suddenly become clearer. The fact he kept hidden for one. We already know his insistence on continuing his work and apparent obsession with it was due to his wish to leave something of himself behind so his memory wouldn’t fade into oblivion, but we can now get further inside his head
He didn’t want to find a sanitarium and die meaninglessly. He wanted his death to have meaning. Seeing what his rockets are being used for he doesn’t want his work to be used to enable such evil. After seeing his friend get shot he is absolutely horrified. For him it seems as if the world is falling down. He goes to find his dead friend’s body and finds him alive but unconscious from the fall, the bullet having hit his prosthetic arm. Alphonse makes a split second decision and drags Ed to the last remaining rocket, a one-manner that got left behind probably due to it's size. When Edward wakes up Alphonse comments on his incredible luck and delivers his final heart moving last words. He runs over to the switchboard and sends him off through the gate and back to his home. An angry Thule soldier shoots Alphonse in the back and thus he falls looking up with a smile on his face, watching the culmination of his lifelong dream of sending people to other worlds, come true.
Shamballa is not a historical fiction movie, nor is it meant to be. Fullmetal is at its root a scifi/fantasy story, however in the places where it can Shamballa is as historically accurate as possible. You can tell that it's makers did a great deal of research to make the setting and historical figures as accurate as possible. The only case where they deviate from this is with Eckhart who they turn into a girl and change the role of. However they address the moral themes of the time very well, use realistic dialogue, and present the setting in a highly accurate light while still remaining true to the central spirit of Fullmetal. Like the Series, this movie is an epic masterpiece
I have learned that munich university were professor houshofer of the thule society teaches was later the home of White Rose agroup of anti-Nazi students conducted their campaign of opposition to Hitler though publishing and distributeing leaflets.
By the way does this look at all fromearlier to you?
called the atrium (word sound from earlier too?) this I is a room in munich university’s main bulding
this fountail is also found there
and look what else I found
The Thule Society (German: Thule-Gesellschaft), originally the Studiengruppe für germanisches Altertum 'Study Group for Germanic Antiquity', was a German occultist and völkisch group in Munich, named after a mythical northern country from Greek legend. The Society is notable chiefly as the organization that sponsored the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, which was later transformed by Adolf Hitler into the Nazi Party. Hitler, however, was never a member of the Thule Society,[1] in spite of allegations about his occult initiation in Nazi-occult literature.
A primary focus of Thule-Gesellschaft was a claim concerning the origins of the Aryan race
Sebottendorff adopted Nauhaus's Thule Society as a cover-name for his Munich lodge
The Thule Society attracted about 250 followers in Munich and about 1,500 in greater Bavaria.[8] Its meetings were often held in the luxury Hotel Vierjahreszeiten ((German): Four Seasons Hotel) in Munich.[6]
(four seasons hotel!)
The Thule Society hleader was Dietrich Eckart sound at all like Dietlinde Eckart to you
Oh and look I found this gem
“The Thule Society has become the center of many conspiracy theories concerning Nazi Germany. Such theories include the creation of spacecraft and secret weapons of mass destruction.”
the thule scociatly’s emblum
“The first nuclear weapons were created in the United States by an international team, including many displaced scientists from central Europe, which included Germany”
“In 1923, Hermann Oberth[23] (1894-1989) published Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen ("The Rocket into Planetary Space"
wink , a version of his doctoral thesis, after the University of Munich rejected it.”
“In autumn 1929, Oberth launched his first liquid fuel rocket, named Kegeldüse. He was helped in this experiment by his students at the Technical University of Berlin, one of whom was Wernher von Braun, who would later head the wartime project to develop the rocket officially called the A4, but far better known today as the V-2 rocket.”
“In 1928 and 1929 Oberth worked in Berlin as a scientific consultant on the first film ever to have scenes set in space, Frau im Mond ("The Woman in the Moon"
wink , directed at Universum Film AG by Fritz Lang”
“Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa features Hermann Oberth as the "teacher" of the films protagonist, Edward Elric. Oberth is also mentioned in the last episode of Fullmetal Alchemist. In that episode Edward has heard of a great scientist, named Oberth, with curious theories. The last moments of the series are Edward on a train to meet Oberth; determined to study rocketry with him.”
on fritz lang
“In 1920, he met his future wife, the writer and actress Thea von Harbou. She and Lang co-wrote the scripts for 1922's Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler (Dr. Mabuse the Gambler),”
“Many of the rumours about Lang's life and career are hard to verify. One rumour, perhaps the most famous of all, has it that Joseph Goebbels called Lang to his offices for a meeting in which he gave Lang two pieces of news: the first was that his most recent film, Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, 1933) was being banned as an incitement to public disorder. The second was that he was nevertheless so impressed by Lang's abilities as a filmmaker, he was offering Lang a position as the head of German film studio UFA”
“Lang's wife Thea von Harbou, who had started to sympathize with the Nazis in the early 1930s and joined the Nazi party (the NSDAP) in 1932, stayed behind. The two were divorced in 1933”
And I have to come up with a fanfic that can not be a disapointment for this movie!
Tentitive chapter layout for the fanfic
-(The Little Sister)
-(The “Fireman” and the Librarian)
-(Alphonse, Kidnapped) or (The First Twin)
migh change this a bit
-(“It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got That Swing”) or (Swing Couple)
not sure if i sould do swing...
-(Unknown)
-(Unknown)
-(A “Hot” Tip)
I'll probubly keep this one
-(Unknown)
-(Unknown)
-(Unknown)
-(Unknown)
-(Unknown)
-(Unknown)
-(Unknown)
-(Unknown)
-(Unknown)
-(Unknown)
-(The Twin Left Behind) or (The End of Eckhart’s Legacy)
not sure how i want to do this one
-(Unknown)
-(Unknown)
-(Unknown)
-(Unknown)
-(Winds of Fate) or (“And I thought The One On Our Side Was Bad”)
I might not make them alters after all
-(Summoned) or (The Mystery Pair)
-(Revelations and Plans) or (“You Weren’t Expecting THAT Now Were You?”)
-(To Locate The Bomb) or (Spy Job of The Heart) *and I thought the winry/russel part was bad*
throw in a little humor
-(“An Infiltrating we will go.”) or (The Bomb’s End)
definatly
-(Sacrifice) or (“Just Like Her Brother”)
-(Home at Last) or (“Surprise!”) *epic understatement*
-(The Sketch Book) or (Saber’s Gift) *epic bonus surprise*
