#1
In the genre of alternate history, World War Two is a staple, and almost always involved the tired question: “What if the Nazis would have won?” The Empire of the Setting Sun takes an entirely different tack, asking: What if two beleaguered and honor bound former empires would have put aside their differences— and won?”
This film would take place in a world where Britain and Japan, sensing their waning global power, regardless of which side won, join up with one another, and betray their former allies, catching both sides completely off guard at key moments, and emerge from World War Two victorious.
The Empire of the Setting Sun doesn’t concentrate directly on the actual events of World War Two, but like many alternate history films and novels, on their eventual repercussions. The film takes place in the late ’50s and early ’60s, and is about a young man coming of age in a post-war world, where Britain and Japan have divided the globe into hemispheres of influence. Britain rules over Europe, Africa, and much of North America, including its former colonies in Canada, the Eastern United States, and the Caribbean. Japan’s empire contains all of Asia, most of Russia, and the rest of the Pacific rim, including the West coast of the former United States. There in what was once middle America, the two great empires butt heads, and subtle conflicts abound throughout the Midwest. The audience learns through the main character that although these polite empires depend upon honor and observe tea time above all else, beneath soft white gloves, lies an iron fist!
#2
Science fiction is often thought to mean rocket ships and space aliens, but what it is truly about is how humanity reacts to change and discovery. The best science fiction involves simpler, more realistic technologies, that leave more room for humanity in the stories. One holy grail of both science and science fiction has been more efficient transportation, from faster-than-light space travel, to outright teleportation; high tech traveling is often at the crux of sci-fi.
The Occident Express uses a much more down to Earth form of transportation. In the not-so-distant future, a generation that has been raised on the Net their whole lives grows to expect their physical world to keep pace with their virtual worlds. This leads to a giant network of vacuum tubes criss-crossing the United States between major cities. Inside these vacuum tubes are bullet trains, hauling freight across the country while levitating on magnetic rails. Without friction, or human cargoes to risk, these robotic trains zip parcels around as quick as data could be moved two generations ago.
The film takes place on the maiden voyage of the first passenger tube train, traveling at supersonic speeds from New York to Los Angeles, in just three hours. Some nefarious act has taken place upon the train, and the passengers must solve the mystery, before the train reaches its destination.
#3
In this modern world, sovereignty is often seen as the provenance of great nations. In earlier times, any tribe, village, or city could declare itself sovereign; remaining independent through luck, diplomacy, or force of arms. The Little Coup tells the story of a modern tribe that declares its independence.
The Northwest Angle, separated from the rest of Minnesota by the Lake of the Woods, and only accessible through Canada, have tired of this inconvenience and disconnection. After a heated election, a referendum to leave the United States and join Canada has passed. However, Canada is reluctant to directly take territory from the US, so the citizens of the Angle must formally succeed from the United States before they can be accepted into Canada.
A small Indian reservation located on the Northwest Angle, again mistreated and ignored, sees this as their chance to take back one small piece of their territory. With the aid of members from other nearby Native American tribes and First Nations, they wage a coup on the fledgling nation of the Angle, after succession, and before their entrance into Canada.
The tribe now occupies a sovereign micro-nation wedged between the United States and Canada, with both sides hesitant to press the other’s interest. Meanwhile, The Little Coup, explores this newly independent tribe’s bid for recognition internationally by the United Nations.
This is more recycled content from school, but it was interesting to actually write out some ideas that I have had kicking around in my head. Maybe it will make room for new, better ideas…