Viviendo con el enemigo

Keira knows how to outshine others when it comes to delivering classic, carved out acting without a hitch and she does that with all the panache and finesse and how in this - days of yore world war time saga of romance and despair and compassion in a power packed rendition which not many can. Measured and mature, reflecting the welled up tragic circumstances and carrying the sublime hint of static grief in posture & expression, making the viewer drown slowly into her gaze and dialogue rendition as a natural propensity that emotes from all angles. It grows over you gradually and holds you to a thrall throughout the movie without your knowledge. Stupendous is a mere adjective to describe it.

The movie starts slowly from a point where the WW2 has just ended and Allied Forces have occupied Germany which is in shambles at the end of war. The story begins at a shattered and in ruins Hamburg in 1945. Keira joins her hubby Jason Clarke (of White House Down & Everest Fame) Who is a Colonel in Brit Army, in charge of rebuilding and deNazifying Germany. They move into a classic German Mansion belonging to a well-off widower Alexander Skarsgard (of Straw Dogs, Legend of Tarzan, Hold The Dark fame) and his daughter which is been selected by the Allied Forces for the Colonel. Keira has lost her son in German bombing over London and Alexander has lost his wife in Allied bombing of Germany so there is enough tragic past on both sides. The movies opens to this background slowly.

One oddity is the Mansion looks so classy and almost contemporary with British Piano, finely carved wooden work and pretty modern looking seating while nearby it is full of rubble and dust and bombed out exterior which looks little outlandish when you look at the Mansion and war-torn land outside. Well it is a minor aberration though it does register in the mind. The movie picks up pace may be from the 20th minute onwards and then it keeps you engrossed totally in it till the end of its total length of 140 plus minutes of run time. Let me go silent now since saying anything more may be a spoiler. The movie though starts slow, unfolds in a crafty step by step manner and turns its head on you with its at times predictable turns but with more finesse than you expect every time. It's a Keira Show all the way with excellent supporting roles by Clarke & Skarsgard. Clever delivery of halted dialogues are good too since you more or less get the complete line. That's kind of charming.

Pretty sublime direction by James Kent too who gave us 13th Tale, Margaret & 13th Tale kind of movies. Has managed to extract good performances by the star cast. Effectively mirrors the feelings of mistrust, tension in the air, grief, passion, sub plots within the story & hostility without much ado. The screenplay is tight and neat and well rendered with consummate ease.

To sum up, The Aftermath is a better movie without a doubt. Keira delivers the punch with more than VFM performance. One can never believe she has Dyslexia at all!!! And the aftermath is a feel good factor which it leaves you with aplenty.

There are many reasons a beautifully made film like The Aftermath (2019) ends up critically panned. Some describe it as slow, melodramatic, and predictable, but such labels often reflect unfulfilled viewer expectations rather than an ill-conceived or poorly executed film.

Set in 1946, the plotline is straightforward with few surprises other than its final moments. It opens with British Colonel Lewis Morgan (Jason Clarke) and his wife Rachel (Keira Knightley) arriving in the devasted city of Hamburg to restore law and order, as well as to root out remaining Nazi sympathisers. The thoroughly middle-class Morgans have requisitioned a stately mansion owned by architect Stephan Lubert (Alexander Skarsgárd) and his rebellious daughter Freda (Flora Thiemann). Lewis is a compassionate man who cannot bear to send the Luberts to a squalid refugee camp and invites them to stay in the attic, setting the tension lines that drive the film. When someone remarks that more bombs were dropped on Hamburg in one week than were dropped on London in one year, we enter an inverted moral paradigm where the line between victory and vanquished turns grey.

The slow start has a purpose. Few films respectfully explore the humiliation of defeat and many viewers would ask 'why should they'? The Aftermath dwells on prolonged moments where the victor strolls in and takes over the home of the vanquished; where a population is deliberately starved to keep them compliant; where a once-proud culture must confront its inner demons. Deep unresolvable grief permeates the city as well as the lives of the Morgans and the Luberts. Both lost loved ones and the times are not sympathetic to healing. In the middle of this swirling emotional vortex, a classic 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' sub-plot becomes the narrative device for rebuilding lives.

This film stands out in the war-drama genre because of its nuanced portrait of the immediate aftermath of the Allied occupation of Germany. It reeks of period authenticity in ways that only British films can do. The stunning cinematography captures the horror of the immediate post-war period without the usual reliance on the tropes of military casuality and destruction. Knightley and Clarke's performances are outstanding, while Skarsgárd adequately fills the role of a grieving, if over-confident, romantic antagonist. As happens so often, Knightley's commanding presence and extraordinary range of emotional versatility stamps her ownership all over the film.

If history is only written by winners it will always only be half-true. The Aftermath is an essay about the other half, blending sufficient historical insight into a romantic drama to hold our interest without emotional sledgehammers. There are minor lapses of pace, maybe a narrative digression or two that dilutes momentum; but overall, this is a satisfying film that takes an uncommon view on unexplored cinematic territory.

I sought out The Aftermath primarily because of an interest in its setting, post war occupied Germany. What I found was a well made film, full of great performances. All of the characters in this film were emotionally wounded in some way and it was fascinating to watch them clash and interact.

A handsome and compelling production, I don't understand some of the poor reviews I've seen for this movie. Romantic films really aren't my thing but The Aftermath held my attention throughout its running time.

Great ending too.

There are some good performances in this film. Unfortunately, it suffers from a very predictable script.. I knew what people would say before they opened their mouths. Mediocre at best.

The first hour set up the film excellently. However from that point the whole film felt torn between wanting to be an epic historical drama and a romantic drama whilst settling on either. Even at the end I had no idea what they were trying to accomplish with the film or what the supposed message was. Could have been a lot better had they settled on a theme. Still watchable but at the end all felt a little pointless.