The Aftermath (2019)

Where do we start? So many flaws and wrong premisses that it is hard to watch. Usually not an issue but when you link it to singular circumstances it detracts and irritates. Maybe the book as flawed. Hamburg is flat, coming from the UK, why do you take a train through snow mountains, when there are none? OJ for breakfast when there is no coal to heat? No tea in the #1 trading port for coffee and tea, never heard of Ostfriesenmischung? His deceased wife the sole daughter of a shipping family with no other siblings that would hunker down with them? Normally, these families would have 3+ sons to run the business in London, NY and South America, not just one daughter. Winter of 45 was about reparations to England, reconstruction and rebuild started with the US Marshall plan in 49, not earlier. 88 tattoo is a white supremacist/neonazi sign that emerged later, not HJ. Was there no historian to check the script?

Fmovies: When i read a short description of the movie, I immediately wanted to watch it. the aftermath of the war between the german and the english people, that will be interesting. well... it did not focus on that. this movie had the potential to be such a good movie, but they decided to focus way more on the relationship between the two (maybe three) main characters rather than focusing on that AND the war. don't get me wrong, the actors were really good and their storylines were... cute? adorable? i dont know. I just know that my first thought after the movie ended was "what really happened in this movie?". because you spend the entire two hours waiting for something big to happen, and it never does. However, at the same time, it was not a bad movie. I do realize that my comment here is rather negative, but, like I said, the actors' performance make up for the lack of focus on the real subject of this movie. if you like romantic movies, you'll like this one (even though you might get mad at Keira's character, JUST A WARNING!). but, if you like war movies, don't watch it. you might get (reallyyyyy) disappointed

Since the movie poster with the prominent appearance of my favorite actress Keira Knightley appears on the cover of the freshly re-released novel by the same name I consider it justified to compare the movie adaptation to the book and its notable deviations from the original plot. I read through a fair slice of the book and while I understand a movie adaptation must cut corners for the necessity of brevity it is quite remarkable to cut an entire character out of the plot. Since in the book there's an interesting dynamic developing between Freda (or Frieda), which is the German's daughter and the surviving son of the British couple and that whole plot has been cut from the movie because there's no remaining son! The parents are grieving for the loss of one of their children but would have all the more reason to persist in their faltering marriage if not for the bereft sibling. Another missing character is a woman that the British man hires for army work and with who he also was developing some sort of affair, even if that would not come to fruition it is an important part of understanding why the couple was growing apart: with the woman taking a liking to the German architect and her soldier husband to someone of is staff. Without these key ingredients what is left in the movie is only the one-sided affair of the woman with the German. It's quite incomprehensible that while the movie still has a duration of almost 2 hours there was no time to include these plot elements and it would have given the movie some more depth and have kept the story going on a heightened pace. What's left of the movie is not entirely bad and the main actors are making the most of what they are given to work with, but being familiar with the book left me with a feeling of disappointment.

The Aftermath fmovies. 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.

Having read the book of the same name, I was prepared for the film to be different. And so it is. Whilst it is inevitable that the book's richly crafted depth could not be fully accommodated in the 100 or so minutes of the film, the finished cut is still satisfying not only on content but also visually. The performances by Knightley, Skarsgaad and Clarke were also of a high performance with Clarke delivering his strongest yet. The theme of forgiveness is run on several levels, simply but effectively. This is a story which will resonate with most. See the film and then read the book.

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.