Tom Beasley sits down with the stars of The Aftermath, Keira Knightley and Jason Clarke, for a chat about their new postwar romantic drama…
Everyone knows the story of the Allied victory at the end of Second World War, but few think about what happened after the death of Adolf Hitler and the German surrender.
That’s the premise at the heart of James Kent’s new wartime romance The Aftermath, in which Keira Knightley plays Rachael – brought over to Germany in order to live with her soldier husband (Jason Clarke) in a home requisitioned by the occupying British forces. Rachael soon begins to bond romantically with Lubert (Alexander Skarsgard), whose home they have taken over.
In order to mark the release of the film, Flickering Myth got chance to sit down with Knightley and Clarke to discuss this big, old-fashioned romance, as well as Knightley’s run of exciting recent work and Clarke’s involvement in the new remake of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary.
THE AFTERMATH is set in postwar Germany in 1946. Rachael Morgan (Keira Knightley) arrives in the ruins of Hamburg in the bitter winter, to be reunited with her husband Lewis (Jason Clarke), a British colonel charged with rebuilding the shattered city. But as they set off for their new home, Rachael is stunned to discover that Lewis has made an unexpected decision: They will be sharing the grand house with its previous owners, a German widower (Alexander Skarsgård) and his troubled daughter. In this charged atmosphere, enmity and grief give way to passion and betrayal.
The Aftermath is set for release on March 1st in the UK and on April 26th in the US.
Tom Beasley is a freelance film journalist and wrestling fan. Follow him on Twitter via @TomJBeasley for movie opinions, wrestling stuff and puns.