The Aftermath (2019)

I found the films over the festive period disappointing.

There is a reason for this and that reason is Netflix.

Netflix, whose annual subscription is less than the BBC licence fee, are broadcasting films shortly after their cinema general  release. So BBC and ITV are reduced to showing their stock of all-time faves: Casablanca, The Sound of Music, The Great Escape.

So I was attracted to one film shown on BBC – The Aftermath.  

This started Keira Knightley, Jason Clarke and Alex Skargard. It is set in Hamburg in 1945.

A dull but worthy Colonel (Jason Clarke) is billeted with his wife Rachel in a palatial house owned by Stephen Hubert who moves upstairs with his daughter.

The Morgan marriage is in trouble.  They have lost a child through an untimely death.

The Colonel is conflicted between his duty and love for his young beautiful wife (Keira Knightley). She is the object of attention from Hubert, to whom she succumbs.

Whilst Keira Knightley is a fine-looking woman I did not find her convincing in this pivotal role.

She came over as cold and clipped and the chemistry was not there with her lover or husband.

I enjoyed more In Our Time on Radio 4 on Thursday morning presented by Melvyn Bragg.

He gathers together a group of academics who discuss a topic.

In last week’s programme it was the German director Fritz Lang.

He had eminent careers in both Berlin with the famous UFA Berlin studios, where Alfred Hitchcock learned his trade, and escaped from the Nazis to Hollywood though his wife stayed on.

His famous films include M, Metropolis and The Big Heat with Glenn Ford.

He specialised  in thrillers and he appeared  in the French new wave film Mepris alongside Brigitte Bardot and Jack Palance.

The programme paid him full and considered appreciation.