Sometimes you can smell the prestige potential of a project coming from a mile away. Before a single frame has been shot, such a vibe is already apparent from “The Aftermath.” Fox Searchlight has snapped up the rights to the picture, and it’s easy to see the appeal.
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Produced by Ridley Scott, with James Kent (“Testament Of Youth“) to direct and Keira Knightley and Alexander Skarsgard slated to star, this adaptation of the bestselling book by Rhidian Brook follows a woman who returns to Hamburg following WWII to be reunited with her husband, only to learn things won’t be as she thought they would be. Here’s the book synopsis:
1946, post-World War II Hamburg. While thousands wander the rubble, lost and homeless, Colonel Lewis Morgan, charged with overseeing the rebuilding of this devastated city and the denazification of its defeated people, is stationed in a grand house on the River Elbe. He is awaiting the arrival of his wife, Rachael—still grieving for their eldest son—and their only surviving son, Edmund. But rather than force the owners of the house, a German widower and his rebellious daughter, out onto the streets, Lewis insists that the two families live together. In this charged atmosphere, both parents and children will be forced to confront their true selves as enmity and grief give way to passion and betrayal, to their deepest desires, their fiercest loyalties, and the transforming power of forgiveness.
Anna Waterhouse and Joe Shrapnel (who paired up on “Race” and “Frankie & Alice“) are penning the script, and I can only imagine this film is being assembled as a potential awards vehicle.
