Colonel's wife Rachel comes to a nice German house, requisitioned by Her Majesty's government for said Colonel, where she has to live together with the German owner and his teenage daughter. There is a lot of baggage there, as both families have lost somebody in bombings, there is the tension of the British occupation of the city to which the Colonel is temporary governor while people are still being found underneath the rubble and, as military people do, the British Colonel just won't acknowledge his feelings of guilt and hurt at his son's death. So what is a girl to do? Have an affair, of course.
The story might have worked, perhaps it did in the book, but in the film there absolutely no character development. People just act in a certain way to further the plot, but there is no reason for them to do so. There are lots of incongruities related to when are people at work or school and when they can stay at home enjoying nice wine and the occasional screw. The ending, the most powerful moment of the story, is also completely predictable and loses its force when you realize the big decision should have been the same regardless of circumstances. It is just impossible to care about most of the people in this two hour film. How someone managed to neglect characterization in a movie so long is beyond me.
Bottom line: this is a weak movie with a great cast. Surprisingly, I felt Jason Clarke did a better job than Knightley and Skarsgård combined.
The story might have worked, perhaps it did in the book, but in the film there absolutely no character development. People just act in a certain way to further the plot, but there is no reason for them to do so. There are lots of incongruities related to when are people at work or school and when they can stay at home enjoying nice wine and the occasional screw. The ending, the most powerful moment of the story, is also completely predictable and loses its force when you realize the big decision should have been the same regardless of circumstances. It is just impossible to care about most of the people in this two hour film. How someone managed to neglect characterization in a movie so long is beyond me.
Bottom line: this is a weak movie with a great cast. Surprisingly, I felt Jason Clarke did a better job than Knightley and Skarsgård combined.