Love, loss, betrayal and remorse underpin The Aftermath, with Keira Knightley portraying a grieving mother and wife in search of understanding and reconciliation, in post-war Germany.
Having already appeared in two acclaimed World War II sagas - The Imitation Game and Atonement - it might seem like Keira Knightley is retreading well-worn ground by starring in The Aftermath, yet another war-based drama. But Knightley insists there's something "different and intriguing" about her latest war escapade, which compelled her to join up to it.
"Although I've done – and watched - a number of World War II films, I've never seen one set in this exact period, just after the end of the war," she says, explaining the life-changing events it depicts in post-war Germany. "When I read the script I couldn't get it out of my head, because it was so powerful. It really opened up my eyes to what it must have been like for that generation, just after the war, on a personal, physical and political level as they tried to rebuild their lives, their cities and their continent."
There was also another compelling reason for Knightley's appearance in The Aftermath – the opportunity to rekindle her on-screen relationship with Jason Clarke, who she'd previously starred alongside in Everest, as his wife Jan Hall. In this, their latest pairing, he plays her estranged British colonel husband, Lewis. But, as before, their relationship seems doomed, second-time around, as Knightley explains.
Keira Knightley stars opposite Jason Clarke in The Aftermath.
"Yeah, nothing good ever happens when we get married! The first time, he dies up a mountain and the second time our son dies," she sighs, alluding to the devastating death of their son, killed during the London bombing blitz, which threatens to tear their marriage apart. "At least we sort of stay together, at the end of this one though."
The reason why they only "sort of stay together" is because in the aftermath of their son's death, years of separation and her husband's crippling emotional aloofness when she joins him in Hamburg in 1946, Knightley's character, Rachel, seeks solace in an illicit affair with a gentle, German widower, Lubert, played by Alexander Skarsgard.
"That's another reason why this story resonated with me," she says. "It deals, on a micro-level, with a relationship that's falling apart but it's also a metaphor for what every single person was going through at that time; they were trying to rebuild their lives and their relationships, trying to start over."
Given the post-war setting of The Aftermath, the conceit of fraternising with the then-enemy could be construed as the ultimate betrayal of not only her marriage but also her country. It makes their affair and its consequences even more scandalous.
"Yes, it's very dark, it's pretty Freudian. It's that whole 'sex and death' theory, where you want to annihilate yourself, so f***ing the enemy – f***ing the person who may have killed your son – is, in the beginning, a function of her rage, a function of her grief," she explains. "It's also an act of aggression and anger against her husband, because of his coldness. It's about wanting to punish him.
"I think there's a lighter level to it though, which is that it's almost like a holiday romance," adds Knightley. "It's a fling. It's nothing deeper than that - at least at first."
Kiera Knightley used a body double in The Aftermath as she is no longer prepared to get nude on set.
That all changes, as she and Lubert grow closer; their second encounter is a highly passionate, intimate and emotionally-charged tryst. Was that awkward, given Knightley's now a wife and mum herself?
"That wasn't me, I didn't do that. It was a body double," she reveals. "I was like, 'Hmm, one kid down, in my mid-30s now, no I don't need to do that anymore...' But there was this lovely lady, who's got a wonderful body, who was happy to do it, so she did. I was off somewhere else having a cup of tea and cake. That's when you know you've made it, I guess, when you have an important sex scene and you can have a body double."
It's a sign of just how much has changed for Knightley from her early days in Bend It Like Beckham and Pirates of the Caribbean, where she felt that she wasn't able to speak up or put her foot down. It also meant that she ended up, in a few of her films, having to appear nude in sex scenes.
"Yeah, that's true, but I was comfortable doing them then," she insists. "I've just got to a point where I'm not comfortable doing them anymore, and I don't want to stand in front of a group of dudes, naked, and then have it up on screen. So, I don't."
Part of her newfound determination she attributes to being a mum and more grounded, but also it's about being older, a little wiser, a little more circumspect, knowing her craft better and the confidence that brings with it.
"The early part of my career was quite a harsh experience. I suddenly got all these jobs, but I felt quite insecure because I never had an acting class and didn't go to drama school, so I didn't know what I was doing a lot of the time. I was just using my instincts. Sometimes I was good and sometimes I was bad, but I didn't know why. It was quite difficult for me.
"I know a lot of women have a tricky time at the end of their teens and the beginning of their 20s, but it was obviously amplified [for me] because I was suddenly famous. But it's different now: I'm older, I'm more experienced, I know my job and I know my craft. Now, if you need me to cry, I can cry and if you need me to laugh, I can laugh. Without a shadow of a doubt, I'm enjoying the work more now and it's much more fun, now that I've got a handle on it."
LOWDOWN Who: Keira Knightley What: The Aftermath When: In cinemas next Thursday
