Plot: When a British colonel and his wife occupy a house in Hamburg to help re-construct the city after WWII, tensions rise between the former German owner.

I must firstly mention that I don't have much to say about this film. So I will keep this brief.


Before going into this, I didn't really have much expectation. When I saw the trailer, I felt the concept sounded intriguing and the cast list felt strong enough to give us a solid viewing at the very least.


In the end, I think the best decision would have been made to wait until its out to own or watch on TV.


That previous statement does not mean that I felt it was a bad film. It did a lot of things to a satisfactory level. But there was pretty nothing that was worthy of paying good money to see on the big screen.


It started off fairly well and introduced us to the characters and their situation and got me settled in nicely. While the story did move along and the writing moved the characters story arch well enough. The slow pacing and lack of strong moments gradually lost my engagement of the film.


From a production standpoint, it was pretty well done. The look of it fitted the time period, there was a great level of authenticity. However, maybe the camerawork could have been a bit more unconventional and that could've made the main location of the film a character in itself maybe.


But I think its biggest problem was the writing not making the story gripping enough and the editing that made the film move along at walking speed.


I think Keira Knightley and Jason Clarke did as good a job as you would expect. It was nothing special, but it never down-grade my overall view of the film. I could be cruel and say that it was rather forgettable. The highlight was probably Alexander Skarsgard, which was mainly due to his character having the more in-depth story arch and he did a solid job in making us invest into his characters struggles.


If you want an example a film that is similar to being the pass level in an exam, this would be it. It executes all of its aspects to a satisfactory and conventional level. But it never does anything daring to make it stand out and the slow-pacing will make this instantly forgettable.
It's a shame with a cast this good and a director that has films such as Testament Of Youth. I think like most of the directors previous works, this would have been better as a film made for television.


Rating: 7/10