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AJFF Review: ‘Aftermath’ LESSONS LEARNED FROM AJFF FILMS PT. 2 By DR. DAVID RYBACK
the real-life cover-up of a Jewish massacre at the hands of Catholic Poles.
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eemed one of the most controversial Polish films ever made, “Aftermath” is a mystery-thriller based on
When we meet our main character Franek, he has left his native vil-
WORLD PREMIERE Lily Balsen in the Alliance Theatre’s 2013/14 world premiere production In Love and Warcraft. Photo by Greg Mooney.
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lage in Poland for Chicago to escape family issues. Nevertheless, Franek returns when he hears that his younger brother, Jozef, is having problems with the other villagers. It turns out that Jozef has been destroying roads and removing the stones that make their foundations. These stones, we discover, are the tombstones of Jews long dead from the era of the Nazi occupation. Franek cannot fathom why his brother is doing this inane thing. He does, however, feel some burning hostility among the villagers. Finally getting his brother to open up, Franek discovers that Jozef has an uncontrollable obsession to unlock the secret of these murdered Jews.
February 14 ▪ 2014
By Madhuri Shekar Directed by Laura Kepley
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Series on the Hertz Stage
10
Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs
Were they murdered by the Nazis or is there some deeper secret hiding in the ground? Most importantly, what do we learn from a film such as this? “Aftermath” reminds us that memories never die, even when beaten down by lies, hostility and burial. How difficult it is to realize our own culpability in unspeakable evil.
Truth can be devastating, espe-
cially when the layers are peeled to the core, and reveal that blame can be shared more widely than we ever imagined. In the final scenes, we see a Jewish group of tourists sharing Kaddish for their sacrificed forebears. Franek joins the group, lighting his own candle for these victims of war, and sharing his own sense of responsibility for the anti-Semitism that prevailed so widely, ignited by the vile Nazi murders that invaded most of Europe. “Aftermath” reveals what hateful and ignorant anti-Semites tried to hide. They were successful for so many years, but the truth prevailed, putting the blame where it belonged, no longer hidden in the mud of criminal secrecy. Dr. David Ryback is an Atlanta psychologist, author and speaker. He can be reached at David@EQassociates. com. Read Dr. Ryback’s first film review online at atlantajewishtimes.com