MUNICH: THE EDGE OF WAR
This adaptation of Robert Harris’s best-selling novel ‘Munich’ is set in the fall of 1938, as Hitler prepares to invade Czechoslovakia, and the government of Neville Chamberlain desperately seeks a peaceful solution.
We first meet Hugh Legat (George MacKay from ‘1917’) and Paul Hartman (Jannis Niewöhner) in 1932 when they are carefree students at Oxford University. Six years later, the mood is grim: Adolf Hitler (Ulrich Matthes) is preparing to invade Czechoslovakia and Prime Minister Chamberlain (Jeremy Irons) is trying to find a peaceful solution. Hugh is now a civil servant, and has the ear of the PM, whilst Paul is a diplomat in Germany, and comes into possession of important documents that could help the British government.
This is both a spy thriller set during the backdrop of one of the most crucial negotiations in recent history, and also a sweeping drama about two idealistic young men and their partners as the clock ticks down.
Andrew Eaton writes:
‘Munich, The Edge of War’ was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had, despite having to film during the Covid lockdowns. The project came together very quickly after a meeting with Netflix in September 2019. The writer Ben Power, who had just had a big success in the West End with his play ‘The Lehman Trilogy’, came on board to adapt Robert Harris’ brilliant novel and we had a first draft very quickly, signed up Jeremy Irons and were ready to shoot by October 2020. We knew we wanted a German director and Christian brought a fantastic crew with him. It was a challenge and an adventure recreating what are still such sensitive memories in modern day Germany. On the one hand most of the younger members of our crew had never heard of Chamberlain but local authorities were very nervous about us displaying Nazi regalia in public places. A.E