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Atonement

Review By: Andrea Tuccillo
AndreaTuccillo@TheCinemaSource.com

Ian McEwan’s sprawling novel, Atonement, makes a stunning big screen debut at the capable hands of director Joe Wright. The film is a masterpiece, and I mean that quite literally. Every scene is like a painting; a lush panorama saturated in color and design. A highly stylized work of art complete with exquisite period costumes, expert editing, a masterful score by Dario Marianelli, and brilliant performances reminiscent of acting styles of the 1930’s and 40’s.

Wright, one of the most talented directors to come along in some time, showed us his capabilities in Pride and Prejudice (equally as rich and engaging as Atonement, though much less dark). Pride and Prejudice was a story about misconceptions and misunderstanding, but with Atonement those themes are taken one step further.

The film opens with the clickety-clack of Briony Tallis’(impressive newcomer Saoirse Ronan) typewriter as the precocious 13-year-old pounds away on the keys with an intense determination; the persistent tapping blending in with Marianelli’s urgent score. A sense of foreboding hits you right from the beginning as the camera takes you through the Tallis’ regal mansion. Briony’s an aspiring writer with a vivid imagination and on this particular day her imagination will get the best of her. She witnesses a series of intimate moments between her older independent-minded sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) and the educated son of a house servant, Robbie Turner (James McAvoy). We, the audience, see these moments play out from two different perspectives—what Briony sees and what really happens.

The adolescent Briony doesn’t comprehend the meaning of their actions and she misinterprets Robbie as a sex-crazed maniac and a threat to her sister. When her cousin is sexually assaulted, Briony is convinced that Robbie did it and wrongly accuses him of the crime. The grave ramifications of her lie reverberate years later, negatively affecting the lives of all involved. The second half of the movie picks up five years later and has those characters dealing with the consequences against the backdrop of chaos and turmoil of World War II. Robbie’s a soldier and Cecilia’s a nurse and both long for the day when they can be together again. No longer on speaking terms with her sister, Briony has also become a nurse and she must come to terms with her past sin.

It’s a story that explores truth and consequences and the thin line between fact and fiction, and it packs a twist ending that will hit you hard.

Aside from the compelling and complex storyline (which remains extremely faithful to the book), the ambitious stylistic elements of Atonement are unlike anything in theaters today. Not only is the look quite dramatic, even the sound is crisp and pronounced (a buzzing bee, for instance, will have you swatting around your head in the theater).

I loved that we are able to witness multiple angles of perception and our ideas ...