2007, UK/France
Crime, Drama, Romance, War
REPRINTED FROM THE DESERT SUN, EXTENDED VERSION:
One little girl changes the lives of everyone around her with a singular lie. Her attempt to make things right drives the struggle in this tragically composed film.
What is beautifully unique about Atonement, based on Ian McEwan's book, is that as truths are unveiled, the final confession alters the entire view point of the film. Movies such as this demand a second look and earn respect for making movie goers reflect on what they have just witnessed, rather than providing a tidy ending that accomplishes nothing new.
Privileged Briony Tallis (a tightly wound Saoirse Ronan) is sheltered from the world around her, but assumes that her book learnedness makes up for a lack of personal experience. The 13-year-old sums up her latest play by stating, "Love is very well, but you have to be sensible." By so coldly viewing life in such blacks and whites, she makes catastrophic misinterpretations.
Each moment of controversy is first viewed through Briony's eyes, complete with distractions and lack of dialogue. The truth is then rewound to present the honest facts. Though characters are unabashedly bound in emotion, they make no attempt to dance around their intents.
Briony's older sister, Cecilia, fights her undeniable feelings for Robbie, the housekeeper's son. When their emotions erupt, Briony misinterprets the passion of love for a passion of anger. When Briony's cousin Lola is attacked, Briony makes deductions based on distant observations, and Robbie is sent away.
Director Joe Wright reunites with his Pride & Prejudice star, Keira Knightley, as the destroyed lover. She and James McAvoy (The Last King of Scotland) make a perfect doll-like couple, stubbornly fighting the class system to pursue their desires. Their portrayals are proficient, but there is something remote in the telling. This is not a slight on the filmmakers, but a hint that like Briony's assessment, not all is what it seems.
When Robbie is sent to a harsh warfront and Cecilia does her part as a nurse, Briony becomes awash in guilt. Water metaphors seep into intimate moments, and a fountain becomes so deep that the truth sinks to the bottom, out of reach of easy liberation. A swim in the pond becomes a curiously urgent rescue that Briony remembers with the clarity of a tortured soul.
As Briony works through her troubles, Dario Marianelli's score carefully assists with typewriter clicks and a tiptoeing piano, while unrelenting strings drive the quest to uncover the true story. Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey presents a distant view of the landscape, with an impressive (if not enhanced) long take of the horrific carnival-like atmosphere of the Dunkirk evacuation. Note Robbie's perspective of the beach, his uncouth comrade and his use of French. Sometimes the truth is in plain sight.
What seems to be a straight forward tale of forbidden love and tragic misunderstanding becomes a complex penitence for a haunting misdeed in Wright’s accomplished labyrinthine drama.