Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases

Updates:

Atonement (2007)

Director: Joe Wright

Time Out rating

Average user rating

103 reviews

Synopsis

Adapted from Ian McEwan's prizewinning novel, Atonement opens in 1935 on a British country estate, where Cecilia Tallis (Keira Knightley) and hersister Briony (Saoirse Ronan, and later Romola Garai) live along with Bobbie Turner (James McAvoy), a servant’s son. After witnessing somethingshe doesn't understand, Briony makes some unfounded accusations; the fallout from those charges extends through WWII and beyond.

Movie review

From Time Out London

The first hour of ‘Atonement’ is an electric experience, during which one feels that Joe Wright (‘Pride and Prejudice’), the film’s young director, and Christopher Hampton, its screenwriter, have a clever grip on the potential of Ian McEwan’s novel to inspire more than just a well-crafted adaptation and a lyrical, intelligent film in its own right. McEwan’s book is about the telling of stories, about the perception of others’ tales and about delivering a lie to a rapt, conditioned audience for reasons of self-preservation: a key character even pleads to be believed with the defence that she saw something happening, ‘With my own eyes’. What greater appeal is there to the potential ability of cinema to twist, mould and convince us?

Wright tightly harnesses these ideas in the first, and longest, of the film’s three chapters. We’re in a smart country house in the late 1930s, just a few years before the war. Cecilia (Keira Knightley) has recently come down from Cambridge; Robbie (James McAvoy), her university contemporary and son of her parents’ housekeeper is dabbling with landscape gardening; and her brother Leon (Patrick Kennedy) is coming to dinner with a friend, the arrogant industrialist Paul Marshall (Benedict Cumberbatch). The performances are enjoyable and spot-on: Cecilia’s brittle beauty; Robbie’s educated but tempered confidence; the wily camaraderie between Leon and Marshall.

There’s clearly an attraction between Robbie and Cecilia, yet his connection with the servile classes and her inherited snobbery is holding Cecilia at bay. The class divide persists when Cecilia’s sensible 13-year-old sister, Briony (a terrific turn from Saoirse Ronan) – already dabbling in writing and staging plays at home – constructs her own, deluded fiction around the goings-on between Robbie and Cecilia that see Robbie falsely branded a ‘sex maniac’ and rapist. As with the coming of war to Brideshead, the spell is broken, the Second World War begins and Briony, later as a young adult (Romola Garai) and, much later, as a dying novelist (Vanessa Redgrave) recalls the errors of her youth.

Far from ‘unfilmable’, as some have described it, McEwan’s book offers real opportunities for a filmmaker to thread the perils of storytelling into an epic narrative that bursts out of the attractive claustrophobia of a rarefied world and onto the ravaged, classless beaches of Dunkirk and the fortified streets of London as Cecilia and Briony both, separately, work as nurses during the war and try to deal with their recent past. For the country-house scenes, Wright wisely makes us complicit with Briony’s perception of events, yet such is the strength of the director’s tactics in this chapter – repeated scenes, messing with time, the sound of a typewriter doing its damage on the soundtrack – that when he loosens his approach for a more traditional telling of the narrative for the rest of the film, one can’t help but be disappointed.

Compared to these earlier episodes, the film’s later scenes are more pedestrian and Wright becomes more prone to visual swaggery: a technically impressive but artistically questionable five-minute tracking shot of the carnage at Dunkirk; the nurses marching in formation around a hospital as lights go off above them one-by-one; the rush of water through a tube station as a character drowns – all these grate as one feels that Wright, rather than tackling the pitfalls of storytelling instead succumbs to its audience-pleasing thrills.

A noble, well-made, superbly performed and photographed (by Seamus McGarvey) semi-failure then, but still one that shows Wright to be one of the more imaginative filmmakers of his generation, capable of winning over large audiences with daring endeavours.

Author: Dave Calhoun 2007-09-04 11:19:04

Time Out London Issue 1933: September 5-11 2007

Bookmark

User reviews of this film

Beau said...

Posted on Oct 19 2008 21:14 I was unsure about this film when I read the synopsis and then a few of the comments but I must say this is one of the best films I have seen for a long time.
Not going to go in to details or analysis, Usman has already done that earlier in this list.
Suffice to say that I was extremely glad I watched it.

Report as inappropriate
Lisa said...

Posted on Aug 23 2008 21:52 I found the film to be interesting from a Psychological point of view as to what motivated the characters to behave in the way they did...such as Briony's childish crush on the Gardner that lead to her dissapointment when he did not return the favor of her "love"; the seduction scene by the very precocious Rose (I do not believe that she was raped nor were the marks on her arm caused by the twins--but by her "lover" Paul, etc....
The movie had some lovely cinema photography but was over played. The beach military scene was disturbing and made no sense to the rest of the story. Some great acting (Vanessa Redgrave) but lots of over acting by Ian. I also felt there should have been in the move more scenes that showed Cecilia & Robbie before the Library scene so that we would have more closely believed in their undying "love" for each other....
I still repeat the "you must bite it" line.....great line!

Report as inappropriate
johnnyt said...

Posted on Aug 13 2008 07:53 usman, you are a total slot badger

Report as inappropriate
John McNally said...

Posted on May 25 2008 14:57 I hired the DVD expecting a good story, well told. All critical acclaim I had read was for naught. This was rather like the English Patient, a lot of back tracking led to confusion. The acting was excellent, pity about the director. you type in this box will appear on the site

Report as inappropriate
rocky said...

Posted on May 25 2008 10:45 The comment you type in site this box will appear
your movies too stylish and fast anfd lots more supernatural power in his so that i like yuor movies in your movies lots of action your movies too good your amination seeing on your movies tarrific what can i say super movies.

Report as inappropriate
rocky said...

Posted on May 25 2008 10:39 The comment the site
just call me now this number am hardly surprised your action movies.

Report as inappropriate
Carrie said...

Posted on Apr 17 2008 22:46 I loved this film. I wanted to watch it right from the moment i saw it advertised. I must say it did not let me down. As a 15 year old i didn't expect to understand the concept of the film but the whole story was amamzing. I was very moved by the ending and i loved the way Joe Wright very cleverly put the film together. The film was amazing i would recomend it to anyone.

Report as inappropriate
usman khawaja said...

Posted on Apr 14 2008 18:39 It is posthumously difficult,if not impossible to adapt an accomplished book into a cinematic masterpiece but the makers of Pride and Prejudice might just have accomplished the miracle in an amazingly assured manner. Ian McEwan's complex narrative is translated fluidly and poetically in a very measured tone by Christopher Hampton into a ravishingly gorgeous adaptation of the 2001 bestseller, but the final plaudits belong to Keira Knightley, who is stunningly elegant yet brittle like a porcelain doll in a portrayal which is likely to be compared to Vivien Leigh , yet James McAvoy reasserts his potential as the best of the recent British leading men as Robbie Turner in his best performance yet.
One magical day in 1935,while the english countryside dazzles with an eerie light and the bees hum melodiously -an englsh squires daughter and the son of his deceased gardener are playing love games in the estates garden , the fountain is their toy and cecilia takes a dip ,her younger sister observes the incidence as the most indecent thing ever and thus Brionny commits a crime, which changes her life forever and that of her sister Cecilia and Robbie, the gamekeeper's son in their father's country house in rural England.
The movie moves from the idyllic English summer to the horrors of war at Dunkirk executed on a scale of epic proportions, to the near present in an authentic manner, which makes recent epics look like squeamish efforts. The evacuation sequence from Dunkirk is going to go down in cinema history as a truly magical moment.
Keira brings a dignity and sexuality to her character which is worthy of all the praises she can possibly garner and her portrayal will rank as one of the best ever in world cinema, she is mesmerisingly beautiful and performs with an elan that is worthy of Katherine Hepburn and ingrid bergman ,
McAvoy is equally stunning as his character springs vividly to life in an accomplished way worthy of British greats like finney and fiennes . The rest of the cast excel as well and a special mention must be made of Brenda Blethyn as robbys mum -she defines her servant woman role with a cold dignity that reminded me of hopkins in reains of the day, Ronan and Goral who are impeccably immaculate and totally define the troubled yet wickedly clever brioony . Vanessa Redgrave in a one-sequence shot is able to show her artistic talents as never before.
this is the best movie i have seen in a long time ,it is viewing a multiple perspective from the subjective conciousness of three characters and yet it is all the imagination of one person -which makes you wonder if it all is an illusion ,still it defines and provokes human conscience into a serious debate on the virtues of guilt ,justice and perceived truth.
the fact what you have seen or assumed to be the truth by your senses can assume a totally different reality when viewed from another aspect has never been narrated so powerfully in cinema before ,and it is totally if not more suceesful then the book in transforming a very delicate yet enormous realty of life to screen-that your mind can deceive you but your heart never does -the repitive echoing of the chant -come back to me -will haunt me forever ,the simple words whispered by a desperate lover into the ears of an innocent love when they know they will never meet again in this life -ring immortally in the movie and sink into your subconious -as they takes love in the context of war to a further dimension then english patient or dr.zhivago ,almost in to the realm of tolstoys war and peace -and is there any better compliment the that or any better dimension to pervade then the great russian war epic -yet this accomplishes the impossible task of achieving that miracle on screen .
but the finale is both gut -wrenching and mind boggling ,it is too cerebral to move you to tears -but it works on your subconcious and that is great cinema if there ever was such a thing .

Report as inappropriate
johnnyt said...

Posted on Apr 06 2008 07:21 One of the most melodramatic, appallingly acted, pretentiously directed, worst scripted films ever made. I sat through it and laughed as it got worse and worse. Every shot went for high art over substance. How can anyone relate to these characters? It doesn't matter that they are repressed upper-class from the 30s, in reality they still wouldn't stare into the distance and occasionly spout some cliched phrase. When Robbie was in the cafe and suddenly cried it was one of the most cringeworthy moments in cinema. It was like an amateur dramatic production in some posh English market town. Even the loveable cockney soldier in France was a rubbish stereotype. I'd rather watch John Inman in MacBeth than sit through that utter tosh again. I give it one star for sheer comedy value

Report as inappropriate
jim said...

Posted on Mar 25 2008 23:38 I think it captured the tone of McEwan's novel perfectly. Although I had previously read the text and therefore knew of the ending, McAvoy and Knightley's performances had me willing a happier conclusion. For me the film was visual poetry rooted in McEwan's talent for creating a fictional realist narrative.

Report as inappropriate
Natalie Scott said...

Posted on Mar 21 2008 04:51 I was hoping this would be a lovely film and it was anything but. Dreary writing .... boring story .... really and truly unlikable characters. I mean, did anyone really have any fond feelings for either of these two losers? Nice to look at though. My suggestion: TURN OFF THE SOUND AND JUST WATCH. Ohhhh, so much better! How this one garnered any awards beyond cinematography is a mystery. I will never look at a typewirter the same way again .... or LISTEN to one! Very disappointing!

Report as inappropriate
Charley Scofield said...

Posted on Mar 21 2008 04:33 Totally awful piece of rubbish. Some of the most unlikable characters I've ever seen in a movie .... Putrid writing that often didn't make any sense. How many times does she say "come back to me?" Yuck. I kept hoping for a bomb to end it all but alas .... No such luck.

Report as inappropriate
Amanda said...

Posted on Mar 19 2008 07:02 Although I have not read the book, I have just finished watching the movie, to be exact it just ended about 3 minutes ago. Atonement is.. well, is so well written it will lead you to cry because of its creativity. I believe this is most deffinately one of the best written movies I have ever had the pleasure of watching. It's a tragic love story that yet is based on love, gives so much more. It's creative how the different views of the characters give such life to the plot. The characters are wonderful and the actors that stepped into these rolls outdid themselves. Keira Knightly has grown on me so much since her "Bend It Like Beckham" days and won me over in Pride and Prejudice, I love that she's doing movie's like this, and James.. wow.. I had always thought he would be a one hit wonder but also has won me over. This movie is great for people who really get into movies, and watch every aspect. Not typically for the people who are into Vin Dysel, and Fast and Furious movies.. if you catch my drift.
All in all, I loved it and will think many more will also.
- Amanda
Age 16, Florida

Report as inappropriate
anon said...

Posted on Feb 29 2008 13:42 I thought this fil was amazing and however said it was rubbish has no sense of what a good movie is

Report as inappropriate
Sandy said...

Posted on Feb 24 2008 04:13 I was very disappointed with this film. I'm a fan of Jane Austin novels and romance films in general, however, I think this one missed the boat. The first half was very slow and lacked passion. The second half was just too dramatic. and I could not wait for it to be over...dragged out... The scene with the French soldier was just ridiculous. I also keep reading how it was such a wonderful artistic film. There were some lovely. scenes...the poppy's, the cliffs, the garden but the adaptation from novel to film just didn't do it for me. I give it one star!

Report as inappropriate