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Review by David DiMichele

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“It’s like something out of Heaven.”
-soldier

The quote refers to an Army base which is made up of thousands of soldiers, both wounded and healthy, and huge boats stationed off the coast of France. A soldier expresses his feelings and this quote emphasizes his comfort as he and two others have been walking clueless by themselves after being split up from their brigade during WWII. We eventually find ourselves repeating this quote during this scene because sophomore director Joe Wright (first film Pride and Prejudice) captures it as if it’s gold, and that’s exactly what it turns out to be. For a solid 5-7 minutes the camera gives us, the audience, a first person point-of-view of the base as if we’re one of the soldiers. We get taken thorough this base which is suppose to be a safe haven but which turns out to be hell. Army officers gunning down horses and crazed soldiers running wild due to drugs and injuries. We see soldiers playing harmonicas, singing and even riding on deserted merry-go-rounds and Ferris wheels. This scene is intended to be dreary and the lack of color does it full justice - hopeless hues and faded hope are the colors we see. If there's a scene that raises this movie to another level, it’s without a doubt this specific scene.

America loves nothing more than a searing and poignant love story (look no further than Titanic and Brokeback Mountain). We prefer our love stories served up with a tremendous amount of emotion.But Ian McEwan, the author of the novel Atonement, doesn’t quite sate our appetite. When we don’t receive the full treatment of a love story, we don't usually embrace it. Atonement is the love story of a rich upper class girl Cecilia Tallis (Keira Knightly) and her housekeeper’s son Robby Turner (James McAvoy) who’s a groundsman but also a promising student. The two only share one sexual encounter - shouldn’t we see more? This has all the makings of a terrific tale of two lovers who find themselves torn apart but it falls short. It doesn’t really fail, but the relationship seems to be missing that big ingredient: emotion. We can’t feel the heartache that Wright wants us to feel because we don’t have enough time with the two characters. Only a scene or two between them isn’t enough to feel the love they have for one another.

But instead of me hanging this film on the only thing that doesn’t work, let me introduce to you why the movie does work. The dialogue is pitch perfect , as is the acting, and the direction is spotless. England 1935 is where the movie begins and a huge mansion offers its hospitality. The mansion brims with testosterone (the owner of a chocolate factory and Cecilia’s older brother) and the desire for revenge. Cecilia’s father owns the house and we know that this family is living large even though there is a war going on. Early pivotal events in the movie take place here. Robby finally comes clean about his feelings towards Cecilia, and her younger sister Briony (Saoirse Ronan) is so caught up in her fairytale world that she doesn’t know what the real world looks like. An incident that she as a young teenager mistakes for something totally the opposite sets the stage for an epic movie that spans decades and draws Robby far away from Cecilia.

The way this movie is done should set Wright up for a nomination for best director.The movement flows between romance and war, past and present, and all are done with careful direction. Each scene is captivating and relentless, and the music that’s played throughout the movie is wonderfully suitable. Wright uses the same technique that director Lumet uses in Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead. He gives us every single detail that happens in each scene. When a scene ends, we find ourselves coming back to it to see what the character did when they weren’t on screen.

Each of our main characters goes through a different kind of hell. How they get through it and move on is half of the movie. One can’t face the fact that her younger sister told a devastating lie, while the other tries to do whatever it takes to get rid of that sin, be it lying to herself or caring for extremely wounded soldiers. Robby is in the worst hell of all. The way the war is depicted is extremely harsh and truthfully, if I was Robby, I would’ve chose jail any day over the war that appears onscreen here.

Film Rating: *** out of ****

[Official Movie Site]

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Comments (2)

A different opinion

I think the beauty of having a film review is to further enhance the impact of a film, and in other cases to provide a different perspective.

I think of Atonement as the best film for the year, and this review really puts it into a much clearer perspective for me. While you find the lack of emotional tie between the two characters as being the most important flaw, this is what I think is the reason why it is such a great film. Its the lack of emotional tie that I find to be the reason why it is so devastating. Like the novel itself, it is this lack of connection, of loss that made it haunting and tragic.

This one really rocks:

Each of our main characters go through a different hell. How they get through it and move on is half of the movie.

Great review!

jedmed , December 23, 2007

agree

ok ok..i see what you're saying....i went in having these 2 form such a grand relationship and having it torn to threads...i was sad when that didn't happen to me...but hey, everyone witnesses and feels their feelings in cinema..thanks

dimichele305 , December 23, 2007

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