Nominated for Seven Oscars, Including Best Picture
A faithful and sometimes dazzling adaptation of the best-selling novel by Ian McEwan, Atonement (2007) stars Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. The movie is impeccably acted and offers topnotch cinematography, art direction and costuming, plus an Academy Award-winning musical score.
There is much to admire about Atonement. For example, the way Keira Knightley looks in a fetching green evening dress makes it easy to believe that James McAvoy would fall head-over-heels in love when he sees her in it. And later in the film, there's an elaborate five-minute tracking shot that is a remarkable display of technical virtuosity.
Atonement is often described as an epic romance, but that is misleading. A more accurate description is that it's a clever postmodern yarn about a writer. The protagonist is the fictional Briony Tallis, who is played in the movie by three actresses: Saoirse Ronan (Briony at 13), Romola Garai (Briony at 18) and Vanessa Redgrave (Briony at 77). Child actress Saoirse Ronan gives a standout, Oscar-nominated performance here in the role of Briony as a cold and detached 13-year-old girl.
Although Atonement has many strengths, its heavy use of artifice makes suspension of disbelief difficult. The movie often lacks warmth, and some scenes miss their potential to be emotionally engaging. Also, there are World War II military sequences that are unconvincing and dull. Nevertheless, Atonement has a brilliant first 50 minutes, a few fine scenes thereafter, and the final eight minutes constitute a compelling ending that raises provocative issues about storytelling.
A Creative Writer, Her Sister and the Sister's Lover
For its initial 50 minutes, Atonement is absorbing. This part takes place in 1935 at the Tallis family's country estate in Surrey. Thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan) uses a typewriter to put the finishing touches on a play she has written. Also, Briony's college-aged sister, Cecilia (Keira Knightley), becomes aware that she and Robbie Turner (James McAvoy), the housekeeper's son, are sexually attracted to each other. But Briony gets upset and confused about what's going on between Cecilia and Robbie, and the younger girl does something that ruins all three of their lives.
The yarn then jumps ahead to the early part of World War II, and this nearly hour-long part of the film is uneven. Robbie is in the British army in France, and he's caught up in the Dunkirk evacuation. But in this section of the movie, the characters and settings are not entirely convincing, and there isn't much drama. There is a technically impressive five-minute tracking shot on a beach, but how well does it serve to advance the story?
During the World War II part of the tale, Cecilia and Briony (now 18 and played by Romola Garai) work as nurses in London. Briony is writing her first novel, and there's a moving scene where she comforts a dying French soldier and comes to understand the power of storytelling.
In the movie's final eight minutes, Briony (now played by Vanessa Redgrave) is a 77-year-old successful author. She is interviewed about her semiautobiographical novel titled Atonement, and she sheds light on what we have seen earlier in the film, providing a thought-provoking ending.
An Excellent Director's Commentary and Other DVD Extras
The Atonement DVD supplies a feature-length audio commentary by director Joe Wright that greatly enhances the experience of watching the film. He is not only thoughtful, he is good at discussing his thinking in a way that listeners will find informative and interesting. He covers almost everything you'd want to know about the movie, including influences, locations, sets, costuming and working with the actors. The earthy directions he shouted out to Knightley and McAvoy during their love scene are hilarious, and he reports the actors burst out laughing every time he called, "Cut." Wright also talks the listener through the much-admired five-minute tracking shot, stating they did three takes and had begun a fourth when the Steadicam operator collapsed. In addition, he makes some insightful observations about the film's final eight-minute section, and he asks the question, "What is the role of a happy ending?"
The DVD also contains a few additional bonus materials. There's a worthwhile featurette where Wright, novelist Ian McEwan and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Christopher Hampton discuss adapting the book for the screen. Another DVD extra is a serviceable 27-minute making-of documentary, where you can hear from all the key members of the cast and crew, as well as see the primary filming locations, such as Redcar, England, which stood in for Dunkirk. Finally, the DVD contains seven deleted scenes with a total runtime of seven-and-a-half minutes, and these can optionally be watched while listening to director audio commentary.
DVD Details
Listed below are the details for the Atonement DVD.
Release Date: March 18, 2008
Feature Film Runtime: 2 hours 3 minutes
MPAA Rating: R for Disturbing War Images, Language and Some Sexuality
Widescreen (1.85:1), Color
English Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
French Dolby Digital 5.1
English Captions for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Spanish Subtitles
French Subtitles
Audio Commentary by Director Joe Wright
Deleted Scenes (7 scenes with total runtime = 7 1/2 minutes)
Making-Of Documentary (27 minutes)
From Novel to Screen Featurette (5 minutes)
