Atonement Review
by [email protected] (dnb AT dca DOT net)November 30th, 2007
ATONEMENT
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2007 David N. Butterworth
***1/2 (out of ****)
a.tone.ment \uh-tohn-muh nt\ n 1 : amends or reparation made for an injury or wrong; expiation. 2 : the act of atoning for a sin or wrongdoing (esp. appeasing a deity). 3 : a film by Joe Wright.
As a feature director, Wright has proven himself a dab hand. First up, "Pride & Prejudice": a peerless translation, exquisite in every detail. For his follow-up, "Atonement": another literary adaptation and one that's almost as good.
The similarities are evidential: birds warbling under the opening credits (Wright's signature tune already?), much Steadi-cam bustling through endless corridors, Dario Marianelli's evocative score (composed for strings and a Smith Corona, apparently, a beautiful, daring touch that drives the drama forwards), and Keira Knightley, 1930's slight, stuck-up, and smoking, diaphanous in a spruce green dress that fits her like a coat hanger. Hers is not the go-to role, however--Cecilia Tallis could never be confused for Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Bennet. That weightiness goes to James McAvoy ("'Narnia"'s Mr. Tumnus and Idi Amin's doc in "The Last King of Scotland") as Robbie Turner, the housekeeper's son ("Pride'"'s Brenda Blethyn plays mum).
McAvoy, a heretofore-unnoticed Gary Sinise look about him, impresses solidly, first in his shirtsleeves, then in his army fatigues. An Oscar(r) nod is not out of the question (expect "Atonement" to pick up several). Robbie tends the Tallis's opulent lawns and gardens (actually Stokesay Court in Onibury, Shropshire) while appreciating "C." peripherally, initially, and then upon closer inspection as a family heirloom is accidentally broken, then retrieved, unleashing fountains of harbored emotions.
Witnessing this affair from her bedroom window is Cecilia's freckled 13-year-old sister Briony (a remarkable Saoirse Ronan), a writer of plays and highly imaginative stories, who is about to spin her tallest tale yet when a misdirected letter first causes jealously and revulsion to burn deep in her breast and then something much worse, an unforgivable act that immediately serves to separate these new lovers.
Ronan is sensational. Proof positive: Wright focuses in on her eyes in one scene as Briony spies on her sister and the passion, guilt, and horror flare up before our own.
War breaks out, Robbie is forced away, and Briony grows up. Dunkirk happens, mostly via a seamless, five-minute take that will take many breaths away (including, one suspects, Alfonso Cuarón's, who pulled off something similar at least thrice in "Children of Men"). This one, choreographed to the last, features men of Harlech, a hanged man swinging from a Ferris wheel, equine mercy killings, and a cast of thousands wandering through a staggering set.
This is a great film, this year's "'Very Long Engagement." It looks great (cinematographer Seamus McGarvey composes shot after shot of staggering beauty and grandeur) and it sounds great (QWERTY-accented as it is). Director Wright and screenwriter Christopher Hampton ("Dangerous Liaisons") have polished Ian McEwan's wartime romance to a fine and shimmering sheen. As a result, "Atonement" will be *the* one to beat at Oscar time.
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David N. Butterworth
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