Atonement Review
by Homer Yen (homer_yen AT yahoo DOT com)December 16th, 2007
¡°Atonement¡± ¨C Epic Drama Makes No Apologies
by Homer Yen
(c) 2007
In the summer time, on my bed, I have a light
quilt. In the winter time, that has been
replaced with a down comforter. What a complete
difference the two are. And, much can be said
about the dramatically-heavy ¡°Atonement¡±. It
is definitely the down comforter of moviemaking.
You can feel its heaviness just ooze out. All the
other films in the movieplex this week are like
the summer quilts.
The opening scene features a gorgeous old English
country house that conveys dream-like elegance,
antique porcelain dolls, and the feel of those
arousing Chanel perfume commercials of the 90s.
There are various characters that live here, work
here, visit here who create the tapestry of the
story. But the three main characters center on:
the prurient older sister of the home, Cecilia
(Keira Knightley); the younger 13-year old
sister, Briony (Saorise Ronan); and the
housekeeper¡¯s handsome son, Robbie (James
McAvoy).
The first act is the strongest. These 30 minutes
are devoted to the realization between Robbie and
Cecilia that they long to be with one another
although their acquaintance up to this point has
been cold. There is a palpable tension between
the two as it culminates to a scene that is so
joyful-yet-erotically charged that we know that
these two need to be together forever and ever.
Their honest feelings for each other confuse
Briony. She intercepts a rude note written by
Robbie that¡¯s intended for Cecilia. She
unexpectedly witnesses a tryst between the two
and is struck with fear. And, as you know from
the movie¡¯s trailer, when a deviant crime is
committed on the estate grounds, Briony is
convinced that it is Robbie. Although Knightley
and McAvoy give wonderful performances, the real
surprise is Saorise Ronan, who is incredible.
She has the kind of cold stare that can send
chills up your spine. She is not mean, but she
is resentful in a manner that can only be
described as mad jealously gurgling within the
innocence of a 13-year old.
The film is broken up into three parts that
revolve around Briony¡¯s ongoing regret. There
is the initial act in which she is betrayed by
her own understanding and sets in motion the
wheels of tragedy. In the second part, we
fast-forward 5 years later. She is now 18
(played by Romola Garai) and works as a nurse so
that she can help the wounded as a way to atone
for what she did. In this act, we see that
Cecilia is also a nurse and waits anxiously for
Robbie to return. He has joined the Army because
it is better than jail. We see him in peril,
caught behind enemy lines and slowly succumbing
to septicemia. And, in the final act, Briony is
now much older (played by Vanessa Redgrave) and
finally has a chance to tell her story the way
she had meant to all those years.
The film loses its footing once it moves into the
second act and invariably loses its steam
thereafter. There¡¯s too much of Robbie
wandering around. And, there seemed to be an
unnecessary ¡°big scene¡¯ (although directorially
impressive) where Robbie finds his way to a beach
populated by thousands of friendly troops waiting
for their ships to arrive.
This is certainly a high-quality film. And, while
I am impressed, I would give higher praise to two
other equally handsome films. That would be
¡°Michael Clayton¡± and ¡°Lust: Caution¡±. This
film comes at you hot and heavy, but loses
momentum along the way. The other two works its
way up. That is probably why I liked the Robbie
character the best, for he was the one that had
to work his way up. ¡°Atonement¡±, nonetheless,
is one of the best films of 2007.
Grade: B+
S: 2 out of 3
L: 3 out of 3
V: 3 out of 3
____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page.
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
