Running Time: 130 minutes
Writer's note: this review contains content that may be deemed inappropriate for impressionable readers, specifically unpleasant imagery of sexual nature.
Emotions are dangerous. In our anger, confusion, fear or passion we can do incredible things. We can also make terrible, irreversible mistakes, ones that affect not only our future but that of others; and ones that we may spend our whole lives seeking atonement for.
Based on the novel by Ian McEwan, Atonement (2007) is the utterly tragic story of two young lovers torn apart by the actions of another, and moreover the story of the other seeking redemption for her heinous act.
Briony Tallis (Saorise Ronan) and her sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) live with their mother in a mansion on a beautiful estate full of rolling hillsides and mysterious woods. Briony, thirteen years old, aspires to be a writer; the opening scene finds her completing her first play, gleefully (but maturely) letting the maids and servants know that this evening there will be a performance (supposing the visiting twins are compliant). When asked by her cousin Lola (Juno Temple) what it's about, she replies "It's about how love is all very good, but you have to be reasonable."
One of the servants to whom Briony heralds her play is Robbie Turner (James McAvoy), whose response to the news indicates a greater level of intimacy with the Tallis family than the other household help (he accuses her of no longer giving him "bound volumes" of her work as she used to). She pleads with him to come see her performance with such fervor that one must wonder whether this thirteen year-old who thinks love must be "reasonable" carries an affection for the hired labor.
Such suspicions are confirmed when Briony spots Robbie and Cecilia out by the fountain and is forced to look away, all the while bearing a face of shock, pain, and unquestionable jealousy. What Briony sees from her bedroom window proves to be far more than simply "two figures by a fountain;" from various angles we watch as the two awkwardly walk out to the fountain, Cecilia carrying an intricate vase replete with a myriad of flowers and Robbie trying in earnest to serve her. She has come to the fountain, we assume, to draw water for the vase. Robbie reaches to help her, she pulls away in a brash show of feminine independence, resulting in the severing of a handle from the vase and a rather flush Ms. Tallis. "You idiot! You realize that's probably the most valuable thing we own?" To which Robbie replies "Not anymore."
Cecilia proceeds to strip down to her undergarments and dive into the fountain to retrieve a lost piece of the vase, emerging with her clothes clinging tightly to her figure to the dropped jaw and gaping eyes of Robbie (this is the point at which Briony could no longer watch). Wordlessly Cecilia redresses, picks up the vase, and brushes awkwardly away from Robbie as she tears the severed handle from his hand. Ashamed and embarrassed, Robbie retires to his typewriter and a pocketful of cigarettes and attempts a letter of apology. As he writes we see a transformation overtake him as he begins to realize how deeply in love he is with her.
Robbie goes through many drafts of his letter, ranging from strictly 'sorry' to overflowing with emotion. At one point, reclining in his chair and spouting smoke from his nose, Robbie begins to chortle. The letter he writes here is probably (and understandably) the most controversial part of the film. "In my dreams i kiss your c**t, your sweet wet c**t."
Though deplorable, we must accept this as a simple outing of internal feeling which (were it not in a movie) no one but Robbie would ever have seen. Even before the ink has dried on this pornographic note he has removed the offending letter and begun anew, this time with a far more appropriate (and poetic) phrasing that conveys simply the newly realized affection he has for Cecilia.
Finishing his writing, Robbie quickly dresses for the party he has been invited to that evening, grabbing his letter on the way out the door. As he sets out he spies Briony playing in the nearby woods. He calls to her and asks her to run straightaway with his letter to Cecilia for he'd be too embarrassed to deliver it in person. She takes the letter and runs toward home, leaving Robbie at the bridge in contemplation. Suddenly it hits him: she has the wrong letter. The very wrong letter.
It is too late, however. Briony curiously reads the letter and is terrified at its contents. She delivers it to Cecilia but begins to consider Robbie a "sex freak." She also confides in Lola with this information, and they agree that Robbie is probably dangerous and should be reported.
These feelings are further exacerbated when Briony stumbles upon Robbie and Cecilia having sex in the library (a scene which is gratefully far more intense than explicit). The viewer knows that the sex is consensual, and that both parties are deeply in love with the other; Briony, however, considers it rape.
Thus, confused as to Robbie's true intentions, when Briony goes into the woods to find her missing cousins she spots a man in a suit raping Lola and assumes it is Robbie. At least, this is what she reports to the investigators who arrive shortly thereafter, and Robbie is sent to prison.
This is the first half of the film, and it is this false accusation upon which the film hinges. When the Second World War erupts soon after Robbie's imprisonment, he is given the choice to stay and die in jail or to join the military and fight for his country. His decision to do the latter draws him into the bloody and terrible warfare that World War Two is infamous for. The scene in which Robbie and comrades emerge from tall grass onto a beach teeming with dying and suffering soldiers is at once terrible and beautiful.
It is this stunning cinematography that truly makes Atonement a sensational film. Everything from the landscapes to the actors is gloriously sharp and crisp, a rare experience that the trailers only begin to do justice. Beautiful, lush imagery is accompanied by a stirring score by composer Dario Marianelli that is at times both chilling and heartwarming.
Spanning half a century, Atonement is perhaps one of the greatest films to grace the silver screen in years. True, it is a cold and tragic story (with one of the iciest endings i've ever seen in a movie) but as a work of art it is nigh unparalleled. If you are looking for a feel-good matinée, go see Mad Money. But if you want a substantial experience; if you want to see two lovers torn apart by a series of unfortunate events; if you want a look at the horror of war and the closeness of death it brings; if you want these things, then Atonement is right for you.
Links:
~Atonement on IMDb
~Atonement trailer on Apple Trailers
~Atonement official site
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