Movie Review: Atonement (2007)
Atonement, directed by Joe Wright, is an adaptation from the Ian McEwan’s 2001 novel of the same name. The film was nominated for 7 Oscars including Best Picture. Beautifully shot and very ambitious in trying to adapt a complex novel onto the silver screen, the movie does a lot of things right but has some occasional misfiring that prevent it from being a truly great film. I knew absolutely nothing about the novel when I walked into this so I had no preconceived expectations for the film.
A story about regret and life-long sorrow, the film begins in 1935 England and revolves around three characters as the world is on the brink of World War II. Cecilia (Keira Knightley) is the older sister of a wealthy aristocratic family who can’t quite decide what to make of her relationship with Robbie (James McAvoy), the son of the family’s servant. Despite his decidedly non-aristocratic upbringing, he is a well-educated young man she grew up with and who was able to attend Oxford University thanks to her father’s generousness. It should come to no surprise that the two become the star-crossed lovers of the story. The central character, however, is Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan in 1935), a 13-yr old self-serious aspiring writer with an effusive and twisted imagination. One day, she witnesses something out her window that will change the lives of the three characters forever. Misinterpreting what she sees, she begins to vilify Robbie in her young mind and one day, she wrongfully but adamantly accuses him of sexually molesting one of her cousins. Robbie is sent to prison for years until he volunteers for front line duties in France as World War II is about to plunge the world in darkness. Will our two lovebirds reunite?
The first 45 minutes are spent building up the circumstances of the story in England but the story suddenly shifts gears with Robbie trying to escape France and the German advance. Unfortunately, this is where the movie starts to slack. Wright tries to compensate with somewhat confusing non-linear time line editing and technically masterful set pieces. With a running time of over two hours, Atonement spends a lot of time in visual contemplations and Wright delivers stunning visuals throughout the movie. The visual highlight of the film is the nearly completely aimless one-take tracking shot of the Dunkirk evacuation in June 1940 that lasts more than 5 full minutes and will probably remain one of the greatest technical feats in film making for the decades to come. Unfortunately, that amazing sequence also saps the movie from its momentum and the film never recovers enough until the epilogue where revelations are made.
James McAvoy is astounding as Robbie Turner and he showed there that he is one of the very best actor of his generation. He has an amiable gentle face that helps you sympathize with the longing and melancholy of his character. The three actresses that play Briony are all equally outstanding from young Saoirse Ronan, who is a revelation, to Romola Garai and Vanessa Redgrave. Keira Knightley, approaching near-anorexic level of thinness, is solid although she doesn’t get to shine as her character is somewhat secondary in importance in the movie and disappears for long stretches in the second half. There is a certain haughtiness that she wonderfully flaunts thanks in part to a aristocratic English accent that is nearly completely foreign to us Americans. The score by Dario Marianelli, which won the score for Best Original Score is a feast for the ears, often keying on one-note beats, such as the sound of a typewriter, to create a sense of tension.
By far, the most problematic aspect of Atonement is that it tries so hard to make us believe there is an epic love story between Cecilia and Robbie. However, we only get a few glimpses of the two barely sharing any kind of intimacy or chemistry in the first third of the movie. Hence, it is quite a stretch to believe that the two are really madly in love and “destined” for each other after their abrupt and lengthy separation. For all the flaws and fluffiness of The Notebook for example, that movie did an excellent job of building up the central romance. Had Atonement been less economical in showing Cecilia and Robbie falling in love, I truly believe this would have been a masterpiece of a romantic tragedy. I really thought this blunted the emotional punch of the epilogue, which also shockingly clarifies the title of the film. The older Briony, played by Vanessa Redgrave, reveals the truth about the story and forces us to reevaluate everything that we just saw. This all comes as a punch in the guts (if you haven’t read the novel too) but it feels overly manipulative as it plays with our expectations.
Overly ambitious, Atonement is an uneven movie featuring downright superb acting and stunningly beautiful cinematography but the insufficiently developed central romance and disorientating editing blunt the emotional impact of the story. I was quite shocked and frustrated at how unromantic this movie was.
B
Lesson of the Day: Childish misunderstandings can have life-altering consequences.
Notes: Produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, directed by Joe Wright, written by Christopher Hampton, music by Dario Marianelli, distributed by Focus Features. Rated R for disturbing war images, language and some sexuality. 123 min.
37 Comments
I agree with your B rating, but I have different reasons for giving it that.
1. Vanessa Redgrave was the only good acting in this movie.
2. Saiorse Ronan was … ehh. Not Oscar worthy, that’s for sure.
3. Romola Gorai was AWFUL. Her part of the movie wasn’t even coherent.
4. The Dunkirk part of the movie was literally the most boring thing I’ve ever seen. Who cares if it looks pretty? It’s worthless.
I agree – it was a superbly acted perfectly okay (slightly pretentious) movie. I did like the bit at the end, though – it kinda undermined the movie itself (as you pointed out), but it was also just a nice acknowledgement that “life doesn’t work that way” and worked of itself. I’m not sure if a great little ending that undermines (rather than strengthens) the movie is a good thing, but I bought it. Perhaps the fact that I didn’t buy too much into the movie itself colours my opinion on it.
The ending is what makes this movie memorable, whether one likes it or not. It’s just too bad the movie missed something (a truly sweeping central romance) and the epilogue doesn’t pack as much wallop as it should.
Fabulous review, Castor, so thoughtful and perceptive. I’m in the camp that love this movie, but maybe because I’m a sucker for unrequited/tragic love stories. It might not be a hugely ‘romantic’ film, but I find it packed with quite an emotional punch… it’s just heartbreaking to see love being taken away so abruptly right when it was blossoming. I agree the Dunkirk scene is breathtaking but overly-indulgent on Wright’s part, as it kinda takes the viewers away from the story as we’re too busy admiring it. The acting is superb all around, especially McAvoy and Ronan, who I thought are the actors that carry this movie. Romola Garai stands out as well, I always thought she’s a talented actress who’s hugely underused for some reason.
James McAvoy is an amazing actor and he does draw a lot of empathy. I thought Saoirse Ronan was great in it, for a 13-year old kid, so would have to disagree with Marshall on that one.
And I totally bought the whole thing; it didn’t pull on the heartstrings as much as The Notebook, but the film still drew me in.
There’s a lot that this film has going for it, but its mostly the unforbidden love, and how its told through each of these persons viewpoints just works so well.
I thought the movie was strikingly beautiful, and I loved the performances, but you’re right about the romance. It’s much more about Briony than anyone, and while she’s a captivating character building the romance more (few flashbacks, quiet glares, etc.) would have made her final sequence/unveiling far more impactful.
Still I really enjoyed the movie, and I’ve watched it a couple times since.
One day (soon) I’ll write my review of this film to properly defend, that being said I LOVE it. On the note of the romance being a bit too thin, Robbie himself says “If what he have depends on a night three years ago in a library…” (I paraphrase). I don’t the romance is supposed to be something hugely epic, Cecilia leaves her family not just because she loves Robbie but because she realsies how hypocritical they are. It’s another reason the story is so tragic. They DON’T get a chance to validate their love, it’s as if it ends before it even starts and for the most unfortunate of reasons. I think the fact that they don’t get much time together makes the film so much more striking. We keep expecting them to get together and somehow certify their love only to realise – nothing happens.
(I like all the Briony’s, but it’s Romola Garai who stands out for me. She actually easily wins the Supporting Actress race that year for me.)
I felt Robbie saying that was an excuse to not properly develop the central romance. I do understand your point of view (which may have been Wright’s as well) that there is a tragedy in the fact that the two lovers never get to spend any time at all together. However, I think that blunted the impact of the film and made it feel too distant and emotionally uninvolving.
I have to admit when I first saw the movie I was quite thrown aback by the ending, really caught me off guard. But on recent viewings it hasn’t impacted my quite as much. Perhaps because I noticed the relationship in the film wasn’t quite as powerful as the one in my imagination
.
I loved the narrative line of the movie, and I think the story wasn’t bad, but there is something missing in it, something special, some special ingredient to make it great. I loved McAvoy’s acting, and I share the opinion of all those people who find Keira’s cold and rigid acting quite problematic in many movies. Her role, and plus the absence of some special touch in the director’s vision are the key problems in ATONEMENT, making it too cold and distant.
Exactly Dez. A perfectly fine movie but something missing. Like I said above, I was quite shocked at how unromantic it was.
I’m with you on the Knightly thing – I don’t see the appeal. Then again, I didn’t see the appeal (including the… ehem… visual appeal) of Sienna Miller over Cate Blanchett in Robin Hood, so I might not be the best judge.
Awesome movie and great review. Two things always stuck with me about this movie: the way the sound of the typewriter meshes with everything (LOVED that) and that Brione was a HUGE bitch. Been a while since I’v seen this, might need a refresher course before I put up a review. Good stuff, man.
Yes, very cool way of implementing actual sounds from the movie into the score. I really enjoyed it as well.
Great review. Like others, I thought the best part about this movie was the cinematography and the score. The typewriting sound was absolutely brilliant.
Of all the acting, I’d have to say that I liked Ronan’s the best. That’s a difficult role for someone of her age to play, and she pulled it off.
I agree with you too Red. It was a beautifully shot film, and was certainly the highlight for me.
This movie is the prime reason that older sibling should repeatedly beat up younger siblings. And who takes the word of 12 year old like it was the gospel? “Yup, she said it, it had to be true”. Irritating /=^[
Quite a sad ending, which I’m glad they didn’t dilute the story with a “happy Hollywood finale”.
The narrative structure (and bits of the story itself) reminds me of Shining Through. I think I need to watch both of these again.
I think it was more “who takes the word of the upper class over that of your servant boy”. A little on the nose, but sadly not entirely unbelievable in context.
Thank you for pointing out the lack of “epic” love story. That was my biggest problem with it as well. I also was less than enthused by the ending. It felt like it was thrown in for the sake of a twist, making most of the events seem more resounding than they actually were.
Overall the film was actually disappointing.
Yes, the more I think about it, the more I feel cheated. Basically, the ending is saying: Everything that happened after Robbie was arrested was not real and never happened. Maybe, there wasn’t even any romance between Robbie and Cecilia and they both would have moved on anyway.
Exactly. It made everything feel pointless, and besides I found the acting of J & K to be great, but their love was never really believable.
Although that library scene? Hoooooooooot.
I kinda liked it for the opposite reason. “It was a small moment but a big deal, and the notion that it all gets sorted out in the end because that’s the way it’s meant to be is a crock – it’s those small moments which shape us, but we don’t always get closure, even though we grow up believing we will.”
I adore this film. But then again I adore Joe Wright. I love the way his films are not only about the plot, but also about the world; it’s so multi-layered and detailed that it is like a window into another place and period. This is why the continuous Dunkirk scene is one of my favourite moments of the film: it not only shows Robbie trapped as a lowly private in the war, it also shows you the environment and gives you the feel of the whole beach, showing you the chaos and the grime and the desperation, which makes you just wonder, if Briony hadn’t accused Robbie, would he still be trapped in such a situation? How much of her lie caused this? Seeing that he was a young, able-bodied man he would probably have still been involved in the war, but a well-educated guy like him would probably have been a higher-ranking officer (as observed by his fellow soldiers).
After I watched the film the first time I bought the book and read it, and was actually impressed at how it had been adapted, because so much of the book is about internal thoughts and emotions and conflict, and for a visual medium like film, it wasn’t an easy task.
Ah thank you for the insight! I haven’t read the book so I wasn’t sure how well it translated from book to film but it’s nice to hear they did it relatively well. I agree that the Dunkirk scene conveyed a lot of emotions about the situations Robbie was in. However, from that point on, Cecilia disappears for a large stretch of the second half and there is nothing more frustrating in a romance movie than to see the two lovebirds separated for extended period of time.
The book is very good, I was glad to see it was adapted well onscreen.
Atonement is a film that might have a bitter taste, but it can be appreciated after it had been seen. With that said, although the film (and the marketing aspect of it) should have had the honesty to admit that it was more a movie about the incomprehension of adulthood than about a love story, I didn’t have much of a problem with the storyline nor the pace. The only problem I had with the story is the plot hole about Lola and Paul. In fact, why did Briony denounce Robbie to the police while she could have denounced a paedophile? All in all, the film wants to be overly ambiguous that it forgets that it has some fuzzy parts. Other than that, I consider Atonement as one of my favourite films.
The movie suggests that Briony had a crush on Robbie and she was jealous of Robbie’s interest in her older sister. That’s why she “wanted” Robbie to be the villain. I think she half-imagined and half-wanted the man she saw molesting Lola to be Robbie.
In fairness, that’s a pretty big plot hole and one that the whole movie hinges upon.
Nah, she’s a kid, she makes mistakes (to be glib). I read it as her being afraid of “losing” both the fun-loving Robbie and her older sister should they become a couple – kids (and some adults) are ridiculously emotionally mature, and possessive. As for Robbie going to prison, I honestly don’t think she thought that far ahead.
Sorry, should read “emotionall immature”. My bad.
Nice review but I’m gonna have to disagree on the romance bit. I think the romance was only meant to be seen as epic because of Briony’s guilt. In the climax all this should become clear, how nothing really happened but she was trying to create happiness for the people she destroyed.
In this aspect I think the film is brilliant and the screenplay is remarkable, few movies have captured the essence of the book like this one did.
I understand your point Jose but from a cinematic point of view, I think it would have made sense to make it more romantic to emotionally engage the viewer. Even though we find out at the end that it never happened, we would still feel the pain of a great love that went unconsumed.
I have not read the novel that this was adapted from. And it turned out that the peoples I saw it with, whom had read the novel, liked the movie better than I did, so it may be a case where the movie works better for those familiar with the source material than those who aren’t.
Completely agree with this review. The first 45 minutes its beautifully shot and that 5 minute tracking shot was a monstrous technical feat.
I absolutely loved this movie and thought it was such a delicately made film. I think the two had better chemistry than what you observed though. I think that library scene was enough for me to buy the passion that connected them.
****POSSIBLE SPOILER****
I agree with what you said about the epilogue being void of the emotional punch. It’s funny because the film had me pretty much on the fence the entire time and a really solid ending would’ve tipped me in the right direction, however the choice they went with, even if it WAS loyal to the book, felt cheap. It was on par with stories opting to go with “and it was all a dream” and just writing off everything you had watched for the last two hours. Which is a shame because I thought Atonement looked beautiful and was performed quite wonderfully.
Ronan, I can see, being Cate Blanchett in the near future. Especially Hanna.
I was probably the only person that absolutely hated this movie from start to finish. I knew what was going to happen during the first fifteen minutes of the movie.
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