Atonement

by Ari

It’s no surprise that Atonement is being touted as the first major Oscar hopeful of the year. It has all the ingredients for Best Picture success and uses the precise formula that appeals so strongly to Academy voters. Based on the celebrated novel by Ian McEwan, Atonement is a sweeping romance that involves themes of love, war, regret, loss and the possibility of redemption - told with the grace and beauty of an old-fashioned Hollywood epic. It’s not always a bad thing, really. Some of these Hollywood dramas can be very effective or even great, like Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain or Stephen Frears’ The Queen. While Atonement doesn’t quite reach this level, it’s certainly not the worst film to create awards buzz or anything of the sort. It’s a good film with a few quick flashes of brilliance, but then it stumbles on its way to the finish line. It’s unfortunate and frustrating because, for the most part, Atonement is a very solid companion piece to Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s A Very Long Engagement, although not quite as suspenseful or visually arresting.

The two parts of the film portray the romance between Robbie Turner (James McAvoy) and Cecilia Tallis (Keira Knightley) before and after the cataclysmic event that changes their lives forever. The first half is centered in and around the large estate where Cecilia’s family resides, and it’s here that director Joe Wright demonstrates his skill. This entire section is meticulously constructed in order to smoothly switch from the perspective of one character to another. Cecilia’s 13 year-old sister Briony (Saoirse Ronan) is too young to understand the situation between the adults of the house. Briony secretly loves Robbie, who is the housekeeper’s son, and wonders why he and Cecilia give each other strange looks, seem to remain distant and then have, to her eyes, these odd encounters.

The film brilliantly switches from Briony’s perspective of these events to the actual sequences in full. She watches Cecilia nearly strip naked in front of Robbie before retrieving something from the fountain, but she watches this without understanding it. Briony is too young to comprehend the sexual undertones at play, confused by Robbie and Cecilia and blinded by her childish jealousy. When Robbie gives her a letter to deliver to her older sister, she immediately opens and reads it, only to be shocked and frightened by its rather explicit sexual nature. Later that evening Briony finds them having sex in the library, but thinks Robbie is attacking her. She uses these discoveries to then accuse him of a crime he didn’t commit, separating the two lovers without realizing the depth of her mistake.

Robbie is released from prison five years later to fight in the war, hoping to survive his extreme conditions in order to regain what was lost. At 18, Briony (now played by Romola Garai) works as a nurse thinking that her aid will somehow release her guilt. This aspect of the story works to a point, with a few nifty cinematic touches (a 4 minute uncut tracking shot) and emotional performances by the three leads. The film raises interesting questions about forgiveness and penance, but it never quite reaches the full weight and power of its themes. Without revealing too much, the last 25 minutes is overly expository, taking away the emotional punch it seemed to have been building. This type of exposition can work in the form of literature, but on film it becomes static and tedious. It reminded me of Vanilla Sky’s ending - a character who just explains everything with a long speech.

The conclusion of Atonement could have been something deeply tragic and emotionally wrenching, but the way it’s presented left me feeling empty instead of moved. It’s disappointing, but not enough to completely ruin the overall experience. There's quality work on display, especially James McAvoy as Robbie.