Torn by lies and war

“Atonement”
Starring: Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai, Vanessa Redgrave
4 stars out of 4

“Atonement” is a lush and intimate period piece directed by Joe Wright, it’s based off of the novel of the same name written by Ian McEwan. This epic film tells the story of three lives destroyed by a simple lie that was told at a dinner party in England in 1935. The two main leads are played by Keira Knightley as Cecilia Tallis the oldest daughter of a wealthy family, and her lover Robbie Turner who plays the educated son of the family housekeeper. They are flirty around the house when the film starts, but there relationship is seen as something else by Cecilia’s jealous sister Briony, who has a teenage crush on older Robbie. The character of Briony is played by 3 different actresses throughout the film, due to the time shifting structure and her aging character. She is also a writer and a very good one at that, the film uses the harsh pounding off a type-writer to build suspense in many scenes.

One night Briony walks in on Cecilia and Robbie making love in there library, she sees it as something else and makes up her mind quickly of what she wanted to see. Her jealously overwhelms her and she goes on a rant about how Robbie is deceiving and sexually aggressive. Later that night something happens that Briony can use as leverage to get rid of Robbie, he ends up going to prison and Cecilia is left without her love, due to a childish lie.

The film jumps 4 years into the future, and each character is now in a new setting. Robbie is a soldier in the war, after choosing duty instead of prison. Cecilia is a trained nurse who consistently writes Robbie, and Briony is older, feeling the weight and guilt of the lie she told when she was 13. Each character weaves in and out, but the truth remains evident to all that Briony’s lie has changed everything. Robbie is seeing the broken world during World War II, Cecilia is awaiting his freedom, and Briony is a training nurse looking for redemption for her actions. As the films moves on, the story builds to a shattering conclusion due to one lie.

This is a great and involving film; the visuals are breathtaking and are always great to look at, the acting of Knightley and McAvoy are nomination worthy, and the dynamic character of Briony done by 3 different actresses is truly noteworthy. “Atonement” is more of a technical achievement than anything, the directing is crisp and vivid, the music is vast and epic, and the overall achievement is a great film that will garner many nominations as the Oscars. This is definitely a must-see, it runs at 130 minutes and all of those minutes are needed to tell this story of deceit, love, and war.

The pacing is slow at times, but there are so many revealing and exciting scenes that are truly riveting. The film also makes great usage of the word c-u-n-t, which I found humorous. I don’t think I would classify this as a chick-flick, it’s definitely comparable to other war, love stories, but there was something different and unique about this film. “Atonement” is just beautiful to watch play out, all of the characters are made of skin and bone and feel very real. I underestimated this film before I walked in, the last 10 minutes are going to floor you, and I only encourage people to look for this movie.