Earlier this week someone suggested I (finally) watch Atonement so I figured, what the hey, I can finally get it off my to-watch list. Plus there’s
no such thing as too much Keira Knightley, right? Right?
If you were born at the wrong time (like
me) or just born under a rock (like me), Atonement (dir. By Joe Right) is the
story of young lovers Cecilia Tallis (Keira Knightley) and Robbie Turner(James
McAvoy) whose relationship and lives are torn apart by a lie naively
constructed by Cecilia’s younger sister, Briony (Saoirse Ronan). Spanning a
period of four years, the story is told beautifully complete with dreamy and whimsical
visuals and honest perspective through the use of non-linear timelines.
I’ll be honest with you Atonement really surprised me. I
expected the story to unfold very differently, with a beaten down Robbie
overcoming all manner of obstacles to eventually make it back to his lovely
Cecilia, and thus thwarting the evil scheming of Briony. The film completely
rose past and smashed those expectations and showed me is
was a far better film than I thought, one full of suggestions, symbolism and
nuances.
Take Briony who, by all accounts, should
have been seen as the main antagonist of the film. Except, one can’t help but
feel sorry for her, beginning to end. Far more intelligent than her age would
suggest, Briony felt extremely isolated from those close to her age and was
desperate to gain the admiration of those she believed her peers (namely
Robbie). Every scene of Briony’s early adolescence is rife with dreamy imagery
and playful innocence, a constructed world of Briony’s fanciful imagination.
Briony worked hard to ensure that the world fit her imagined view o telling lies to herself and others to the detriment of Robbie and Cecilia’s
happiness.
Even Keira Knightley’s Cecilia surprised me
to no end. While I expected a perfect ‘English rose’ polite and charming, what
I got was a mildly short-tempered, often haughty, wealthy young woman whose saving grace was her passion, intelligence and fierce intuition (she was
still quite charming though). Cecilia’s relationship with her sister was never
forced, a beautifully quiet bond that was painful to see dissolve throughout
the course of the film. In fact, Cecilia’s relationships with her brother and
her mother was also very apparent, although both were in the film for a minimal
amount of time. It was that that made me taking a liking to her, and it also made me
realise that this wasn’t a film about blame, it was simply telling a story.
I couldn’t talk about this film without
mentioning Robbie. Educated, humble but thoroughly working class, it doesn’t take
a rocket scientist to figure out he’s infatuated with Cecelia. As a ward of her
father, he is indebted to the family but still holds his own insecurities. With
every interaction he has with Cecilia, it’s evident he doesn’t believe he holds
a candle to her. As I was watching the film I couldn’t help think about the
effects of classism on a person’s psyche. I mean, you can have the best
education in the world (Robbie went to a private school), the best
opportunities in the world and still believe you are inferior. A few other
films come to mind when I think of that, perhaps I’ll write a post on
that.
Back to Atonement: I do think what really stood out to me was how beautiful the film was. I
thought I was prepared for some pretty good scenes but I was blown away by the
sheer magnificence of the visuals. Atonement was full of pastels
and florals that It spoke of girlish childishness. Even the scenes of war-wracked
soldiers had it’s own beauty and symbolism. What really took the cake though, was the use of different perspectives
throughout the film. Nothing was exactly as it seemed, there was always deeper
meaning and Atonement showed us just
that without even giving the characters lines that differed from the apparent norm. It did what good movies do best: it did not tell, it showed.
Music throughout the film matched the
visuals and the plot to a tee (I have just discovered that the score earned an
Oscar, yes). From the beautiful operas of the love stricken Robbie, to the
discordant piano playing as their lives fall to shamble, the music always
maintained it’s own level ethereal beauty.
This was a movie of highlights. Every actor
involved performed beautifully, especially Saoirse Ronan, Keira Knightly and
James McAvoy. One of my favourite scenes occurred as Briony escaped into the
wilderness, through a tunnel of lovely flowers, her blue dress and blonde hair
reminding me of Alice falling into Wonderland. And how could I neglect to mention
the excellent long take that showed the full extent that the war had on
soldiers and their resilience. I love Atonement,
I cried and marvelled like a little baby and I can only hope that someday I’d be
able to make a film just like it.
Rating: 10/10
Have you got any thoughts on the film? Or perhaps a suggestion for another review. Let me know!
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