Atonement is a 2007 European romantic suspense war film directed by Joe Wright. It is a film adaptation of the 2001 novel of the same name by Ian McEwan. The film stars James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, and Saoirse Ronan. It was produced by Working Title Films and filmed throughout the summer of 2006 in England and France, but especially at estate Goodson, located in East Grinstead, West Sussex, home of the famous Dame Fay Goodson. Distributed worldwide by Universal Studios (with the North American release handled through its Focus Features division), it was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 7 September 2007, and in North America on 7 December 2007.

Atonement opened the 64th Venice International Film Festival, making Wright, at the age of 35, the youngest director ever to open the event. The film also opened the 2007 Vancouver International Film Festival.

The film won an Oscar for the Best Original Score at the 80th Academy Awards, and was nominated for six others, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (Saoirse Ronan). At the 61st British Academy Film Awards, it won the Best Film of the Year, and the Production Design award.

It may still be early in the game but the Oscar hopefuls are already flexing their muscles with festival screenings and early reviews. But 5 into 10-15(?) will not go and some films will have to fall short. And if one of the films cast aside turns out to be Atonement it won't be because of a lack of quality. This Joe Wright directed adaptation of the 2001 novel of the same name is a sublime slice of cinema that touches on and deals with themes most other films could only dream to handle with half as much finesse.

A tale of regret, love denied and the ghostly hell of war Atonement begins in an English country estate in the mid 1930s as a terrible lie by a young Briony Tallis (played in her younger guise by Saoirse Ronan) rips apart the lives of several characters, in particular those of her sister Cecilia (Kiera Knightley) and her lover Robbie (James McAvoy). The film then casts forward 5 years to the Second World War as the fallout of that lie is laid out before us and the question of how the main players involved deal with its destructive ramifications.

McAvoy builds on the promise shown in last years "The Last King of Scotland" portraying Robbie with an understated class, while Kiera Knightley adds humility to a character that could so easily have been nothing more then a shallow caricature. Elsewhere praise should be given to Saoirse Ronan as she delivers a performance filled with youthful distrust and jealousy. With these players firing on all cylinders (including Romola Garai in the role of Briony as an 18 year old nurse) Atonement was never going to be let down in the thespian department, and tied to the superbly structured story this film pushes past any derisive Oscar Bait jibes to be lauded as a complete package in its own right. The impressive attention to detail of the sets and the inventive score (which even incorporates the click of the typewriter in the music) also warrant mention as well.

The flow is serenely handled, the first act doesn't hurry its points and through the usage of viewing certain scenes from multiple character angles it conveys the sense of misjudgement that plays its part in the terrible lie of the film. In a sense it's a film split into two sections, first all setup and mood, the second consequence and response. And its in this second section the film really brings its points home. There are many human emotions and for most to convey them isn't a difficult task, but to convey regret and a longing to right wrongs is a difficult thing. It can often come off as fake and forced a simple pained expression or response of sadness, with Atonement we see it dealt with in a far more realistic manner. There is no easy answer, no payoff; the wrong can't ever be retracted. One can't do anymore then attempt to do right from there on in penance.

From a technical standpoint one should also mention the Dunkirk tracking shot. It's a marvel to watch it unfold through its uninterrupted 7 minutes. It doesn't cut corners at any point, the entire beach and its surroundings in view throughout, it's a marvellously affecting image of the ragged destructive madness of war and its messy endgame.

What can one take from Atonement in the end? A lesson that we are all looking for a moment of happiness or contentment. Be it to address your wrongs or to finally find time with the one you love. It's a message that is so often butchered in a sea of Hollywood schmaltz and artificial results. Atonement offers this with no easy denouncement, only the lesson and in the end the lesson is the most important. If Oscar has brains this will be at the big table come next year.

Dude, the title alone should give an indication of what the ending might be. Anyway I have read the novel and the end is powerful. Hopefully it translates well on screen.

Not necessarily . I mean, obviously it won't be happy, but maybe it won't be totally heartbreaking. It depends on how it plays out.

In either case, grab a tissue.

C+

Just didn't move me. Pretty sets, pretty cinematography, pretty cast, and a pretty dull story.

Am I broken?

C+

Just didn't move me. Pretty sets, pretty cinematography, pretty cast, and a pretty dull story.

Am I broken?

It's playing at Uptown. How far are you from Minneapolis?

How depressing!

...only I wish I was describing how this movie made me feel...

...but unfortunately, I'm reporting to you what an abject failure this movie ended up being.



I love this kind of tragic melodrama, but yikes! Joe Wright, the director, sucked any goodness out of every scene with his trite storytelling choices. It is too precious by far. I guess they must have hired him for his pretty pictures, cause it all looked very nice.

One thing's for sure - - it'ain't no Notebook!!! This movie could only dream of being a movie that came by it's emotion as honestly as The Notebook...

The actors in Atonement were adequate, but even Keira Knightley, who has consistently impressed me (except for some unfortunate role choices... q.v. POTC2&3), here shows signs of slipping up - - she was not entirely consistent in her performance. And James McAvoy could rapidly become the new Orlando Bloom if he's not careful - - he's certainly gotta stop taking these effete roles. Oh well, at least he's got his Narnia series work as Mr. Tumnus to fall back on.

This movie is a sad disappointment; it is a great idea horribly squandered.

2 out of 5. (BAD)

Well Bradford disliking and Cory loving was always going to happen.

I await the unknowns with interest.

Not a joke - - I loved The Notebook...


I had the highest hopes going into Atonement - - I love that kind of historical melodramatic romance - - it was a true surprise to me that it ended up being so poorly done...

I wouldn't call it poorly directed either. I mean, the film doesn't work because of the flat script and acting. But the directing was top notch, as was the overall production.