Atonement – Movie Review
I said I wouldn’t post anything until after my exams, but… As you can see, I have no self-control.
Ok, so I think Atonement is one of those movies where it becomes better each time you watch it. I remember the first time I watched it, I found it quite boring and too depressing. I hated Briony and was so angry at the end of the film. But after watching it the second time, I actually started to like it and began to appreciate the great shots and poignancy of the film.
Set in the 1930s England, ‘Atonement’ tells of how Briony Tallis (played by Saoirse Ronan) falsely accused her elder sister Cecilia Tallis’ (played by Keira Knightley) lower class lover Robbie Turner (played by James McAvoy) of raping their cousin Lola.
The story goes from the idyllic Tallis estate, to the second world war, where Robbie was sent to after being convicted of the rape, and also to the hospitals during that time, where both Briony and Cecilia worked. Like the title suggests, Briony tries to atone for what she did, but was never able to right the wrong, and repair the relationship between her and her sister, or her sister and Robbie.
The one who should be commended the most for his acting is no doubt James McAvoy. He played Robbie really well and even though he doesn’t look like those typical A-List handsome male stars, his acting totally makes up for it. He’s done a great job disguising his thick Scottish accent too, that I didn’t even know he had one! It was only the other day when I was watching The Graham Norton show with James McAvoy on it, that I realised how thick of an accent he had. It was really hard trying to figure out what he was saying, and I had to actually concentrate to understand.
Keira Knightley played Cecilia relatively well although her expressions (the pout!) are quite similar to all her expressions in her other films. She’s not bad, but I can’t say that she’s good either. She doesn’t make me cringe, so at least that’s a plus. But no doubt the thing she pulls off the best is looking pretty! I can’t fault her on that at all.
Saoirse Ronan played Briony so convincingly that every time I saw her on the screen, I wanted to get up and punch her in the face. Briony’s arrogant, self-righteous personality is still so frustrating no matter how many times I see it. I guess that just shows how well she acted doesn’t it? By the way, I always wondered how to actually pronounce the name Saoirse and I finally found out that it’s pronounced as ‘Ser-sha’. What? That is so weird. The older actress who acts as the 18-year-old Briony wasn’t that great though. Throughout her entire performance, I felt like she was really fake and poser-ish. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me. Vanessa Redgrave who played the 76-year-old Briony was much better. Yeah she sorta looked like a giant, but she totally pulled off the interview.
Anyways, Joe Wright directed this film and yeah, he was pretty good. He then goes on to direct ‘Hanna’ which starred Saoirse Ronan as well, so I guess she must have worked really well in ‘Atonement’. Well actually, if I think about it, he directed ‘Pride and Prejudice’ with Keira Knightley too. So does that mean she works really well too…?
The script has very few lines, and the film is probably more about what’s not being said, than what is. I reckon the best part though, is when Robbie is at war and he says in a voiceover to Cecilia “Find you, Love you, Marry you, and Live without shame…” I squeal so much every time I see that scene! It’s so sweet and cute and so incredibly sad at the same time. Argh!
Overall, ‘Atonement’ is a well-made film; very deserving of its Oscar nominations ad awards. The first time may not be so good, but it does grow on you eventually. It’s probably one of the deepest movies I’ve seen, but that’s not saying much since (as you can tell from my movie list), most movies I watch are rom-coms. The acting is good, the plot (though slow at times) isn’t too bad, but mostly, it’s the shots that are really brilliant.
7/10.
funnibee 