Movies: Atonement

A big contender for Oscar season, Atonement is beautiful film to watch. The cast, the setting, the cinematography, that dress, it's all quite sumptuous.

I never got around to reading the book, and although it's impossible to be objective, I think my ignorance of the story enhanced my appreciation of the film. A young girl in war-time England tells an untruth and sets into motion a nasty chain of events. Keira Knightly and James McAvoy are the main victims of her revelation and it's all achingly beautiful and poignant. It's a tale of love, lust, betrayal, war, the damage of a lie, (and silence), and finally, the strive for the titular amends.

Ms Knightly positively smolders and looks stunning throughout. In fact, I fancied her in the movie more so than Mr McAvoy, despite his having beefed up his physique since the last role I witnessed him in; Mr Tumnis in The Chronicles of Narnia. And of course, it's all frightfully, "teddibly" British. One character is offered a scotch and responds "Rather!!" and I'm sure another one mentioned a "Binky". These antiquated attempts at propriety only make the crime all the more damaging, but the movie never attempts to be overly emotional or sentimental. Even the unexpected final scenes, which I initially felt were jarring, evoke sympathy rather than tears. In less restrained or deft hands, it would have been a big old sob-fest, which would have detracted from the fundamental message of the movie, which is so perfectly stated in the title.