Review: Atonement

Originally posted at Epinions

Two figures stand by a fountain. A little girl watches from a window. What the girl thinks she sees only marginally corresponds with what actually occurs between the man and woman below. A little girl’s perception, a little girl’s imagination, a confusion, occasionally deliberate, of truth. This is what lies at the heart of Joe Wright’s Atonement.

Atonement is the second feature by director Joe Wright, his 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice being his first. An adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel, Atonement tells the story of writer Bryony Tallis, her sister Cecilia, and their gardener Robbie Turner. It’s a story of love, hurt, passion, and forgiveness: what the characters involved want, need, and ultimately fail to find.

The story begins in England on the cusp of World War I. Over the course of an evening lives are torn apart by a crime of lust and young Bryony’s purposely false accusation of guilt. As a result Robbie Turner is torn from his lover Cecilia. The story continues through the war four years later, telling the story of Cecilia and Robbie’s attempt to reclaim the life that was stolen from them and of Bryony’s attempt to make things right.

The narrative meanders throughout the course of the film, the story being told out of sequence and from different points of view. We see glimpses of the private lives of Robbie, Cecilia, and Bryony. But what is true and what is imagined? What version of events can we trust? How much is Bryony’s invention?

As a result of how the story is told you do have to pay attention. There are enough cues that I never found it so disorienting as to take me out of the film. In the end everything makes sense and any questions I was left with seem to be left unanswered for a reason. The idea is that if it’s not our story we can only know as much as we are told. If our narrator is unreliable then we can trust what they give us only so far. The idea of trust and ambiguity in a narrative is one that I find fascinating and films that explore that generally appeal to me. I enjoy being allowed to think and question, I like being challenged. Atonement succeeds in this sense.

Of course, while there are questions raised, enough is given that if you are more inclined to see a movie that is straightforward Atonement can still be perfectly enjoyable. While not completely linear, its narrative is not confusing. The visuals are lush and the acting is strong. Keira Knightly continues to impress and James McAvoy makes Robbie Turner such an incredibly sympathetic character that it is near impossible to not ache for him.

Saoirse Ronan is Bryony at 13 while Romola Garai comes in for the older 18-year-old Bryony. I personally prefer Garai’s older Bryony but Ronan is still solid. I think for me it may be more that Bryony is more complex character at 18 and therefore more sympathetic. Vanessa Redgrave also has a few minutes as Bryony at the end of her life and, interestingly, I found this elderly Bryony to be the least sympathetic of all. Where the child acts out of hurt and the young woman seeks to repair, the old woman has fallen back on the sins she committed at 13 and seems to have failed to grasp the lessons she should have learned.

Balancing the different view points expressed in Atonement is tricky at times and as a result the pacing is a bit off. It slows down in the middle which is unfortunate considering the slowest portion had the potential to be the most affecting. Where it could have added substantially to the emotional impact of the film, the problems with pacing instead detract from it. So while I felt sad as I watched the credits roll, my eyes remained dry.

I love Wright’s use of long, moving shots, how he deals with the passage of time, as well as his use of sound (most notably the use of the sound of a type writer in Atonement). I’m incredibly interested to see what Wright does with his next film, The Soloist.

Atonement is a good, almost excellent film. There are flaws for sure but it’s strengths make up for them. A beauty to watch, characters to care for, Atonement is a film definitely worth seeing.