Brilliant is the word.... Review on Atonement Movie

Come to me.  Come back to me.

That's what this movie tells you once the credits roll.

A word - an eternal power

In a wrong place at a wrong time

Drawn out for a wrong reason,

More is the loss inflicted than a weapon.

Those lines came to my mind the instance I finished watching Atonement. I am convinced; some movies can make crazy poets out of normal humans.

The Movie Reel:*

An incident can mean different things to different people involved in it. What the onlookers make of it can be quite a different story.

Atonement tells a story that takes it’s course from misunderstandings of a teenaged girl. These misunderstandings though being a part of her growing up, fall too heavily on the people she cares for, almost altering their lives in ways they never thought of. Atonement for her is not as easy as she thinks. The injuries caused on minds and souls are irreversible. Guilt eats her up in more than one way. Will she ever get a way to change the aftermath of her actions? Will she ever be able to set things right for her victims? As for that little girl, she never really grows up. The impact of her actions on herself is so much that guilt kills her youth to restrict her thought process back to that single incident in her past.

Not much can be explained here in terms of the plot as it might hamper the experience of actually watching the movie.

The Key Players:

Robbie Turner played by James McAvoy is the son of the Tallis family housekeeper who has the good fortune of studying in Cambridge due to the goodwill of his mother towards the Tallis family. He has grown up to be a handsome young man. Everything is just so fine in his life until that beautiful night in the library. Little does he know what's in store for him. James McAvoy does a splendid job as a tragic hero Robbie Turner. Specially his outburst scene when he comes face to face with Briony again at one point.

Cecilia Tallis played by Keira Knightley is a classy young girl, the elder of the two Tallis sisters. Attractive to say the least. She is just what a girl is when she steps in womanhood. In the library, when she shares a moment with Robbie, it's phenomenal that her destiny is nailed to his. Kierra Knightley gives a nuanced performance as the young romantic Cecilia Tallis, slipping in the skin of a British girl of the 1930s', what with her stylish accent and her gracious body language.

Briony Tallis played by Saoirse Ronan(at age 13), Romola Garai(at age 18), Vanessa Redgrave(at age 77) is the younger of the two Tallis sisters. She is a bright young girl who loves literature. She is working on a play when we are first introduced to her at age of 13. But that tender heart that understands and appreciates arts in various forms, will it understand love? In the movie, the other two lead characters change and take paths which come out of Briony's misinterpreted observations, but Briony never changes. She is the same throughout her life stuck in guilt somewhere at her tender age of 13. Briony Tallis is the most important character of Atonement. Each of the actors do their parts with conviction carving a niche for themselves in the viewer's mind. The best part of their work is, we never see the respective actors at the character's different ages but Briony Tallis herself.

Technically:

Based on Ian McEwan's critically acclaimed novel of the same name, Atonement is directed by Joe Wright, who has previously directed  and brought to life Jane Austen's novel Pride  and Prejudice. Joe Wright needs to be applauded for his work in Atonement. He gives us a movie of immense literary value. To know what I am talking about, you need to watch Atonement and discover some of the most unforgettable scenes. There is one scene captured from eyes of three soldiers trying to gulp in the chaos on a beach of Dunkirk. This scene continues uncut for almost 5 mins. But the impact remains on our mind so much that I had to mention the scene in this review. Or the scene where Robbie has a vision of his mother at Dunkirk. Or the scene where one of the nurses asks Briony to wash blood off her face. It refers straight to the human life wasted due to Briony’s age old mistake. Or Briony's interview in the final scenes. Each word she utters gives a new dimension to the whole story. It's like visiting those some of those lost moments all over again but from a different perspective to differentiate between fact and fiction.

Other than the brilliant screenplay by Christopher Hampton and hypnotizing musical score by Dario Marianelli, the most noteworthy asset of Atonement is it's excellent cinematography by Seamus McGarvey. Some of the frames in this movie seem almost like paintings. So beautiful that, you don't want particular scenes to move ahead. Eye-catching. That’s the adjective.

Saying so doesn't make the musical score or screenplay any smaller. The musical score will be long remembered for the sound of Briony's typewriter in background which is repeated at many important junctures in the film. And the screenplay does justice to Ian McEwan's literary work. Blending different perspectives of one incident and differentiating between what's true and what's not can be quite a nightmare for a screenplay writer. But while watching the movie, Christopher Hampton seems to be enjoying his work.

There is only one word to describe Atonement, "Haunting" because it haunts the viewer with it's cinematography, music, characters and mostly of all it's climax. A movie to be watched over and over again only to discover something new each time.

Brilliant is the word.

Quotes from the Movie:

Cecilia Tallis: **I love you. I'll wait for you. Come back. Come back to me.

Robbie Turner: **[voiceover] Dearest Cecilia, the story can resume. The one I had been planning on that evening walk. I can become again the man who once crossed the surrey park at dusk, in my best suit, swaggering on the promise of life. The story can resume. I will return. Find you, love you, marry you and live without shame.

Briony - 18 years old: **There is no Briony.

Sister Drummond: **Now go and wash the blood off your face.

Tommy Nettle: **Never trust a sailor on dry land.

Robbie Turner: **For the record, the last thing I am is a toff.

Tommy Nettle: We fight in France and the French fu*g hate us.