'Atonement' is a sure Oscar contender
How good can an adaptation of a novel be? Can it capture the heart-breaking moments; the life altering secrets; the moment when a character can turn a misunderstanding in a clear picture? It can do all of these when the adaptation is Atonement. This is a film that is so well written, acted and directed the audience will immediately be drawn in. Once that happens, good night; the film takes the viewer on a journey that spans decades. Most importantly, nothing rings false or of manipulation.
As all epic stories tend to be, Atonement is about two lovers from different classes. But, unlike most, the class structure is only in the background. Set in the late 1930s in the English country, the story centers on the well-off Tallis family. Cecilia (Knightley) is the beautiful daughter drawn to Robbie (McAvoy), the gardener whose Cambridge education has been paid for by the Tallis family. Though both try not to act on their impulses, it is, to say the least, difficult.
When an explicit letter is delivered and read by Cecilia's young sister Briony (Ronan), who also has a crush on Robbie, it begins a series of misunderstandings that causes a mistake to be made. Robbie, in turn, is taken away in handcuffs, Cecilia is devastated, and Briony will only later realize the true effects of what she has done.
Four years pass. Robbie is a soldier in France; he and the rest of the British army head for the English Channel on a retreat from Dunkirk.
The bizarre hell that was the retreat is seen in these sequences. It is in these sequences that director Wright and his production team, led by cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, excel. Highlighting this is a long, involved tracking shot that's so well done as it twists and turns through the soldiers. The shot does is show the broken soldiers; shows the devastation. The audience feels the uncertainty that the soldiers are experiencing.
At the same time Briony (Garai), now 18, is serving as a nurse in England, trying somehow to come to terms with what she did to her sister and Robbie. Briony wants desperately to correct the mistake she made and goes to great lengths to do so. The question is: was it an honest mistake or one that had its foundation in jealously?
Director Joe Wright and screenwriter Christopher Hampton have kept the structure of Ian McEwan's novel and never gives too much away. There's never a feeling that Wright and Hampton are trying to outsmart the audience. Rather, the feeling is just the opposite. The respect the material receives by Wright and Hampton is a strong lesson to other filmmakers who are adapting novels.
Wright, who directed Knightley in his first feature film, Pride and Prejudice (2005), shows his skilled ability to take period stories and give them the scope they need by creating strong individual scenes that build on each other.
Wright gets another strong performance from Knightley, but it is McAvoy who steals the film with a performance worthy of an Oscar nomination. In the early going, he embodies the boyish charm and slight fear of a young man in love. Later, the charm is ripped from him and replaced by a determination to be with his love no matter what stands in his way. There, too, is the anger he feels having been wronged by Briony. The role of Briony as a whole doesn't have much dialogue, but Both Garai and Ronan are very good. Both actresses are able to translate the uneasiness, awkwardness and deep sorrow Briony feels throughout her life.
Atonement is a sure Oscar contender, not because it's the epic romance that Hollywood loves, but because it's strongly directed and acted with a moving, powerful story done in a respectful and thoughtful way. It's a film that audiences will remember long after they see it.
Atonement - A Focus Features release. Directed by Joe Wright. Starring Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Romola Garai, Brenda Blethyn, Vanessa Redgrave, Saoirse Ronan, Patrick Kennedy, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Juno Temple. Rated R.