First off, I didn’t care for the story. This does not mean that it’s bad. It was the story itself that was not my cup of tea.
Atonement is the story of a young girl who sees something she shouldn’t and misinterprets it. As a result, lives are ruined. It is a well told story and all the actors are great. The first part takes place on the estate of a wealthy family a few years before the second world war breaks out. It’s lush, breathtaking and sets the stage.
During the war, the young girl, Briony Tallis, has grown up and is trying to make right what she did wrong. The ending is different, possibly not entirely unexpected, but works very well. I’ll spoil things this much; Vanessa Redgrave has a great cameo appearance. I love Vanessa Redgrave. She brings elegance, class and perfection to anything she does.
If this kind of story is something you like, you will most certainly enjoy this movie.
Now, a gripe… Keira Knightly really needs to put on some weight. There are a couple of scenes where she stands completely sideways and the girl is flatter than a set wall!
That’s it.
Tags: movies
Janelle – thanks for coming by. The actors were terrific and yep, the cinematography was first class. I do disappoint myself sometimes because as much as a movie is great in so many ways, I just don’t like the story and feel that I should. I’m weird, lol.
Thanks for commenting on my blog recently, Jayne! I’ve been meaning to blog about Atonement but haven’t gotten around to it. My biggest problem was I was really looking forward to it, having been a big fan of Pride & Prej and also since James McAvoy is one of my new faves, but I spoiled the concept for myself on Wikipedia without reading the whole book and so throughout the whole thing I kept thinking, “Is this really good, or do I just want it to be? Do I really like it?” Exhausting. But I thought the actors did a great job and the cinematography was exquisite.