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Atonement

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Atonement (2007)

December. 07,2007
|
7.8
|
R
| Drama Romance
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As a 13-year-old, fledgling writer Briony Tallis irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.

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Reviews

Greenes
2007/12/07

Please don't spend money on this.

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Fairaher
2007/12/08

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

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Numerootno
2007/12/09

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

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Erica Derrick
2007/12/10

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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bibliub
2007/12/11

And that typewriter sound. the music is bad enough without that patronizing, embarrassing gesture to "remind" us about the fictitious version of the account... wow, what a visionary move lol

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The Movie Diorama
2007/12/12

Sprawling across six decades, it chronicles a crime and the unfortunate consequences that follow. I have yet to see all of Joe Wright's filmography at the time of this review, but this is easily his most competent. Having not read the source material, I've heard that the book's structure makes it rather difficult to adapt. Seemingly Wright made it look easy. Embedding character perspectives, integrating flashbacks and utilising a clear three act structure. The journey we are taken on seems small in scale but draws in on the vast historical events of WWII to make an epic romance. It portrays how a child's vivid imagination and innocence of youth can cause damage to others in years to come. A false accusation that splits young love apart. There's something so ominous and vindictive about such a feeble mistake, that it packs one heck of a punch to the heart. The characters portrayed are all played out incredibly well and become fully developed by the heartbreaking end, which I'm sure will depress you all. It's a resonating tale, but one not without shock value. Some career best performances from Knightley, McAvoy and Ronan. They all captured the elegance and lavish lifestyle of the first act to then succumb to the emotional devastation of acts two and three. Wright's bold direction is what truly captivates, particularly the infamous one take scene of Dunkirk's evacuation. The props, the extras, the camera placement...it all came together to create an aria of desolation. It was sublime. The sound editing was notably fantastic also, especially the cacophony of typewriting sounds. Marianelli's score was beautifully haunting and deserved all the recognition it got. I do find the acts to be incredibly different and jarring, which consequently means I have to take a few minutes to adapt to the adjusted tempo of the narrative. Also, the gorgeous cinematography slowly fades as the running time gradually concludes. However, this is a solid piece of cinema that showcases excellent talent on and off screen.

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terrisirig
2007/12/13

I loved this movie, and I'm not a 'romance' movie person (more drama and horror). The more I thought about it, the more I hated Briony the character. Atonement? Really? Wait until you are an old person, probably every person who could have benefited from the truth is dead,every single person, and now you write the truth? For what exactly? She waited so that anyone who could have cared is dead and gone and can't judge her anymore for lying. And her reason? To give them what they ultimately wanted? That's a pretty picture in her head to justify somehow waiting all those years to reveal the truth, when it really doesn't matter anymore. Briony knew she did wrong when you see her looking out the window as they took him away. To show them happy, 50 years later was it? On a beach? How romantic...and fake...something you conjure up in your mind to help you sleep at night. She basically killed both of those 2 characters within 4 years...nice. A jealous, nosy busy- body preteen whose actions killed 2 people and ruined more lives (the mothers/parents, brother, etc.), and is now confessing in her book as some sort of atonement, when she really is dying of cancer and needs to feel like it matters...well at this point it doesn't. The 'scene' she caught in the woods was consensual, but her cousin couldn't outright admit to having premarital rough sex, could she..so she also went along with the charade to look like a victim. But if Briony didn't accuse someone, no one would have gotten hurt, there just would have been a lot of hard questions as to what was happening out there when she should have been looking for her brothers instead of having fun with some guy she was attracted to. Good movie, hated how it ended,but I suppose it was appropriate. The only part of the ending that makes up for it is that I think Briony ended up alone all her life..

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maddysmother
2007/12/14

Looks like I'm one of the few out there that was not a fan of the movie. While I think the acting was superb, the sets and locations were stunning and visually appealing, the sound track was wonderful, the style of the movie was not to my liking. The movie is written in snippets, telling a story, then back filling it in. It continues to do this throughout the entire length of the movie, and I found it at times hard to follow and cumbersome. I don't believe the actual story line made itself known until about and 1 1/2 hours into the movie, and I was disappointed in how it wrapped itself up. I didn't hate it, but won't be keeping it on my list of movies to re-watch.

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