Wow…ok. So, I’m really bad at writing these as soon as I watch the movie. Guess that is something I need to work on. Perhaps it’ll come back to me when I actually get back into the swing of writing…which is the point of this blog. Anyway, about a month ago (July 1 to be exact) I took out the movie Atonement from the library at school. My reasons for watching this movie in particular were essentially two fold.
1. It was on the list of 1001 movies that you should see before you die .
2. It has my favorite British actor in it, Benedict Cumberbatch.
With these reasons in mind, I set out to watch Atonement (2007) starring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy and it was, in all honesty, a very good movie. I do recommend seeing it if you haven’t. I believe that I would have enjoyed it more if I didn’t know the twists that were already in the movie.
The movie starts out by establishing the characters, which is how any good movie should start, and then it sets up a really interesting way to tell the story. (If you haven’t seen the movie, don’t fear, I’m not going to give away much.) The movie establishes that Briony Tallis, played by Saoirse Ronan, will be the narrator of the tale, but what makes the story interesting is that she is an unreliable narrator. We see the story through Briony’s eyes, which is selective at best, and then the story turns around and shows the audience what actually happened in those scenes, which leaves the audience in a constant state of not knowing what is truth or only ones perception of the truth.
Moving on…The plot of the movie itself is rather simple. Boy of a lower class falls in love with girl of a higher class. The circumstances that they realize they both love each other are strange, but it works for the story seeing as this sets up almost the entirety of the movie. You see Robbie Turner (James McAvoy’s character) writes a letter to Cecilia Tallis (Keira Knightley) explaining how he is sorry for embarrassing her, but this is not before writing her a vulgar letter explaining how much he wants her. In a moment of his confusion he sends the wrong letter, which Briony (Cecilia’s little sister) opens and reads. This simple act sets off a series of events (which I won’t describe here so no one is spoiled) that lead Robbie Turner to war and Cecilia Tallis to be a nurse where she hopes to meet Robbie again.
What I love most about this story is that it is a love story, but not in the traditional sense. And that’s all I’m going to say about the ending.
Oh, and of course as a film geek I do have to point out that the cinematography was just breathtaking. There was this one scene (which I have included because I love it so much) that is done in one solid shot and it pretty much sums up the emotional state of Robbie. Usually shots like this leave the audience feeling slightly off kilter, but this shot just leaves you with a sense of despair and longing for Robbie to return to Cecilia. It’s so moving and touching that I can’t even describe it. It is one of my favorite scenes from any movie I’ve seen.
So, what’s my opinion of Atonement? It definitely deserves its rank on the 1001 movies you must see before you die list. It’s beautiful with an intriguing plot and a fabulous cast. Even my favorite actor, who plays the creepiest character ever in this movie I might add, helps to create a wonderful experience…even if I was slightly disturbed.
Atonement starring Keira Knightley and James MacAvoy was incredibly beautiful and almost what I expected in every way. Sadly, I was spoiled beforehand and knew the ending twists. But, I still highly recommend seeing this movie at some point in time. Even if only to watch Benedict be creepy.
