Atonement

It is surprising that at a time when filmmakers sully one quality book after another that for several years now, adaptations of the works of Ian McEwan have been successful, that you very much. Each of the five adaptations of his works so far worked well and three of them very well. And that includes Atonement which, while not being his best, is McEwan’s best known novel. Joe Wright is growing into a big name of contemporary cinema. And if you think that McAvoy is just a pretty boy with a sexy accent, this movie will set you right. You don’t often see so many powerful scenes linked together into one effective whole that works on several levels at once. And the fact that Atonement just happens to rag you through all shades of emotional feelings is just icing on the cake. (01/01/2008)

Oddly enough, I find Atonement a bit more interesting plot-wise than Pride and Prejudice. The costumes and atmosphere generally suit me. I like the appropriate seriousness of the situation. Overall, I feel like the film means something and carries an idea. The cast is good, although Keira doesn't stand out as much as I think she should. But yes, a well-made film that I'll happily watch a few more times. 4 stars. (30/07/2011)

The king for the second time and completely differently. It would be too easy and an excuse to compare it to verbose Pride and Prejudice. Atonement, on the other hand, takes a completely different approach, with the only common aspect. Both films are so personal to me that they grow with every subsequent screening. And so, even though Wright the director and visual perfectionist occasionally surpasses Wright the storyteller, the criticisms disappear precisely because the audiovisual aspect surpasses the majority of what I have seen in life in grand or conversely intimate scenes. Just Atonement, whose literary source is one grand intimate psychological study, is not a piece of cake for adaptation. Master Joe is absolutely unique among contemporary creators in one aspect. He can guide actors to such an extent that they completely merge with their characters and from the screen, desire, love, hidden emotions, and helplessness scream. And I feel how they scream right at me, and so loudly - and I understand them. At this moment, it seems to me that some atonements will be made forever. Happiness is sometimes terribly far away. (14/03/2008)

To be quite sincere, I’ve never liked this type of movie much, but this time I’m glad that I decided to make an exception and watch this one. Atonement is a wartime drama that has much more inside it than it seems at first glance. And the standard of the acting performances and directing make it impossible for me to give it anything less than a full set of stars. (29/02/2008)

It's all point-of-view shots, things are made subjective, and it has a fragmented narrative, hypothesis, flashbacks, and flash-forwards (maybe even front-flashes, but I'm not going to segment that for you)... But hell with all that. When in the end it's all washed away by the perfection of Vanessa Redgrave's performance, I even end up believing it's 1935 given Keira Knightley’s performance. (05/02/2012)