Atonement

Beautiful again; Joe Wright, 2-0 to you. The last act has a seemingly somewhat stilted, disjointed feel (especially with the insertion of Briony's life moments), but the final denouement makes sense and emotionally shreds you, even though the sudden setting in the present day is somewhat distracting. Thank goodness for Joe Wright, who brings a kind of old-world beauty and elegance back to cinema with his way of storytelling, with emotions that send pleasant chills down the spine. I was very surprised by James McAvoy, who has undergone a personality transformation from the unlikeable bum in The Last King of Scotland to a charismatic young man whose every gesture I believed. And Keira Knightley? Despite her slightly anorexic type I have a soft spot for her, she’s improving as an actor from film to film and her face here exudes the refined beauty of a silver screen star of the pre-war era. The main musical motif is still in my head and I don’t want it to leave. (27/12/2007)

Romantic films are certainly not the kind I look for, but I have nothing about having an occasional look at genres that are not my favourite and today I decided to watch the best rated romance of 2007, Atonement. The result is that for most of the runtime I was bored and frustrated, hoping for the end. The direction is brilliant, the film has lots of gorgeous visuals, but it didn’t have much of an effect on me. But then the story jumps to the present and the end shattered me. The tempers suddenly flare and I have to say that I don’t regret putting on this film. 70% (24/08/2008)

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)

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)

Atonement is wonderfully suited for broadcast on TV channels that feature love stories. That tragic romance of unfulfilled love, fateful encounters, desire, passion, misunderstandings, sacrifices, hope, and disappointments. The producer spared no expense, and the director tried to make it a sublime visual feast with an artistic touch. But there's a catch. Atonement doesn't work for me. It's overly ambitious, and emotionally missed the mark with me. The acclaimed long shots rather bore me, and I can only appreciate the well-crafted beach scene at Dankers, where the surrounded defeated army tries to forget about the future. When looking at Keira Knightley's emaciated figure, I realized that she resembles more of a medical diagnosis than an actress. This time, I'll take the dissident position in my review... Overall impression: 45%. (22/03/2013)