Atonement for the Oscar!
Yesterday after work I decided to treat myself and went to see Atonement in the cinema.
And it was, quite frankly, one of the best films I have ever seen. I expected something good, of course, seeing as how the cast and crew were all top-notch, but I was still blown away by the end result. This is where it clearly shows how well a film can work out when the team falls together just right. Everything from the direction to the acting to the lighting to the cinematography and camera-work, is near-perfect and, most importantly, works together to create a stunning piece of art. And if this film does not get nominated for every single Oscar possible, I shall be very, very cross.
The story is about Briony (Saoirse Ronan) who as a thirteen-year old nosy girl finds out about the secret love affair between her older sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) and their housekeeper's son Robbie (James McAvoy Oh my God, DO ME, Mr. Tumnus!). Interpreting their relationship wrongly, she makes up her mind that Robbie is a "sex maniac", and so when their cousin is raped one night, she immediately identifies him as the culprit. The intelligent boy aspiring to be a doctor is thrown in prison, leaving Cecilia heartbroken.
The next act of the film, brilliantly set up, shows vividly how Briony's meddling has changed all their lives, leaving it up to the viewer to imagine how different it could all have been without her interference, and pointing it out regularly but so delicately that it does not feel like a big anvil.
Cecilia has run away from home and broken all contact with her upperclass family, working as a nurse in London and living in a derelict flat, waiting for Robbie, whom she still loves. Robbie, after four years in prison, is given a choice at freedom if he joins the Army. This being 1939, he gets sent to join the troops in France, with nothing but his love for Cecilia to keep him going, as he makes his way to Dunkirk to be evacuated.
Briony, now 18 (Romola Garai), is beginning to understand what exactly she has condemned her sister and Robbie to with her careless deed, and in an attempt to pay for this she gives up her studies and travels to London to also be a nurse.
The third act concentrates on the horrors of war that all three experience, in a different and yet similar way. Robbie finding a group of dead schoolgirls in a forest; Briony holding a soldier's hand as he dies crying. The chaos of the beach in Dunkirk as soldiers wait desperately for their turns to be evacuated; the chaos in the London hospitals as the first group of horribly wounded evacuees is brought in.
The viewer is spared nothing when it comes to the graphic reality of war; all the blood and dirt and horrible injuries and despair are portrayed with shocking clarity. There is one shot which is a cinematic wonder to behold, as the camera tracks over the Dunkirk beach and the people gathered there, and every single face you see tells a story. That's cinema.
PLEASE DON'T READ THE LAST BIT IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM AND WANT TO BE SURPRISED BY ITS AWESOME ENDING!
The last bit starts to get really confusing, to the point where you don't know whether this is flasback or fantasy or reality or what. All of a sudden, we're back in London, where Briony has found her sister's flat, and finds Robbie there as well, and apologises to both of them, and then walks out of their life forever, but what timeline this is, we have no idea.
Luckily, it all turns out to be intentional, as we suddenly cut to an elderly Briony (Vanessa Redgrave), who was telling the story all along, apparently. When asked if she has finally told the absolute truth, she replies that everything was the truth, except for the last part, about meeting Robbie and Cecilia, because she never did. Robbie and Cecilia never came back to each other, as we are then shown, since he died on the beach in Dunkirk, and she in the London bombings. But she made up the last part because she wanted to somehow give them back that future together that she had taken from them.
The last scene is of Robbie and Cecilia, walking on the beach together without a care in the world, loving each other, in the happy ending Briony created for them in her imagination. I could scarcely see it for crying so much.
This is an exquisite piece of cinema. There are so many fantastic cinematic moments in this I hardly know which one to point out. Robbie crying in a deserted cinema, silhouetted against the onscreen black-and-white love scene playing behind him, has to be my favourite.
Oscars this film should be nominated for (and win!): Film, Director, Adapted Scipt, Actress, Supporting Actress, Cinematography, Soundtrack, Costume Design, Make-up, Editing, Sound Editing, Art Direction, but most deservedly of all, Best Actor. James McAvoy is breathtaking, and for once I don't mean his looks. His acting is flawless, his character perfectly formed, every emotion clear in his face and body language. If he doesn't win, it will be a travesty and great injustice.
Everyone go see this film. Right now.
And it was, quite frankly, one of the best films I have ever seen. I expected something good, of course, seeing as how the cast and crew were all top-notch, but I was still blown away by the end result. This is where it clearly shows how well a film can work out when the team falls together just right. Everything from the direction to the acting to the lighting to the cinematography and camera-work, is near-perfect and, most importantly, works together to create a stunning piece of art. And if this film does not get nominated for every single Oscar possible, I shall be very, very cross.
The story is about Briony (Saoirse Ronan) who as a thirteen-year old nosy girl finds out about the secret love affair between her older sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) and their housekeeper's son Robbie (James McAvoy Oh my God, DO ME, Mr. Tumnus!). Interpreting their relationship wrongly, she makes up her mind that Robbie is a "sex maniac", and so when their cousin is raped one night, she immediately identifies him as the culprit. The intelligent boy aspiring to be a doctor is thrown in prison, leaving Cecilia heartbroken.
The next act of the film, brilliantly set up, shows vividly how Briony's meddling has changed all their lives, leaving it up to the viewer to imagine how different it could all have been without her interference, and pointing it out regularly but so delicately that it does not feel like a big anvil.
Cecilia has run away from home and broken all contact with her upperclass family, working as a nurse in London and living in a derelict flat, waiting for Robbie, whom she still loves. Robbie, after four years in prison, is given a choice at freedom if he joins the Army. This being 1939, he gets sent to join the troops in France, with nothing but his love for Cecilia to keep him going, as he makes his way to Dunkirk to be evacuated.
Briony, now 18 (Romola Garai), is beginning to understand what exactly she has condemned her sister and Robbie to with her careless deed, and in an attempt to pay for this she gives up her studies and travels to London to also be a nurse.
The third act concentrates on the horrors of war that all three experience, in a different and yet similar way. Robbie finding a group of dead schoolgirls in a forest; Briony holding a soldier's hand as he dies crying. The chaos of the beach in Dunkirk as soldiers wait desperately for their turns to be evacuated; the chaos in the London hospitals as the first group of horribly wounded evacuees is brought in.
The viewer is spared nothing when it comes to the graphic reality of war; all the blood and dirt and horrible injuries and despair are portrayed with shocking clarity. There is one shot which is a cinematic wonder to behold, as the camera tracks over the Dunkirk beach and the people gathered there, and every single face you see tells a story. That's cinema.
PLEASE DON'T READ THE LAST BIT IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM AND WANT TO BE SURPRISED BY ITS AWESOME ENDING!
The last bit starts to get really confusing, to the point where you don't know whether this is flasback or fantasy or reality or what. All of a sudden, we're back in London, where Briony has found her sister's flat, and finds Robbie there as well, and apologises to both of them, and then walks out of their life forever, but what timeline this is, we have no idea.
Luckily, it all turns out to be intentional, as we suddenly cut to an elderly Briony (Vanessa Redgrave), who was telling the story all along, apparently. When asked if she has finally told the absolute truth, she replies that everything was the truth, except for the last part, about meeting Robbie and Cecilia, because she never did. Robbie and Cecilia never came back to each other, as we are then shown, since he died on the beach in Dunkirk, and she in the London bombings. But she made up the last part because she wanted to somehow give them back that future together that she had taken from them.
The last scene is of Robbie and Cecilia, walking on the beach together without a care in the world, loving each other, in the happy ending Briony created for them in her imagination. I could scarcely see it for crying so much.
This is an exquisite piece of cinema. There are so many fantastic cinematic moments in this I hardly know which one to point out. Robbie crying in a deserted cinema, silhouetted against the onscreen black-and-white love scene playing behind him, has to be my favourite.
Oscars this film should be nominated for (and win!): Film, Director, Adapted Scipt, Actress, Supporting Actress, Cinematography, Soundtrack, Costume Design, Make-up, Editing, Sound Editing, Art Direction, but most deservedly of all, Best Actor. James McAvoy is breathtaking, and for once I don't mean his looks. His acting is flawless, his character perfectly formed, every emotion clear in his face and body language. If he doesn't win, it will be a travesty and great injustice.
Everyone go see this film. Right now.