"Atonement" Review

Authored by Super Special Guest Poster and Honorary MamaPop Betch, Heather of No Pasa Nada

When I first heard that Ian McEwan's acclaimed novel 'Atonement' was to be adapted for the silver screen, I could only think "Fantastic! Briony Tallis in REAL time." I often find myself discouraged by characters who are generally crappy people that I would rather give a swift kick to than have over for drinks. And Briony Tallis is no exception. She is the epitome - at least on paper - of the word 'brat'. In fact I bet if you looked up the word 'petulant' in the dictionary, there she'd be in all of her sharp facial featured, lanky glory. This of course is all based upon a work of literature. My feelings of disdain towards Briony Tallis - the younger sister of the inevitably doomed and lovely Ceclia - and her needy and eventually damaging behavior gives major props to Ian McEwan as a truly gifted writer. It takes great skill to be able to develop a character so throughly, such as he did with young Briony Tallis, that I spent roughly 400 pages and five days wanting to punt her into the English Channel. 

Petulance wasn't the only thing that left me reluctant to see this film. I fear that what I am about to say will make me wildly unpopular, but I wasn't a huge fan of the book. While it did grip me at the end with a gentle tugging of the heart strings the rest of the book was like an excellent substitute for an Abmien. What can I say? Except that I'm neither a fan of British literature nor am I all that moved by most war/love stories. The outcome always seems to be the same with no fast pace to leave me completely intrigued. I, my friends, am not a fan of love stories. Was it well written? Yes. Of course. Especially in the way that McEwan seamlessly moved forward and back again so that the reader could see the whole picture. Briony's young point of view back to Ceclia's and her love for Robbie. He was able to show every single facet on paper which is beyond admirable. And yet I shut the book with an 'eh' and moved onto some random Dan Brown novel. I know. I know. Sue me.   

The book and movie is the story of a forbidden love affair between Robbie Turner, the son of a housemaid (played by James McAvoy) and Ceclia Tallis a well off and stunning English woman (played by Keira Knightly) and her younger sister, Briony Tallis (played by Saoirse Ronan). It's Ronan's impenetrable portrayal of Briony that has earned her an Oscar nomination. I must say that if you've read the book and envisioned Briony as I envisioned her, Ronan couldn't have captured her flaws and mannerisms more superbly. Since this is a movie review and not necessarily a comparison study, we follow everything as Briony sees it from the point of view of a 13 year old, aspiring writer living within the confines of her imagination. It is this along with the comprehension of a young girl that will lead to the demise of Cecilia and Robbie's romance. The two are separated by something that Briony thinks she sees and as the story follows as Cecilia and Robbie have a love affair - the stuff that epics are made of - via letters and flashbacks and the soft whispers that only lovers can share of "come back to me". All while she is a nurse and he is stationed with the British Expeditionary Force during World War II. The flashbacks and various points of views from Cecilia and Robbie to young Briony's are done in such a way that it isn't jarring to the viewer but instead a smooth transition depicting how completely innocuous everything that Briony saw had been.

It's a love story. Which is what really matters. The love story of two people fighting to get back to one another during a time of uncertainty. The same story as written on paper but there is something magical about being able to watch the interaction between Robbie and Cecilia along with breathtaking cinematography (Old house on the English countryside, sweeping war scenes) which makes all of their angst and want and passion become your angst, want and passion. And even though I was no Keira Knightly fan for the duration - she doesn't really say or do much - I wanted to root for them and still I was able to finally see where Briony was coming from. The kicker though, the part that will cause your chest to feel like a labrador retriever is sitting on it, is in the ending. Without giving anything away, Vanessa Redgrave, in 10 minutes of her legendary glory, brings the story together. She puts Cecilia's love and the development of understand between a 13 year old and an 18 year old to a close. With her at the end, the visual close up, the one on one, everything comes together. And at once, I could feel the atonement.

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Visit Heather at www.nopasanada.org