Grade: B+
Certain genres have become increasingly exhausted in modern film, and the weepy, wartime romantic drama resides at the top of the list. While "Atonement" falls under this aforementioned category, director Joe Wright's creative vision transcends the genre's suffocating constraints.
Adapted from Ian McEwan's 2001 Booker Prizewinning novel of the same title, the film begins in 1930s England on a rural estate. Over a summer, 13-year-old Briony (Saoirse Ronan) develops a crush on her family's maintenance worker, Robbie (James McAvoy), who is in love with her older sister, Cecilia (Keira Knightley). When Briony catches Robbie flirting with Cecilia, she is devastated and recluses herself from the world. As Robbie's crush on Cecilia develops, he decides to write her a letter explaining his inner feelings, and as he struggles to find the right words, he jokingly writes, "In my dreams I kiss your cunt, your sweet wet cunt."
Robbie decides that it would be easier to give Briony the letter to deliver it to her sister, yet when he leaves his room he accidentally picks up the sexually explicit note. After Robbie gives her the letter, Briony considers it as an apology of sorts for his inappropriate flirtation with Cecilia. When Briony opens and reads the letter, all hell breaks loose; tragic fates unravel that set precedence for every single character in the film. The very same night, Briony's cousin Lola is raped, yet refuses to admit who committed the heinous crime. After Briony walks in on Robbie and her sister having sex, she decides that he is a sexual animal and, therefore, the only feasible culprit.
Robbie is consequently imprisoned for three years and sent off to fight in France against the Nazi army in World War II. Cecilia cuts off all ties with her family for believing Briony's lie and moves to London to pursue a career as a nurse. Prior to leaving for France, Robbie and Cecilia meet at a café and make plans to reunite after the war. Guilt-ridden, Briony begins to grasp the magnitude of her lie. To pay atonement for her wicked deeds, she abandons her dream of attending Cambridge to study nursing in London, hoping to find her sister.
While this plot might seem tired and rehashed, "Atonement" breathes new life into the war romance-drama genre via unmistakably British tongue-in-cheek humor and spellbinding cinematography. The musical score is driven by the alarming punching of typewriter keys and works in conjunction with the film's elegant, rhythmic editing to evoke a sense of taut unease. Aesthetically, "Atonement" is vastly superior to any of its contemporaries, and after the final act, the film's style is matched by its brave, yet arguably emotionally manipulative, twist.
With mere moments left, the film jumps in time to modern day where an elderly Briony (Vanessa Redgrave) is discussing her final book, titled "Atonement," on a television talk show. The novel served as an artistic catharsis for Briony, for she states that she is still haunted by her deed 70 years later. Some viewers may feel betrayed by what is later revealed in the interview, yet it is what ultimately distinguishes "Atonement" among its peers. It is a dark, frustrating film that proves our past is inescapable as well as our need for closure, even if it is contrived.
