Atonement

2007

2h 3m

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

4.6K

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Drama

Romance

A young girl irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.

Directors

Joe Wright

Writers

Christopher Hampton(screenplay by)

Ian McEwan(novel by)

Stars

James McAvoy

Keira Knightley

Saoirse Ronan

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Top cast

James McAvoy

Robbie Turner

Keira Knightley

Cecilia Tallis

Saoirse Ronan

Briony Tallis (Age 13)

Romola Garai

Briony Tallis (Age 18)

Vanessa Redgrave

Briony Tallis (Age 77)

Grace Turner

Lola Quincey

Paul Marshall

Emily Tallis

Danny Hardman

Luc Cornet

Interviewer

Naval Officer

Police Inspector

Sister Drummond

Mother of Evacuees

Vicar

Leon Tallis

Directors

Joe Wright

Writers

Christopher Hampton(screenplay by)

Ian McEwan(novel by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

"Cecilia" (Keira Knightley) has fallen for "Robbie" (James McCoy) - a man well down the social ladder from her family and their stately home. It's love, though, and the young man is doing his best to fit into their privileged world by studying (at their expense) at Cambridge with a view to becoming a doctor. Meantime, following a scene that she has completely misinterpreted and the reading of a letter that wasn't any of her business, their behaviour is being rather unhealthily scrutinised by her thirteen year old sister "Briony" (Saoirse Ronan) who soon becomes fixated on the couple, on destroying the couple and to that latter end she concocts a story that not only achieves her goal, but sees "Robbie" wrongly incarcerated for a fairly heinous crime. The war intervenes and that gives the lovers a chance to recalibrate their feelings for each other whilst the now more mature "Briony" (now Romola Garai) with whom her sister has become estranged, is having a serious crisis of conscience and travels to London to be both a nurse and to take responsibility for her behaviour five years earlier. This is a complex and detailed piece of cinema and McAvoy delivers really well as the honest and decent lad caught up in a web of deceit and envy. Knightley is less effective - but still contributes well enough as the truth is finally known before an inevitable tragedy strikes. It's a story about the ramifications of a lie, but it's also about people's abilities to love, forgive and to judge. Loyalty might only be skin deep but regret lasts for ever, and ever might not be so long as you might hope. Dario Marianelli has created a masterful score to accompany this story and the writing and Joe Wright's subtle direction ensure we steer well clear of the melodramatic and the sentimental as the denouement looms and Vanessa Redgrave appears for a quite fitting final mea culpa. A straightforward British period drama this isn't and it's well worth a watch on big screen for the a cinematography that marries the rustic charm of rural England with the horrors of bombs, bullets and blood poignantly.

Geronimo196709 Feb, 2024