Come back to me...

Rating: 10/10 (31 January 2008)

A testament of the power of word, this movie has a poetic aura that makes it impressive.A kid, Briony, mistaking her older sister's love for a house servant for abuse against her makes a terrible revelation that will haunt the three people's lives forever.
What impressed me mostly about this picture was it's flow.Expanding over six years this movie has no gaps and the story proceeds nicely.I have not read the book but here everything is put in a magnificent order.The flash-backs that initially follow after Briony watches something disturbing work amazingly, we always believe that she has watched something bad only to be wronged when we observe the whole picture.There is no time-killing,either. Everything here has a reason and all the moments of the film contribute to it's climax, contrary to modern block-busters that tend to spend time over trivial scenes almost nothing can be omitted here. The passage from the Manor's scenes to Dunkerke and is set down nicely and the story maintains it's focus. The ending of the film is strong and ties the whole movie.It is after all a story praising the power of the expression and it begins as it ended with a tribute to the written word.
The actors are also phenomenal. Knightley shines in the role of Cecilia, a bold albeit rough woman. Saoirse Ronan, the 13 year old Talis is also stellar with a clear expression and attitude so rarely seen in kid's roles today. James McAvoy is also pretty good. Vanessa Redgrave's minor part also has a great significance to the story serving as the emotional climax.In all, this is an excellent film, maybe one of the greatest this decade has to offer.