So close to utter and absolute cinematic perfection

Rating: 9/10 (25 December 2007)

I must admit that I haven't read the novel this film is based on but got a pretty good impression as to its quality judging by the film alone. Simply put, the film tells an absolutely fantastic story that keeps us engaged, enthralled and entranced from the first clicks of Briony's typewriter. Ian McEwan's ambitious tale begins with a whirlwind, joyous and beautiful depiction of young romance, which is so unbelievably dreadfully thrust into a continuous downward spiral of tragedy and disaster. And if this hurricane of tragedy, unrequited emotions and heavy guilt isn't enough, the story is topped off with quite possibly the most tragic, heart wrenching plot point in recent years, as the old version of the Briony character, played by Vanessa Redgrave, comes clean with a shocking revelation. In all, the storytelling structure of the film is fascinating and absolutely thrilling to witness. The same events are shown from multiple reverse angles; mid-way through the story relentlessly jumps forward to a time after what we know were years of pain and agony for our protagonists; and finally, the footnote at the end of the film, the gut-wrenching revelation which throws everything into question and shines a stark, illuminating light on the true nature of the film's emotional tragedy.
Wright, this being his second directorial work after Pride and Prejudice, manages to most exceptionally capture the very balance of the work: the balance between broad themes of love, betrayal, tragedy and atonement and between the fine simplicities and nuances such as how his characters talk, act and interact. The film features a stunning balance on Wright's part between sequences of a thrilling, epic nature and scenes of beautiful nuance and subtlety. The entire film has a kind of driving energy behind it propelling the scenes forward in a relentless pace; Wright manages to turn Briony's pressing, triumphant dash through the long hallways of her home in order to show off her newly finished play into a fantastically thrilling scene of excitement and urgency, utilizing all of the cinematic tools available to him. Utilizing all these elements, Wright displays an uncanny technical and cinematic virtuosity, incarnated in all of the cinematic elements the film has to offer.
Wright further guarantees his status as a directorial force to be reckoned with in the star-making performances by his young cast. Kiera Knightley had already proved her acting talent in her Oscar-nominated performance in Pride and Prejudice, incidentally also directed by Joe Wright, but it is in Atonement that she delivers her most wonderful, mature and best performance of her career so far. She carries with her an air of maturity, elegance and grace and of course perpetual beauty and snaps out her high class lines with such incredible crass and rapidity, one can simply see the young, adventurous lust just waiting to burst out from underneath. James McAvoy, whose star has been on the constant rise since his starring role in last year's The Last King of Scotland, is sure to get a well-deserved kick into leading man recognition, and his incredibly intense and wonderfully romantic turn in this film is also a career best. Both these actors essentially deliver two roles: the first half depicts their beautiful adolescent, blooming romance and they play the characters so charmingly, we can't help but feel that nobody in the world deserves more to be together than they to. But in the second half of the film, after the tragedy, both portray different versions of their younger selves: Obviously older and more mature, but also skeptic, heartbroken, and desperately, obsessively holding on to the smallest thread of hope they both have of reuniting. The real stunner in the show, though, is young Saoirse Ronan, who plays the 13-year-old version of Briony with such precise, calculated intelligence that the girl is truly frightful. Her prepubescent impatience, immaturity, anger and jealousy seem dangerously harmless at first, but we soon learn that she carries within her an immense destructive power, the reciprocations of which show on both the 18-year-old version and the older version of herself.
Impressive as it is, it is nothing new for a director's sophomore cinematic venture to be so skillful. Pulp Fiction, Rushmore, Boogie Nights, and Requiem for a Dream are merely a few examples of director's sophomore frames. But what makes Atonement truly extraordinary as a director's second feature is that it is not the work of a very talented and devoted film geek; but rather, a seminal, beautiful piece of work striking in its resonant thematic prominence, its maturity and also its wondrous display of cinematic aptitude. Joe Wright has directed not one but two period works (Atonement and Pride and Prejudice) one would come to expect from an older generation of filmmakers such as James Ivory, Michael Apted, or Shekhar Kapur  and Wright is only 35 years old. He is without a doubt the youngest director who has managed to capture the precise restraint and calculated technical proficiency to create a good period picture, and with Atonement manages to create much more than that. Suffice it to say that Wright is a director to watch, and if Pride and Prejudice had me interested in his upcoming projects, after Atonement I now eagerly anticipate them. I hope for more of the best from him, and from all of the film's cast and crew, who should all get well-deserved career boosts due to the film's critical success.