No 'atonement' in Atonement

Rating: 5/10 (28 March 2008)

This film has so much going for it: A) 10 stars for cinematography. This is, honestly, one of the most beautifully photographed movies I have ever seen.
B) 10 stars for the performances. I thought all the actors were fantastic. Keira Knightley is very good as Cecilia. James McAvoy gives an extremely strong performance as Robbie. All of the women who played the character of Briony are simply fantastic.
C) 10 stars for the editing. The "chopped up" presentation of events in a non-linear way, I thought, worked very well. This was an excellent way to present the varying points of view; Briony's vs. Cecilia's/Robbie's, etc. It also built tension and suspense, leading to a wonderful climax in the ultimate consummation of the romantic/sexual relationship of Cecilia and Robbie. Leading to...
D) 10 stars for the love story. Contrary to the opinions of many others, I thought the love affair of Cecilia and Robbie was very believable and true-to-life.
E) 10 stars for the focus on the need for atonement. I thought the middle portion of the film brilliantly portrayed the anguish that Briony suffers because of her false accusation resulting in Robbie's imprisonment. The overwhelming guilt that she endures because of the pain, suffering, estrangement, etc., that her sin of lying has caused in the lives of her family, her sister, and Robbie; as well her own life. Briony's acts of penance as she serves her time in the purgatory-like London hospital, and her attempt to confess to Cecilia and Robbie, all drive toward the heart of this film/story which is Briony's dire need for forgiveness - for atonement.
And then the film falls flat. I simply could not accept the film's ending. Briony, the now-famous (and terminally ill) author, writes her 21st and last novel as a confession of her sin, of her lying; a novel in which she re-writes history so that Cecilia and Robbie (who both died in The War) survive and live happily-ever-after. The scenes of confrontation and confession between Briony, Cecilia, and Robbie never actually happen. They were fictitious events that Briony created in order to tell her story as it "should" have happened. In her mind, this novel (which we the viewer learn, has been portrayed in everything that happens in the movie up to this point) has allowed her to right-her-wrong and she, apparently, doesn't feel guilty any more. Okay...
In other words - she's able to die with a clear conscience by living out her few remaining days in a fictionalized world of her own creation; a false reality, in which all's well that ends well. That may be a nice way of justifying her avoidance of doing the right thing. It's certainly a convenient way of assuaging her feelings of guilt. But it's NOT atonement! Atonement, by definition, is making amends; atonement is reconciliation. It's the repairing of broken relationships. Briony's re-writing of history does none of that. Her lie has destroyed people lives and has irreparably broken her relationships with her sister Cecilia and with Robbie. These relationships can never be mended, because the second parties died before Briony got up enough courage to recant, confess and ask for forgiveness. Therefore atonement is impossible. Ultimately, her re-writing of history is just another lie; a lie that might be able to make her feel better - but which can not, and does not, bring about atonement. It changes nothing.
Bottom line - this film is an extremely high technical achievement, which because of a false representation of the concept of 'atonement'(perhaps because of a misunderstanding of the concept on the part of the screenwriter, director, and/or the original novel's author) comes across in the end as shallow self-centered pop-psychology.