The Classic Epic of 2007!

Rating: 9/10 (17 February 2008)

This is the fourth of the Oscar Best Picture nominees I watched. Compared to the other three, this movie is the one where I come out feeling that Oscar is written all over it. This is the one with the elegant epic feel, reminiscent of past Oscar winner "The English Patient".
This is where cinematography (by Seamus Mc Garvey) is a key star element. All the scenes were meticulously composed shot like a special painting on a moving canvas. So many breathtaking and sweeping landscapes. Even the scenes depicting the horrors of war were imbued with artistic insight. So many vivid portraits as well with penetrating pain and anguish.
This is where the musical score (by Dario Marianelli) harks back to bygone grandiosity, like many past Oscar winners. Yet the tension in the music is uniquely heightened by the sound of typewriters typing. This ties in neatly with the story as the central character is a writer.
The story begins with Briony Tallis (an Oscar nominated Saoirse Ronan), a fanciful 13 year old girl who loves to write. She had just read a lustfully-worded love letter by the son of their household help Robbie (James McAvoy) to her sister Cee (Keira Knightley) and actually caught them in a compromising situation in the library. That night, as an assault is perpetrated on a guest in their opulent household. Briony accuses Robbie as the culprit and thus he is brought to jail. This part of the movie felt like "Gosford Park."
The second part of the movie traces how the love story of Cee and Robbie progressed through the war years four years after the arrest. Robbie was released from jail when he decided to join the army. Cee becomes a nurse. However, Robbie gets sent to France and they continue to communicate their love through letters. This part of the movie felt like "Cold Mountain" and "A Very Long Engagement."
I felt the third and last part of this story is the one that gives it its defining characteristic and twist. The story goes back to Briony, now 18 (Romola Garai). She is now fully cognizant of her erroneous accusation and its tragic effects. She gives up her slot at Cambridge and becomes a nurse as well. She seeks out Robbie and her sister in order to atone for her past sins. And just when you thought it is all over, Briony comes back again, this time in the present (Vanessa Redgrave) in an epilogue with more to tell us.
I am not surprised that this film had already won the Golden Globe and the British Academy Awards for Best Picture. I feel that its chance for the Oscar for Best Picture may be compromised by the fact that its Director Joe Wright was not nominated. I am not surprised why its lead stars McAvoy and Knightley were not nominated. While they maybe the bigger stars, in the story, they play support to the main story of the Briony character. While this film had its flaws, particularly its derivative feel in a greater part of the story as I have already indicated. But so far in its totality, among all the nominees I have watched, this is my favored one for Best Picture of 2008.