Un unforgettable combo of visual splendor, romance and drama

Rating: 9/10 (29 April 2013)

With Atonement, his second feature film, Wright delivers a no-holds- barred, sweeping romance, with palpable echoes of classic epics such as Gone with the Wind, Casablanca and The English Patient, with their passionate love stories hindered or smothered by war, egoism and human cruelty. But at its seething core, Atonement is really about the brutal, painful awakening of a child struggling to come to terms with one senseless, venomous act she committed and that haunts her. The parallel with Gone with the Wind is facile, and there are numerous sequences, from a grueling hospital scene to a bravura war set-piece, that are reminiscent of the latter's epic grandeur and virtuoso, unflinching cinematic approach. But Atonement is something quite unique...
An unforgettable combo of visual virtuosity, romance and drama, Atonement is a powerhouse motion picture, superbly acted, which reaches vertiginous heights of visceral intensity and immediacy. By turns horrifying, heart- breaking and beautifully bucolic, this has the guts and heart of an instant classic. Has 21th century cinema reaped its Gone with the Wind already?
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