"Our story will resume..."

Rating: 9/10 (11 February 2008)

I always recall Roger Ebert's comment on Anna Paquin's character in "The Piano". He says she plays a little girl who is intentionally mischievous; who sees things and uses them to hurt others. Well, there's a little girl in "Atonement", called Briony (the intense 14-year-old Saoirse Ronan), who's exactly the opposite: she reads something, she witnesses something and makes a mistake that will chase her for the rest of her life.
It's England in the 30's; formality and distance between one person and another are the basis of Ian McEwan's famous novel; what Briony witnesses are two young people bursting in love and passion as you didn't see every day during those times, but how could she understand? And she drives Robbie (James McAvoy) and her sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) away. He ends up in a war, she whispers "come back to me", he writes "the story can resume, our story can resume"; we wait.
However, this is not the "Cold Mountain" storyline in which the blue knight has to face impossible obstacles to get to his princess, no. These are two lives that have fallen apart and before they did they sat together in a family table full of unspoken secrets, sexual tension and disappearances, all in one single day. And the little girl experienced too much in such a short period of time: too much to take for a joyful soul, writer of plays full of fantasies. "Atonement" is also the little girl's story, we come to realize; and in a way, the story of every individual present that night when everything collapsed.
Joe Wright teams up with Keira Knightley again after "Pride & Prejudice" and I can't help comparing both pieces. I was expecting at least something better, but "Atonement" makes Wright's screen debut seem like a piece of broken glass in the floor you don't want to step on. The appropriate, correct direction it's gone; characters don't seem like puppets with final destinations anymore.
There's a creative turn this time around, with the British director worried about the camera work (Seamus McGarvey brilliantly inspiring cinematography); a work of immense proportions that shows affection for the characters it's shooting. When you watch "Pride & Prejudice" you say: "how beautiful this looks", and it stops there; when watching "Atonement" you say: "how beautiful it looks and how powerful it is". I think Wright has done something more powerful than what he imagines.
Keira Knightley may not live up to her work as Elizabeth Bennett, but she is perfect and looks beautiful in a completely different character with more strength. And James McAvoy takes another huge step; you may want to watch "The last King of Scotland" and then thisWhat a leading man! I'll say no more. Maybe it's the novel: how different it is from Jane Austen's beloved tale and how well Christopher Hampton adapted it, covering the time changes and the different stages of life it goes through.
Dario Marianelli's score, unnoticeable in 'Prejudice', is definitely present here; loud, clear and meaningful although a little repetitive if you pay attention. Now that I mention repetition, if you think the film abuses of flashbacks, you are right; but it has a purpose. You see, every flashback is from 'that day' and 'that night' and, in different moments, each of the main characters relive the events in their own way.
Take the little girl as an example. I mentioned above that she makes a mistake that haunts her lifeBut she thought she was doing the right thing! Then she grows up, and when we see her as an old lady, portrayed by Vanessa Redgrave in a heartbreaking final speech, we wonder: How long does it take for someone to realize the wrong they have done? And everything that question means.