An English Tale of Love and Redemption

Rating: 7/10 (27 February 2008)

In 1930s England, Robbie is the son of a cleaning woman who has fallen in love with his mother's master's daughter (his childhood friend). On the same night where they reveal their love to each other, Robbie is accused by the woman's younger sister of a rape he didn't commit. Robbie is sent to jail and off to fight World War II... and for the remainder of the film, the two lovers try to reunite while the younger sister comes to term with the horrible mistake she made that tore her family apart.
Let me be honest up front: I had a very minimal interest in this film. I was mildly interested by its Oscar aspirations (7 nominations) and then I was slightly more interested when my friend Chelsea expressed interest (with whom I ended up seeing it). A chick flick starring Keira Knightley (who, to me, is a younger, classier Winona Ryder)? Not my first choice. Although, I went to go see "I Know Who Killed Me", so my instincts aren't always he greatest. Anyway, point being -- I saw this film half-heartedly and really liked it.
The beginning is really strong and interesting, and surprisingly funny. The involvement of a certain curse word (one of the more notorious ones) plays a big part and was funny in a somewhat awkward way. After the opening, the tone of the film turned decidedly darker... which you'd expect with a film about war and rape, I guess. Emotionally the film runs strong all the way through, working with loneliness and casualties of war (there's a scene later on with a dying French soldier that doesn't shy from showing the realities of war).
Worth singling out is a very long continuous shot (maybe 8 or 9 minutes) of English troops on the shores of France. We see troops singing, troops destroying jeeps, troops shooting horses and much more... to get this all in one shot is a major feat. The last long shot I recall is in "Children of Men", which ran about maybe 6 minutes but with much less going on to coordinate. The choreographer (or whoever) deserved the Oscar if anyone did, although in the end it only won a single award -- for best original soundtrack (which I don't recall as being a particularly stand-out score).
I think the film closed rather weakly after all the quality emotion (I can't really explain more without revealing things). But it's still a good film, only maybe losing a point from this closing. If you're a fan of period pieces or tough romance stories (this is no romantic comedy) this is for you. I don't know if I could watch it again -- it's good enough but a bit emotional. But I'm glad I saw it at least once and you should see it too.