A passionate melodrama displayed with a strong artistic consciousness

Rating: 8/10 (30 November 2009)

On the background of a terribly violent second world war, seen through the eyes of the young innocent soldiers, a story of passion and guilt is portrayed with elegance, but also strong intensity. A very good photography, together with close-up shooting, and the use of refined and impressive details (I can't get Keira Knightley's wonderful green dress off my mind) contribute to an effective visual impact. There is a taste for figurative art, for example the love scene in the library is, for a moment, fixed on the two lovers leaned against the bookshelves in a sort of chiaroscuro painting, passionate and refined at the same time. The handling of the whole story may appear too melodramatic, and unrealistic, but I think it is the result of a precise choice by the director, due to his conception of art, in terms of expectations from the public, and this is also evident in the final "revelation": the idea that the work of art, being it a novel or a movie, should provide the reader or the viewer with something unattainable in real life, representing but transcending reality, playing with time, situations and endings. Obviously, the moment comes when we have to go back to hard facts, and the last scenes starring Vanessa Redgrave (whose uncontroversial talent makes the difference) remind us of this. When she enters the scene the emotional and visual climax of the movie is reached: her wrinkled face with her wonderful blue eyes could speak by themselves, truly astonishing. The whole movie is very well performed, Keira Knightley playing Cecilia and James McAvoy playing Robbie are attractive and seductive by themselves and, when paired, spread pure chemistry all around. Also the girl playing the young Briony Tallis seems very promising.