bringing the literary to the screen

Rating: 7/10 (30 September 2007)

In answer to the question as to whether Atonement could be adapted successfully for the screen; the answer has to be...almost, but not quite. McEwan's brilliant novel with its themes of redemption and morality could never transfer perfectly but writer Christopher Hampton and director Joe Wright, give it a damn good try.
Starting in 1935 the film follows a doomed romance and how an over-imaginative girl's actions affect the lives of those around her. The film is stylish and intriguing, but, ultimately the novel's emotional gut-punch can't be delivered as successfully on film and its up to an uneasy coda to clarify everything for those who haven't read the novel.
Despite its limitations this is a very enjoyable film with some remarkable set-pieces and an intelligence that raises it above the run-of the-mill period romance film.