One of the best films of 2007

Rating: 9/10 (9 April 2008)

I've seen four films from last year that were nominated for Best Picture, and I liked "Atonement" (2007) the most. I read the book when it was first published back in 2001, liked it but did not think of it much before the movie was released. I did not rush to the theater to see "Atonement" - mostly because it was universally compared to "The English Patient". I sat through "The English Patient" once and decided that I would not want to see it again. Well, to make the long story short, I rented "Atonement" when it was released on DVD, and to my utter delight, it turned to be the Best movie of last year. Its first part, 45 minutes in the Tallis's family estate that depict one long hot summer day in 1935, the day that had dramatically and tragically changed the future of the film's many characters, is simply cinematic triumph. The atmosphere of sexual tension, of longing, of discovering love and immediate losing it forever has been recreated masterfully. The first third of the film depends a lot on the inner monologues, body languages, on the differences in ability to see something and to interpret it. I found director's choice in showing the same events from different points of view very creative and appropriate for this kind of cinematic story telling. I was very impressed by Dario Marianelli's Oscar winning score that used the sound of typewriter as a leitmotif. I found it very fitting for the film which is about a devastating power of word that could be the deadliest weapon of all. Shrapnel and bombs just finished the deed that three simple words had started on the evening of one hot summer in 1935. I found the middle part of the film somewhat weaker, not as intense with the emotional impact as the first part until one mournful tragic scene of the war's horror as seen through Robbie's eyes. Once again I was fascinated by the director's and young actor's art of saying much without a word.
In the movie with no single bad performance, we are rewarded in the final with short but memorable appearance of Vanessa Redgrave who as one of my friends commented, has "only her face, eyes, and voice to work with." But this is an actress whom Katharine Hepburn favored over all actresses and remarked that she was "A thrill to look at and to listen to." The short epilogue with Redgrave brings the movie to the same high level as its amazingly artful opening part. After I finished watching "Atonement", the first thing I did  I placed the hold for "The English Patient". Ten years is a long time. Maybe I'll see it differently now. Or maybe the fact that Anthony Minghella who had interviewed Redgrave's character in the last scene of "Atonement", suddenly and untimely passed away last March had added to my decision to re-visit his film.