This flick reduced me to tears !

Rating: 8/10 (17 November 2010)

This movie brought me in tears. The story was well written and impeccably directed. Joe Wright certainly created a master piece. Ian McEwan should be equally credited and praised as he came up with such a brilliant story.
Atonement is a story about an act of penance that Briony Tallis ( Cecilia Tallis's younger sister ) does in order to punish herself for a sin that entailed separating two lovers Robbie Turner and Cecilia Tallis ( James Mcavoy and Keira Knightley ) by a wrong decision of hers in the past. A man who was falsely accused of a crime, Robbie Turner ends up in jail and after which he goes to war during the German invasion thus getting his dream of joining medical school shattered. Cecilia leaves her family for Robbie and waits for his return from the war. Briony's false and juvenile accusation changes the lives of them for which she, after the realization of the truth, feels extremely sorry and thus tries to atone herself by giving up her further studies and working as a nurse. It is a very emotional story that would definitely compel you to sympathize with the characters of Robbie and Cecilia. A drama with emotions. It is something that tells us about the human mind. How abominable it is. How fickle emotions are. They can obscure the truth no matter how clear things are. Hatred, envy and wrath - they alone can bring down the world. They can mess up the life of those who stand in the way and one might not even get an opportunity to atone for those awful feelings.
The screenplay was brilliant. The music was equally apposite. The pace of the movie was really well thought of. The moments of silence really gushed in thousands of thoughts to my brain. What if nothing had gone wrong ? What if the real miscreant was put behind the bars ? While I watched wishing things to end happily it certainly did not albeit it brought a sour taste eventually but it also came with a queer satisfaction of the act of atonement nourishing itself though with some bitter tinge of reality attached with it.
The photography was lovely. The plight of the soldiers was well depicted during the time of the war. I didn't find anything wrong with the movie. It was well thought of and was well directed. An 8 on 10 would be my rating for this flick.