Movie Review: Atonement

Disclaimer: one of the topics of the film is rape, so I give some brief descriptions of rape allegations as depicted in the film.

Last week I watched an excellent movie called Atonement. It’s the film adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement. When I was in ninth grade I remember reading a lot of books and Ian McEwan’s Atonement was one of these books. I didn’t have a dictionary with me to help look up all the big vocabulary words so I had a pretty difficult time reading the book. I also learned this technique called long smooth underline when I was in a reading comprehension class, and when you do long smooth underline you put your hand under the words and move your hand across the pages to help with reading the sentences. But the thing about long smooth underline is that it is called long smooth underline for a reason; it takes time and it helps to slow down when you read so you can understand what you are reading. I was very impatient so I thought if I just speed-read Atonement I can finish it and be on my merry way. But as I’m writing this, I’ve told you nothing of the plot because I read it so fast that I don’t remember the plot and thus probably need to go back and reread the book. Not that there is anything wrong with that, because I really did enjoy the writing. I’m just ashamed I didn’t remember the plot of the book.

But anyway, these two young ladies in my Spanish class saw me racing through the book and one of them asked, “Are you really reading that fast?” And the other girl saw the book cover and said, “I love the movie!” I hadn’t seen the movie because I swore off R-rated films during that time. I thought, “I’m not 17 yet, so I can’t see this movie.” But after so many years and after finally watching the trailer and loving it, I decided, “Yep, it’s time for me to watch this movie.” So I rented it on Google Play and I must say, it was one of the best movies I have seen.

One thing I loved about this movie was the acting. I think when I was in middle school, I watched the Academy Awards and they showed a clip of Atonement, and the acting was just so brilliant. I have seen Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Little Women and absolutely love her acting, but I hadn’t seen her earlier work, so this was my first time seeing Saoirse Ronan when she was younger. She brought so much to her role as the young version of Briony Tallis, and her and Keira Knightley both played their roles really well. I also love James McAvoy; I haven’t seen too many films with him in it to be honest, but last year I watched a movie he was in called The Last King of Scotland, which, is the film adaptation of the novel The Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden. Reading a book is definitely a different experience from watching the movie; I read the novel by Giles Foden the same year I read Atonement, but maybe I was just too young to understand the plot or I read the book too quickly. But watching the movie The Last King of Scotland, oh my gosh….it definitely is a film I am glad I saw because the acting was so excellent, but one of those films that shook me out of my skin to the point where I don’t think I need to see the film again because it’s so engrained in my mind. James McAvoy plays a doctor named Nicholas Garrigan, who goes to Uganda to be a doctor to dictator Idi Amin. My heart was beating out of my chest because the whole atmosphere of the film is so disturbing, but James McAvoy and Forest Whitaker both acted the hell out of their roles. To be honest, I know acting is a job for these people, but seriously after watching that movie I thought, How can you play these two characters and not go home at the end of the day feeling shook? Because as the viewer, I was just so mesmerized by the dedication they both brought to their roles. Nicholas lets it go to his head that he is the personal doctor of Idi Amin, and he gains access to all these influential people and parties, but it comes at a HUGE psychological, emotional, mental and (gruesome) physical cost. I saw as James McAvoy’s character went from being this seemingly innocent white guy who just wants to go to Uganda and help people to someone easily manipulated by power and influence and then brought quickly back to Earth by the terrifying reality that the guy he kissed up to is not the guy he thought he was, and the last half of the film left me on the edge of my seat (and also closing my eyes) because Nicholas really sees what kind of guy Amin is and that he can’t just pretend like he wasn’t somehow involved in these human rights abuses Amin committed because he becomes not just Idi Amin’s personal doctor but also his confidant, so whatever Nicholas spills about Amin’s corruption to others has severe (and very bloody) consequences. All that to say, James McAvoy is a very talented actor and in Atonement he was also amazing.

The movie delves into some pretty deep themes. One is the theme of forgiveness. Briony accuses Robbie for a crime he didn’t commit, and she has to carry that guilt with her for many years. Her sister, Cecilia, won’t talk to her anymore, and of course neither will Robbie because he went to prison for the allegations against him. Even when Briony comes to Robbie and Cecilia’s house to apologize, they can’t forgive her and just want her to leave them alone. I think what got me though was that the apology never got to happen because of some tragic events that precluded it . Robbie brought Cecilia happiness and love, and to see that taken away from her was devastating, and so she couldn’t forgive her sister for what she did. Another theme is perspective, because the movie shows the perspectives of the events that went down from Briony’s perspective but also I got to see another perspective of what actually happened. Briony finds out that another man raped her cousin, not Robbie, and that sends her into an even deeper spiral of guilt. Allegations are a serious thing, and these allegations left a serious scar on Cecilia and Briony’s relationship as sisters, and Cecilia lost all trust in Briony.

There was one important scene of the movie that takes place at Dunkirk. I had seen the movie Dunkirk a while ago, and absolutely loved it. Atonement doesn’t focus a lot on the Dunkirk evacuation, but so much happens on that beach in so short a time and the way the scene was shot was brilliant. It kind of reminded me of how 1917, another war drama, was shot in what looked like a single continuous take. The film really illustrated how horrifying World War I was and the risks and dangers that two men have to take to go through enemy lines and deliver the message they are assigned to deliver. As they travel long distances to deliver the message, they witness horrors that no one should ever have to witness (I think when they have to go through No Man’s Land it left a pretty indelible image on my memory) While watching the Dunkirk scene of Atonement, I wasn’t prepared to see the horses being shot to death but I think it just reminded me how hopeless everyone felt during this war and the Dunkirk evacuation seemed to be everyone’s last chance at finding hope and going home after the trauma and pain they suffered in World War II. Robbie and his comrades see people riding on an old merry go round set, singing, sitting by the beach, running around the beach naked and doing other activities. However, it’s tough for Robbie because he has to wait until he can go home since there are so many soldiers trying to get home, too, so he is forced to bear this suffering even further.

I really related to Briony’s dreams as a writer. Throughout the film, Briony is always writing. I also saw parallels between the characters Briony and Jo March in Little Women, both played by Saoirse Ronan, because both Briony and Jo love to write. Even when Briony gets older and works as a nurse during the war, she goes up into the attic and writes stories. The film shows how writing is such a vulnerable and personal thing, because Briony’s novel is based on her real-life experiences. She writes the novel because what happened in the novel wasn’t the full story in real life. In Briony’s novel she apologizes to Robbie and Cecilia, but when she is being interviewed as an adult she reveals that she never got to to go Cecilia’s and apologize because both Cecilia and Robbie died during the war. Her writing the novel was her way of helping Cecilia and Robbie find happiness since she still feels like she robbed them of their happiness in real life.

So it’s almost midnight and I am fading. But overall, this was an excellent movie worth watching. Since it’s a film about war there are some pretty heavy scenes (one especially when Briony is in the hospital and all the soldiers come in with pretty severe injuries and she treats one soldier with a serious injury) but it really is an excellent movie. And the film score was so beautiful. I haven’t seen Joe Wright’s other movies, but he definitely directed the hell out of this movie because it was good. It made me want to read the book Atonement again.

Atonement. 2007. Directed by Joe Wright. Rated R for disturbing war images, language and some sexuality.