Atonement - The Best Film Of 2007

[Hakeem]

You know how I just posted maybe 4 hours ago my Best Of the Year list in the SG Awards Thread? How I posted it and said was going to watch Atonement right after and that could change my votes? Well it did, and how.
Atonement punched me in the face right from the beginning, and then kept hitting me all over until it blew me away in the last 10 minutes when Vanessa Redgrave shows up and proceeded to give me the final, powerful blow. I even cried.

Directed by Joe Wright, who got me too with his first effort a few years ago with Pride & Prejudice, Atonement tells the story of Briony Tallis, a 13 year old in England pre-WW2 that sees something happen between her older sister Cecilia and the groundskeeper Robbie, takes it the wrong way, and later goes to tell a lie that fvcks them all up for the rest of their lives.

Cecilia is played by Keira Knightley, giving a great performance (though not as not as what she did in P&P, but still amongs the best of the year) as the fast talker, high class and rich girl in love with Robbie, played James McAvoy, who makes an even better job with a look in those blue eyes that expressed a million times more than what was shown about the tragicness of his and Cecilia's love.
Young Briony is played by Saoirse Ronan, and where did she come from, cause she's amazing, especially in the first 10 to 20 minutes when we meet them all and the countryhouse they live in, all show from her perspective.
Romola Garai plays Briony as an 18 year old, also very good, and the before mentioned Vanessa Redgrave plays an Older Briony giving a very moving, true acting class.

Everything about the movie is perfect, from the music and sounds, at times being keystrokes of an old typewright machine or a piano, very loud and according to what's happening in the scene, and the cinematography, from the countryside to the war zone shots, wide and beautiful, especially one when Robbie gets to the Beach of Dunkirk to find the troops to be evacuated from France. The single shot goes for various minutes, passing through the agonizing troops and the view of the sun setting in the horizon. magnificent.

I really did not think that Atonement was going to be this great, or maybe I did, as I am now recalling when the trailer first showed up and I absolutely loved it and couldnt wait to see it. Well, glad I got to do it before the year is over, and to be able to give it the place it deserves at the top amongst the year's best

 

[Yossarian]

hurhurhur.....love your conviction and enthusiasm about the movie, bro.....excellent writeup.


It was a very heartbreaking flick, no doubt. I first heard about the book a while ago on CBC on one of their book talk shows and I was captivated and intrigued by the panel's overwhelmingly positive review of the book, but not nearly enough to follow through with their recommendation and actually pick it up, you know? Because it seemed a bit too tear-jerky and chick-lit for my ardent heterosexual constitution, man. Nigga like me can't be ever caught watching/reading Jane Austin-ish type of material, man.


Anyway, I got to see the movie about a week ago with some relatives. I actually just tagged along, not having a ******* clue as to what we were gonna see, but as soon as we entered the cineplex and my mother announced that it was Atonement that we were gonna check out, I was slightly bummed out because I didn't wanna have anything to do with a soapy, drama flick tailored for broads, right? At any rate, I found myself enjoying the movie for the most part despite my preconceived ideas of what I thought it'd be like. I'm not too familiar with Ian McEwan and his work outside of being aware that he's a massive bestseller and big with the Oprah crowd. Likewise for Keira Knightly. Alls I know about her is that she was in that Bend it Like Beckham flick and the POTC epics.....a malnourished teen idol, right? I was specifically impressed by her output in this performance. She clearly wasn't the principal character in this novel,...errrr....movie but she made the most out of her subsidiary role. And lemme me tell yah, I've never really found her to be all that appetizing because all the images of her that you usually see are ones where she's disgustingly gaunt and, you know, unattractively skinny, right? But in this flick, she was very beautiful and graceful in her appearance....looked very healthy, I thought......pretty decent haunches on the bitch, eh?


As you've aptly stated, the girl who played her younger sister was phenomenal! Actually, as was the chick who played the older younger sister version of her, and Vanessa Redgrave was also a great surprise (time has been very nice to her, eh? She's aged very well for a crazed leftwing nutter....I was surprised that she wasn't adorned with the PLO colors...hurhur). Again, as you've so nicely noted, the wartime part was a cinematographical masterpiece. The way they painstakingly re-created Dunkirk was just visually astounding, man, but it left me rather annoyed and unfulfilled because it was so short lived and fleeting....I wanted 'em to linger on the beach, soldiers, and the surrounding areas because it was just so staggeringly epic and beautiful, man.


A ******* solid movie. It's not my favorite of the year, but it's definitely worth the price of admission in my books. The dialogue is outstanding, acting and cinematography aswell. That time shifting device where you got the differing perspectives was really well implemented, I thought.

 

[Hakeem]

That time shifting device where you got the differing perspectives was really well implemented, I thought.

true. that part was very well done

 

[Yossarian]

it sucks that i can't discuss the movie with you in a more open and indepth manner because I'm sure that I'll ruin some significant part of the movie for the folks who havent seen it......not intentionally, of course. I have a habit of spoiling **** for people sometimes, man......especially when a movie is this good and you just wanna let it all out, you know?


The lead guy, Robbie, that dude was also phenomenal and his scenes were very emotional and marvelous, man....especially in the second act when he was sent off to war......don't know how I could've forgotten to give 'em his due props, man.


Hey btw, you remember that agonizing scene in Dunkirk when those beautiful horses were being wasted? WTF was that all about, bro? Was it just out of spite, or because they had no use for 'em anymore and didn't want the Germans annexing them? Man, they should've just set 'em free, is what I'm saying.


one more thing. Do you know where I can find some pics of Keira's wet nightgown scene? Boy was it ear delicious to see 'er all soggy and untidy like that, eh? I could've sworn that I saw some tiny bit of bush showing in that see-thru gown.....WOOF! You know you're a rabid sex fiend when sitting thigh-to-thigh with your mother can't even curb your sexual drive in the slightest....hell, it might've even intensified it.......hurhur

 

[Sir Calumn]

I'm still yet to see this movie, I kind of didnt make a big effort to see it when it was out in the cinemas because it didnt look like the sort of thing I'd like, and I've never been very keen on McEwan as a writer or storyteller. However, I have heard some really amazing things from some very reliable people and it seems I may have been far to prejudgemental in assuming this to be just another mediocre period drama. However, I cant say the reviews have been all good, some of my favourite critics have come down really hard on it. It definately seems like a must see, I hope I get the chance to catch a late show at the cinema or something before it hits DVD.

 

[Hakeem]

Hey btw, you remember that agonizing scene in Dunkirk when those beautiful horses were being wasted? WTF was that all about, bro? Was it just out of spite, or because they had no use for 'em anymore and didn't want the Germans annexing them? Man, they should've just set 'em free, is what I'm saying.

yeah, that was weird. cant think of a reason to kill the horses. but a very good scene indeed.

one more thing. Do you know where I can find some pics of Keira's wet nightgown scene? Boy was it ear delicious to see 'er all soggy and untidy like that, eh? I could've sworn that I saw some tiny bit of bush showing in that see-thru gown.....WOOF!

yep. saw it too

 

[SlayerDeuS]

Hey btw, you remember that agonizing scene in Dunkirk when those beautiful horses were being wasted? WTF was that all about, bro? Was it just out of spite, or because they had no use for 'em anymore and didn't want the Germans annexing them? Man, they should've just set 'em free, is what I'm saying.

They were just trying to capture the atrocities of the war is my guess. Same with that shot of the school girls.

 

[Yossarian]

^^ Could be. I mean, I understood showing the massacre of those Catholic School girls, but that scene with those horses seemed more ritualistic and out of place. That dude executing 'em didn't seem to be getting his jollies off from putting dem beautiful beasts down. He seemed pained and rather remorseful.

I've been watching my favourite 17th/18th century period peices again, for some reason I just love these movies.

The Libertine - Johnny Depp on top form as one of my heroes, John Wilmot, in a fantastically dirty and decadent film. Terribly underrated.

The Draughtsman's Contract - Another awesomely vile film, a fantastically intricate yet satisfying storyline and stunning camerawork.

Dangerous Liasons - John Malkovic at his finest as one of my favourite film bastards of all, and therefore one of my favourite film characters of all. Awesome support too, and the sex scene with Uma Thurman is sooooooo hot.

Barry Lyndon - the grand daddy of period pieces, every shot based on a famous painting, remarkable performances and that stunning duel sequence near the end which took 41 days to edit, and was worth every minute. Plus there is Leonard Rossiter's awesome cameo.

I dont know why I should love these movies so much, but they are just fantastic to watch. Really looking forward to Marie Antoinette, which i havent yet seen.

I'm still yet to see this movie, I kind of didnt make a big effort to see it when it was out in the cinemas because it didnt look like the sort of thing I'd like, and I've never been very keen on McEwan as a writer or storyteller. However, I have heard some really amazing things from some very reliable people and it seems I may have been far to prejudgemental in assuming this to be just another mediocre period drama. However, I cant say the reviews have been all good, some of my favourite critics have come down really hard on it. It definately seems like a must see, I hope I get the chance to catch a late show at the cinema or something before it hits DVD.

**** what your favorite critics think, man. You just need to get back into your impassioned period-piece mood and check it out ASAP! It's a well constructed flick, bro.




btw, Keira's twang....can any Brit who's seen the flick tell me what part/period of the UK that accent was particular to? Seemed very unusual and quaint to my ears, man. Maybe she was just butchering it? Although I find that to be highly unlikely.....whatever the case, it was pretty weird sounding.