A Statement About Atonement

On the spectrum of tragically epic and over-wrought love stories, there are very fine lines between those that are so trite as to be unwatchable, those that are good but ultimately forgettable, and those that will go down in the annals of cinema as the ones to beat. Somehow, quite inexplicably, Atonement falls at the center of it all, and I cannot stop thinking about it.

Let's start at the beginning: it is one of the most stunningly gorgeous films I have ever seen. Having watched it on a moderately sized home television, I cannot imagine what it must have looked like in the cinema, but it must have been breathtaking. This in itself is the films first flaw-- it is so beautiful as to be distracting as one becomes so mesmerized by the costumes and colors and opulence of it all that one forgets to pay attention to things like what is going on and what the characters are saying.

And what are the characters saying? Everyone seems to be talking in a forced Rosalind Russell-Cary Grant banter that is at once intriguing and incomprehensible. It also makes the actors almost painfully self-conscious. While she does an admirable job throughout the film, you can almost see the wheels turning in Keira Knightley's head with every look she gives, every cigarette she smokes, and every painfully fashionable outfit she puts on.

The self-consciousness is almost a theme of the direction. As lovely as everything is, you can't help but think about how the director took it upon himself to setup those impressive scenes, and think of his thought processes as he created his picturesque shots.

An audience should not be thinking about the director and his thought-processes.

But here's the thing: it should have gotten all of the nominations it did. It should not have won anything (except art direction). And more than the good but forgettable Cold Mountain, Atonement breaks ground on the tragic epic lovestory frontier. Because somehow, when Cecilia Tallis whispers 'Come back to me' to her tormented lover Robbie, you buy it hook line and sinker. And James McAvoy's Robbie is suitably traumatized without being pathetic while Cecilia is distant and cool without being heartless. The thing that makes this a different film is that it is not about the two of them, it is about the person who keeps them apart, Cecilia's sister Briony. The film does not dwell on their tragedy, but rather on its maker, and what she does to, yes, atone for her actions.

At the end of the day, Atonement does not and will not achieve the same status as Gone With The Wind or even Titanic, but it does break ground, and it is certainly worth seeing.