No Atonement

The first half of “Atonement” is so deadly slow and dreary, in spite of the spectacular cinematography of Seamus McGarvey. However, the ending captivated and blew me away. Vanessa Redgrave surprises as an old Briony, now near the end of her days, talking about her latest and final novelan autobiographical story. She confesses, “I don’t expect to be forgiven.” The touching irony of Director Joe Wright’s “Atonement” is that it is not. Briony may have spent her entire adult life in penance for what she did when she was 13 years old, but ultimately she may not be forgiven. Director Wright and Screenwriter Tim Bevan (who adapted Ian McEwan’s novel) tell a story of star-crossed love and profound sadness. I really liked “Atonement” more than I thought I would. I truly admired the craft of the movie more than the touching tragedy. Personal preference aside, “Atonement” is a great movie.

It is 1935 England before World War II. We observe the world of upper-middle-class England. Precocious 13-year-old Briony Tallis (Saoire Ronan) fancies herself a play writer. Her beautiful older sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) battles her raging hormones. She has a physical attraction for Robbie (James McAvoy), the son of the Tallis’ maid. Robbie is the estate handyman. Briony too, has an unrequited crush on handsome Robbie. The Tallis’ have house guests in the Quincey children, Lola (Juno Temple) and her brothers Jackson and Pierrot. Briony and Cecilia’s older brother Leon (Patrick Kennedy) returns home from school with his bud Paul (Benedict Cumberbatch)a creepy young chap.

Briony spies Cecilia with Robbie in a compromising situation by the estate fountain. Robbie gives Briony an accidentally enclosed letter for Cecilia, which she secretly reads before giving to her sister. Robbie (McAvoy) and Cecilia (Knightley) engage in a totally steamy and erotic tryst in the family library, which Briony witnesses. Then during a family crisis, Briony (Ronan) perpetrates a lie that sends Robbie to prison, and Cecilia is irrevocably separated from her true love. Though only 13 years old, Briony does not realize that her lies may have destroyed true love and more importantly the lives of people she loves.

Now 5 years later, Robbie is in France in the middle of World War II. Cecilia has left home and has become a nurse. 18-year-old Briony (Romola Garai) has decided to leave Cambridge to become a nurse like her sister. This is her attempt to reconcile with Cecilia. What echoes throughout “Atonement” is Knightley’s plea to McAvoy’s Robbie, “Come back Come back to me.” “Atonement” is punctuated by the profound yearning of the heart, and resounding sadness. Keira Knightley is sexy, amazingly strong, and movingly vulnerable. James McAvoy is compelling and compassionate throughout. He embodies nobility in Robbie’s suffering soul. The surprise is Romola Garai as the older Briony. She is amazing as Briony begins to realize the pain and suffering she caused by her lie years ago. Vanessa Redgrave is powerful and sad as the old Briony, spent by a life in penance.

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Joe Wright’s “Atonement” is touchingly sad. Life ends, and at best that life ends completely. However, we can not always expect to be forgiven for our misdeeds and unintended cruelties. So perhaps, the best we can do is be at peace with life being incomplete. There is no atonement in “Atonement”, and that may have been the point of Wright’s passionately moving story.