Atonement is even stronger than Wright’s 2005 pride and prejudice which gives him back to back masterful adaptations of very heavy literary works (this one from Ian McEwan)
Big 4 star review from travers
Mindful sweeping art—it’s a painful tale of life and love cut short
Oscar winner for best score—the use of the typewriter in the score is very inspired
The cast is loaded with great actors (Saoirse Ronan, James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Vanessa Redgrave, Juno Temple, Benedict Cumberbatch… a small role for Jeremie Renier (usually works with the Dardenne brothers) – it’s a major accomplishment for Ronan, McAvoy and Knightley and their careers
The use of repeating the narrative through multiple POV’s (McAvoy’s and Ronan’s) is absolutely genius and I love how Wright grounds it and resets it with the same shot of Ronan in the mirror
Superbly crafted mini-montage of McAvoy writing Knightley a letter and them thinking about each other
Accentuated sound effects—reminded me of Aronofsky—loud and blends with the score and usage of typewriter and other diegetic sounds from objects in the film
Ronan’s character, actually all of the characterizations, are so specifically perfect. Her involvement with the disastrous (hard to watch) accusation of McAvoy is spurned by some jealously and lack of discipline. It’s all laid out in such splendid detail
The Dunkirk scene tracking shot or “oner” is an all-timer. It starts with real acting in it- genuine performances. Then it goes to the shooting of the horses, the water, the countless extras and the ferris wheel set piece in the background and all over this is at the magic hour. It’s one of the best shots in recent cinema memory
Absolutely nails the period detail
The story suffers a little in the final act, about 90 minutes in (film is 123 minutes) with the older Briony character though I do love the epilogue with Redgrave
[…] Atonement – J. Wright […]