Atonement 2007

     This film is based on a book by Ian McEwan.  The setting of this film is England of 1935.  Robbie Turner is the son of a family servant for the Tallis family.  The family paid for Robbie to go to college at Cambridge.  He plans to go on to medical school.  Briony Tallis is 13 years-old and she sees her older sister Cecilia and Robbie together at the fountain in front of the family estate.  Briony reads a letter intended for Cecilia written by Robbie.  Briony learns that an unfortunate event has happened to Briony’s cousin Lola.  The police are investigating and Briony tells them Robbie was involved?

     This is one of my favorite movies.  Briony is a very imaginative but naïve child.  Her comments to the police have profound meaning for the lives of Robbie and Cecilia.  Briony tries to atone for what she has said but some comments can’t be retracted.  4* (I really liked this movie)     

123 min, Drama directed by Joe Wright with Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Brenda Blethyn, Saoirse Ronana, Ailidh Mackay, Julia West, Harriet Walter, Juno Temple, Felix and Charlie von Simson, Alfie Allen, Patrick Kennedy, Benedict Cumberbatch.

Note:  Imdb 7.8 out of 10, Roger Ebert 4*, 83% critic 80% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Empire Online 5* out of 5* Helen O’hara, RollingStone 4* Peter Travers, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 604 reviews, Amazon gives the paperback book published in Feb, 2003 4* out of 5* with 1167 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Shropshire, Redcar and Cleveland, Kent, Cambridgeshire, Northumberland, East Sussex, London, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, England, UK.  Only eight UK military ambulances from WWII remain and all were used in this film.  Shooting the five-minute Dunkirk beach scene was the toughest portion of filming.  Plus, the scene needed to be completed in two days with 1000 extras.  To achieve the film’s visual style, Christian Dior stockings were stretched over the camera lens for a soft focus.  Ronan was 12 years-old at the beginning of production and she was 13 when she received her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.  She was also nominated by the British Academy Film Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Film Critic Awards.