Atonement (2007)

Director:

Joe Wright

Writers:

Ian McEwan (novel)
Christopher Hampton (screenplay)

Release Date:

4 January 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

You can only imagine the truth.

Plot:

Fledgling writer Briony Tallis, as a 13-year-old, irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit. Based on the British romance novel by Ian McEwan.

Plot Keywords:

Nursing | WWII | Manor | Historical | Nonlinear Timeline

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 21 wins & 63 nominations

Cast

Saoirse Ronan	...	Briony Tallis - Age 13
Ailidh Mackay	...	Singing Housemaid
Brenda Blethyn	...	Grace Turner
Julia West	...	Betty
James McAvoy	...	Robbie Turner
Harriet Walter	...	Emily Tallis
Keira Knightley	...	Cecilia Tallis
Juno Temple	...	Lola Quincey
Felix von Simson	...	Pierrot Quincey
Charlie von Simson	...	Jackson Quincey
Alfie Allen	...	Danny Hardman
Patrick Kennedy	...	Leon Tallis
Benedict Cumberbatch	...	Paul Marshall
Peter Wight	...	Police Inspector
Leander Deeny	...	Police Constable

Also Known As:

Reviens-moi (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for disturbing war images, language and some sexuality.

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

UK | France

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Finland:K-13 | Argentina:16 | Sweden:11 | Australia:MA | France:Unrated | Hong Kong:IIB | Taiwan:PG-12 | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Malaysia:U | Ireland:15A | USA:R (certificate #43417) | UK:15 | Germany:12 | Singapore:M18 | Brazil:14 | Netherlands:12 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Canada:14A | Japan:PG-12 | South Korea:15 | Norway:11 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB)

Filming Locations:

Aldwych Underground Station, Aldwych, Holborn, London, England, UK

Company:

Working Title Films

Trivia:

The small English town of Redcar stood in for the French city of Dunkirk.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The last day of Dunkirk evacuation was the 4th of June, not the 1st. The Navy officer tells Robbie that there were 3,000 men waiting on the beach, but the 1st of June, there were about 118,000 soldiers waiting.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Briony Tallis, aged 13: I finished my play.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bringing the Past to Life: The Making of 'Atonement' (2008) (V)

Soundtrack:

Hot Throb

Review by an Antonement extra at Redcar Yorkshire

I finished filming as an extra in the blockbuster movie Atonement on August 22nd 2006. I didn't realise I'd have to wait a full 12 months and 1 day to see the end result on screen.

Well was it worth the wait? The answer is yes. The movie has the meticulous detail you would expect from a director of Joe Wright's calibre.

Richard Brooks (writing in the Sunday Times) said he would be amazed if the jury finds a better film than Atonement to take first place at the Venice film festival on August 29th.

He said, "I cannot think of a better British movie in years. Unlike most of our home-grown efforts, it is big scale, yet intimate when it needs to be." I would agree. The story unfolds and the audience is drawn into the plot from the start. It begins in pre-war England in a large country house with James McAvoy's character (Robbie Turner) being wrongly accused of rape and being imprisoned and thus separated from Keira Knightley. He is released from prison on condition he joins the army.

This is a love story and more, with the back drop of the Second World War. Although it is not a war film as such, the scenes of the Dunkirk evacuation are some of the best of their type ever executed in cinema history.

The scene that I was waiting to see was towards the end of the film. Joe Wright shot the Dunkirk scene in Redcar in one complete take, with no edits. It looks amazing, maybe being part of it made me slightly biased, but the human tableau that McAvoy's character walks through engulfs your senses and I can't wait to see it again. My only regret is that it wasn't longer.

Apart from this, Atonement doesn't disappoint in any department, the acting is first class and the story is engaging and I certainly didn't guess the ending. I will definitely see it again, this time at the Regent Cinema in Redcar, where the building is one of the cornerstones of the great set.

And finally did I see myself? Well possibly, the jury's still out, until I get my hands on the DVD next year. Enjoy it.