'Atonement': Untruth and consequences
"Atonement" begins in 1935 England with 13-year-old Briony (Irish actress Saoirse Ronan) busily typing "The End" to her new play.
As she rips the paper from the carriage and hurries off to herald her accomplishment, the clack of typewriter keys continues on the soundtrack.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
Without us realizing it, the typewriter strokes evolve into a percussion instrument keeping time for Dario Marianelli's inventive, wonderfully wrought score.
The joys of experiencing Joe Wright's period epic romance "Atonement" don't stop at its music. Or its impressive camera work that will doubtless inspire film critics to perform cartwheels.
"Atonement" also features a cast of charismatic actors who conjure up memorable characters with spartan efficiency and crisp, spot-on English accents (from Scottish and Irish thespians).
This rich and evocative tale of personal redemption, based on Ian McEwan's best-selling novel, tells the tragic story of a teen girl whose false accusations against a young man destroy two lives and severely cripple her own.
Briony Tallis is smart, inquisitive and bold. She is also 13 and unable to process her feelings when she catches a young man she fancies, Robbie Turner (Scottish actor James McAvoy), in a romantic clinch with her breath-taking sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley).
Briony seizes a convenient opportunity to accuse Robbie of a crime he didn't commit. That single impulsive act provides the dramatic catapult for years of suffering, including Briony's growing awareness and guilt over her own moral crime.
Robbie's prison sentence might have lasted for many years, but the Nazi invasion of Europe offers him a reprieve. Given a choice between jail and the army, he chooses to serve his country.
Meanwhile, Briony has turned 18 and is now played by Romola Garai, who, with makeup, bears an uncanny resemblance to Ronan. Still, Garai seems miscast here, only because her Briony doesn't possess the fiery intelligence and penetrating, even damning gaze of her younger incarnation.
As "Atonement" segues into World War II, Wright and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey conspire to pull off some of the most impressive camera work of the year. The bright, watercolored scenes of Briony's youth give way to dark, color-dead scenes as the war rages.
Pay particular attention to the evacuation of a desolate Dunkirk. In a breathtaking tracking shot that easily exceeds four minutes, a stealthy camera weaves in, out and around people and structures on a massive ocean-shore set teeming with activity and constant movement.
This single shot, an inspirational piece of choreography involving props, people, sets and photographic equipment, easily rivals the extraordinary visual feats of last year's futuristic drama "Children of Men."
None of this would be so impressive if not for the cast, particularly Knightley and McAvoy as the war-crossed lovers, and for Vanessa Redgrave's 11th-hour appearance as an aging Briony, now an author with the power to alter our perception of the story up to then.
"Atonement" director Wright has excellent credentials for making movies from novels. His 2005 "Pride & Prejudice" (also with Knightley) gave Jane Austen fans a cinematic treat.
Here, Wright pulls off a motion picture tailor-made for critical praise and awards, a story with a sweeping historical arc that never diminishes the too-human conflict at its core.
"Atonement"
Rating: 4 of 4 starsStaring:
Keira Knightley as Cecelia Tallis
James McAvoy as Robbie Turner
Saoirse Ronan as Briony, age 13
Romola Garai as Briony, age 18
Vanessa Redgrave as Old Briony
Written by Christopher Hampton; based on the novel by Ian McEwan. Produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster. Directed by Joe Wright. A Focus Features release. At the River East and Century Centre in Chicago. Rated R (language, sexual situations). Running time: 122 minutes.