Many would agree with me when I say that modern cinema has become too dumbed down and although I admit to enjoying many of todays films their shallow character profiles, heavy saturation of action, violence and sex has simply taken over from complex intertwined story lines and memorable characters to produce an item which requires no mental exercise what so ever to watch.
Atonement is a film that I would not have otherwise watched if it hadn’t been something I had been invited along to, the trailer interested me enough, however not as much as say those for Hitman and The Brave One. This could be because I react more to the simple artifacts within those trailers rather than the more complex ones conveyed within Atonement. The film itself is is based around the life of Briony Tallis a fledgling writer and the lives of others whom are intertwined with hers. Events are set in motion when as a child she accuses her older sisters lover of a crime he did not commit.
The majority of the film is based in the 1930s however as events unravel the viewer is transported through the second world war following Robbie Turner as he attempts to make it back to England during the British retreat and to the modern day showing Briony Tallis as and old woman who during a television interview explains the truth behind several twists in the film and how she still could not forgive herself for the damage she did as a child having seen “something she did not understand but believed that she did” thus changing the course of three lives forever. It is during the ending of the film that Briony achieves atonement and its the journey towards this event which the film is based around.
In contrast to other films currently in the Cinema, Atonement contains a great many levels of meaning which has been incredibly conveyed by director Joe Wright. The characters feel real, the settings are beautifully recreated giving a sense of authenticity to the story and you as a consumer create a connection allowing for a deeper response rather than laughing at a bunch of CGI flickering lights. It is this connection which to me signals a perfectly constructed film and in the end of Atonement there was a feeling of sadness in the cinema as people genuinely felt sad as if they personally knew those involved.
This film isn’t for everyone I admit that we where possibly the youngest in the cinema and being twenty one years of age that is saying something. You require a much longer attention span than most people are used to exerting while visiting the cinema as there are long stretches between provoking dialogue, however if you do enjoy having your mind exercised while watching a deep thought provoking and emotional film then I recommend that you go and watch it now and if not well it does show Keira Knightley naked.
