Wright shows us a beautiful, intriguing and dark painting called 'Atonement'. Based on Ian McEwan's novel, is based on three principal characters and how a lie told by one of them changes all three of their lives forever. The character Briony is one of the most interesting characters in recent cinema. While the story is impactful, 'Atonement' is also marvelous to look at. The frames, the amazing cinematography (especially long shots e.g. set in Dunkirk, closeups and underwater shots), the music and the sets and locations are more than impressive and highly add to the poetry of the story.
The complex characters in demand strong performances. Sadly, Keira Knightley does not impress. I've never thought of her as a great actress. Here, she just lacks the nuances of a woman of that time (the film is set in the 30s) and she seriously needs to eat. James McAvoy is great. Child actress Saoirse Ronan is brilliant (certainly not the irritating child performances we so often see in films). She underplays her part with a certain dignity. Romola Garai is phenomenal in a briefer role. Supporting cast, that includes Gina McKee, Brenda Blethyn and Vanessa Redgrave, is good (as the aforementioned actresses have hardly ever disappointed).
'Atonement' is cleverly told from two different perspectives, that of what really happened and what Briony thinks/imagined. At times, it the film's sudden shift of gear (e.g. switching to the war scenes) feels odd but it comes to an almost full circle towards the end. I found the smoking habit of the characters (which was sort of in your face) annoying. Also, at times, the pacing was very slow. The ending is quite profound and it is left for the viewers to interpret and to seek an answer to a question that will definitely stay in mind long after the film's ended. In one word, I'd describe this film as a brilliant piece of work.
Showing posts with label War. Show all posts
Showing posts with label War. Show all posts
Atonement
Harts war
Fourth-generation Army Col. William McNamara is imprisoned in a brutal German POW camp. Still, as the senior-ranking American officer, he commands his fellow inmates, keeping a sense of honor alive in a place where honor is easy to destroy, all under the dangerous eye of the Luftwafe vetran Col. Wilhelm Visser. Never giving up the fight to win the war, McNamara is silently planning, waiting for his moment to strike back at the enemy. A murder in the camp gives him the chance to set a risky plan in motion. With a court martial to keep Visser and the Germans distracted, McNamara orchestrates a cunning scheme to escape and destroy a nearby munitions plant, enlisting the unwitting help of young Lt. Tommy Hart. Together with his men, McNamara uses a hero's resolve to carry out his mission, ultimately forced to weigh the value of his life against the good of his country. Written by Press kit
In the last months of the Second World War, an American administrative Lieutenant is captured by German forces during the Battle of the Bulge. Sent to a German Stalag Prison camp, Lieutenant Hart is at once thrust into the social order of POWs, where every man thinks of himself first with bribery and trading with German captors commonplace. When two African American pilots become the first non-white soldiers in the camp, one is murdered and the other accused of killing a white sergeant. Lieutenant Hart must then defend the black pilot against charges before an obviously racist American tribunal; unaware that the trial itself is only a front for the real secret of the prison camp. Written by Anthony Hughes 758
Shortly before the end of World War II, young, bright-eyed, First-Lieutenant Thomas Hart, a third-generation desk-warrior, is stationed in an office miles away from any fighting. He meets the war only by accident and is taken prisoner. During interrogation, Hart faces a test of honor, courage, and sacrifice he had not prepared for. Surviving the interrogation, the horrified Hart witnesses courage and honor in the acts of his fellow-prisoners, who save him from certain death by sacrificing their belongings and even their own lives. At the POW camp, Hart learns that courage, sacrifice, and honor are much harder to find, as men become embittered in their captivity. Instead, fraternization, opportunism, and racism abound, ever-encouraged by the murderous Nazis, lead by a grounded Luftwaffe colonel; and mostly tolerated by the senior-ranking American colonel, in spite of his being a 4th-generation military offcer. Col. McNamara, mostly indifferent to the goings-on of his Americans, defiantly draws the line at racism, saluting even the Russian "Untermenschen" in the neighboring compound. But this line becomes much less distinct as two downed African-American pilots join him in the American compound. Suddenly, American racism manifests itself and escalates until one of the pilots is murdered, and the other is accused of murdering one of the racist conspirators. A law-student before the war, Hart is appointed by McNamara to "defend" the court-marshalled pilot, where Hart learns that McNamara has taken great pains to guarantee a verdict of "guilty" against the lone African-American. For many prisoners, the war would be over. For Hart, it has barely begun, as he fights to find within himself the courage and honor that seems to be completely lost within the camp, and only to be had among the dead and the condemned. eaf Written by The Bright & Famous Cucumber
In the last months of the Second World War, an American administrative Lieutenant is captured by German forces during the Battle of the Bulge. Sent to a German Stalag Prison camp, Lieutenant Hart is at once thrust into the social order of POWs, where every man thinks of himself first with bribery and trading with German captors commonplace. When two African American pilots become the first non-white soldiers in the camp, one is murdered and the other accused of killing a white sergeant. Lieutenant Hart must then defend the black pilot against charges before an obviously racist American tribunal; unaware that the trial itself is only a front for the real secret of the prison camp. Written by Anthony Hughes 758
Shortly before the end of World War II, young, bright-eyed, First-Lieutenant Thomas Hart, a third-generation desk-warrior, is stationed in an office miles away from any fighting. He meets the war only by accident and is taken prisoner. During interrogation, Hart faces a test of honor, courage, and sacrifice he had not prepared for. Surviving the interrogation, the horrified Hart witnesses courage and honor in the acts of his fellow-prisoners, who save him from certain death by sacrificing their belongings and even their own lives. At the POW camp, Hart learns that courage, sacrifice, and honor are much harder to find, as men become embittered in their captivity. Instead, fraternization, opportunism, and racism abound, ever-encouraged by the murderous Nazis, lead by a grounded Luftwaffe colonel; and mostly tolerated by the senior-ranking American colonel, in spite of his being a 4th-generation military offcer. Col. McNamara, mostly indifferent to the goings-on of his Americans, defiantly draws the line at racism, saluting even the Russian "Untermenschen" in the neighboring compound. But this line becomes much less distinct as two downed African-American pilots join him in the American compound. Suddenly, American racism manifests itself and escalates until one of the pilots is murdered, and the other is accused of murdering one of the racist conspirators. A law-student before the war, Hart is appointed by McNamara to "defend" the court-marshalled pilot, where Hart learns that McNamara has taken great pains to guarantee a verdict of "guilty" against the lone African-American. For many prisoners, the war would be over. For Hart, it has barely begun, as he fights to find within himself the courage and honor that seems to be completely lost within the camp, and only to be had among the dead and the condemned. eaf Written by The Bright & Famous Cucumber
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