|
Atonement (2007, US/UK)
In director Joe Wright's epic war film of thwarted
romance over a period of six decades:
- the three scenes of fantasy-prone 13 year-old Briony
Tallis (Saoirse Ronan) witnessing and misunderstanding sex in 1935
- with long-lasting consequences:
(1) between lithe older sister Cecilia Tallis (Keira Knightley) and
her 'secret' boyfriend, servant/cook son Robbie Turner (James McAvoy)
when Cecilia was at an outdoor fountain and dove underwater to retrieve
a broken piece of a family heirloom vase - and emerged almost naked
in front of Robbie with her soaked and transparent dress
(2) their passionate love-making scene against the stacks in the
library
(3) the 'rape' scene between house-guest Paul Marshall (Benedict
Cumberpatch) and her 15 year-old cousin Lola Quincey (Juno Temple)
- all acts Briony misunderstood with unfortunate circumstances, by
wrongly accusing Robbie of 'raping' Lola
- the bravura extended tracking shot (5 minutes and
30 seconds) of Robbie walking along the French beach during the Dunkirk
evacuation - where stranded show horses were being executed, as the
camera glided down the beach (amidst a beached barge and a spinning
ferris wheel) and then around a choir of wounded infantrymen, and
ended finally in a bar
- at film's end, the interview scene with older, terminally-ill
(with vascular dementia) novelist Briony (Vanessa Redgrave) about
her latest and last book - an autobiographical work titled Atonement -
when she confessed as an act of penance that much of the end portion
of the novel was fabricated and imaginary about their reconciliation,
since both Robbie and Cecilia died during the war (Robbie died of
a sepsis infection, and Cecilia drowned in a tube station bombing)
|
|
Older Novelist Briony (Vanessa Redgrave): Her
Confession
|
Her Novel's Fabricated Happy Ending
|
- the final idealized scene of the lovers cavorting
on the beach near a beach house, as Briony stated: "So in
the book, I wanted to give Robbie and Cecilia what they lost out
on in life. I'd like to think this isn't weakness or evasion, but
a final act of kindness. I gave them their happiness"
|
Sexy Fountain Scene
Library Love-Making Against Stacks
Robbie Wrongly Accused of 'Raping' Lola
Young Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan): Her Fanciful Accusatory
Imagination
Dunkirk Evacuation Scene
|