Atonement

One major problem with Keira Knightley in a movie, is that I'm so awestruck by her appearance, I cannot objectively review her as an actress. For the most part, she is mediocre in the pirates movies, undoubtedly her most recognized role. I say this in hindsight, because while I was ga ga over her symmetry and posture, I failed to recognize that she overacted the chip that was perpetually poised on her shoulder-it seemed that for her to get from bow to stern of any vessel, it had to be storming in indignation thanks to some ill-timed male quip. Maybe too we can look at the ridiculous ending of the trilogy with its overblown cgi budget, monotone blur of ropes and swashbuckling, and...man what happened to the story? Keira had no chance in that one, and I say this also in retrospect after seeing Atonement.

In Atonement, she actually plays a comparatively limited role (thankfully allowing me to get engrossed in the story and atmosphere also) as Cecilia.

In summary, she is a woman of privilege, who falls for the grounds keeper. The theme here is somewhat typical where the wealthy have to feign disinterest in the working class in spite of their true desires. I seem to recall a few Victorian era films where this façade is the only thing that propels the story. Atonement, however, is more twisted. The grounds keeper, Robbie Turner (James McAvoy), is a clever, studied, and respectable man who does succeed in getting his girl, Cecilia, early on, but in the process, his advances are misunderstood by Cecilia's young sister, Briony, who eventually wrongfully identifies him as a rapist. The remainder of the film has the characters atoning, surviving, or otherwise suffering the consequences of the decisions of a little girl. It's a dark story, with beautiful cinematic backdrop. Every starring role was performed with subtlety and maturity. The characters were believable to perfection.

What you will notice in the story is a lot of missed opportunities "If they did this one thing differently...If Cecilia had come clean to the police about her fling with Robbie, if they had talked to Briony, the moment she discovered them" etc., but the times (world war II era) and the nature of relationships warranted a very standard tightlippedness that makes this genre ultimately very frustrating for me to enjoy. It's the Shakespearean "tiny misunderstanding begets tragedy", which is fairly unrealistic. Would Cecilia have maintained her façade in real-life rather than temporarily tarnishing her reputation to save the man who was predestined to spend the rest of his life with her? You see this sort of thing in most films featuring some sort of aristocracy. I suppose you see this in politics also, where a minor cover-up creates the real collapse. Ok. Maybe not so unrealistic after all. Someone who is more practical and level-headed could see the potential snowball, and act a little more rationally to prevent it from rolling. However, the characters were victims of the era, which earns them some benefit of the doubt. Did parents even address sex with their children? Probably, like today, it depends on the parents how adequately the topic was covered, but I imagine sex was generally not discussed.

I still appreciated the film in spite of my disbeliefs. Try it out when you're ready for a bit of darkness.