Atonement

As we briskly walked under the rain to the movie theatre, my friend asked me if I knew the meaning of the word ‘atonement’. I said I didn’t know exactly what it meant. “It is something about false accusations.” I replied. “You would know after watching this movie, I guess.”

The movie is about a 13-year-old disturbing girl (Briony Tallis) accuses her older sister (Cecilia Tallis)’s lover (Robbie Turner) of a crime he did not commit. The casting of this young girl is perfect. Her short hair, round big eyes, and the use of her gestures indicated that she is nothing except trouble. She is such a small little monster who helplessly has a crush on her own sister’s lover. After all she is just a kid who did commit an innocent crime that she would regret for the rest of her life.

I don’t have fond memories of Keira Knightley’s performing. On top of my head she is associated with Pirates of the Caribbean epics. But in this movie she has shown her talent brilliantly. Her little green dress in an early scene reminds me of Gwyneth Paltrow in Great Expectation. Another great actor who has bright future is James McAvoy who plays a wrongly-accused guy. I could feel his strong love behind that straight face coming out of the screen.

Besides these fantastic casting, I gave five stars for cinematography. Everything was just great. I can’t even find a word to describe it. We agreed that every single scene was shot thoughtfully, beautifully and artistically. We were talking about the following scenes afterwards:

- At the fountain when Robbie touched the water where Cecilia just came out of.
- The 4.5 minute long shot through the Dunkirk beach scenes.
- The beach scene where Cecilia sits and thinks of her lover.
- The scene in the reading room where Cecilia confronts Robbie.
- The scene in the café.

Last scene needs to be elaborated. It took place in the café where Cecilia met Robbie. When she put her left hand on his right hand and asked him, ‘come back to me’, his left hand which is holding the coffee spoon dropped down immediately, showing that he was so ready to return to her. He, instead, moved his right hand off of hers and told her that he couldn’t do what she asked for because of his military duty. A picture certainly says a thousand words.

I will return. Find you, love you, marry you and live without shame.