Rama’s SCREEN

No matter how much we might hate chick flick, there’s always a part of us longing for a good love movie. Every year deserves to have at least one romantic drama that would stand out over the rest. This year, ATONEMENT is the… great love movie in the same class as Titanic. The tale of two lovebirds who are separated by more than just social stature and that aspect alone is what makes this movie unique.

Based on a romance novel about a 13 year old named Brionywho can’t get the affection of the man she has feelings for, Robby (McAvoy). He is in love with Briony’s older sister, Cecilia (Knightley). Stricken with jealousy, Briony accuses Robby of a crime he didn’t commit resulting in him being sent to World War II, away from her lover.

Both James McAvoy and Keira Knightley each starred in separate romantic films this year, James was in Becoming Jane and Keira Knightley was in Silk, each film was a ball of disappointment, they were simply too ordinary… the same way about Love In The Time of Cholera…. all those three films dreamt big but aimed low… there was no chemistry…. the audiences didn’t feel the love and because of that they didn’t fall in love those movies.

ATONEMENT is different because director Joe Wright (Pride and Prejudice) takes a different approach by playing with the timeline. The movie is about a girl who misunderstands what she sees, so the audiences get treated with that point of view and then we’re served with the actual situation of what’s really happening, the parts which that very same girl doesn’t get to see.

The story is powerful. How the lives of both characters end catch me by surprise.
The line that Keira character, Cecilia keeps saying frequently to Robby: ‘Come back to me’ is what underlines the intention and the sole mission for Briony’s final book… to bring Robby back to Cecilia.

I like how the original score composer incorporates the clicking sound of a typewriter into the music… It’s brilliant!
I think James McAvoy performance in this movie is superb but Keira’s Knightley’s performance.. not so much.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this movie would get recognized for costume design.
This is a tragedy story that uses deception as its main weapon.

When you’re watching this movie for some reason you can’t help but remember another chick flick called The English Patient, which was one of the longest and most boring movies to ever win an Oscar.
Interesting thing, director Anthony Minghella makes an appearance in this movie as the interviewer.

* Place the cursor on the picture below to check my grade for this film