Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-02-04
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 118 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Atonement reunites Keira Knightley with her Pride & Prejudice director, Joe Wright, for the movie based on Ian McEwan's book of the same name. The result? Once of the most widely acclaimed pictures of 2007.

Atonement tells the story of Cecilia Tallis (Knightley), and the housekeeper's son, Robbie Turner (played by the increasingly prevalent James McAvoy). Set during the heat of 1935, their coming together and the ensuing drama brings in Cecilia's thirteen-year old sister, Briony, whose actions prove to have far-reaching repercussions.

With a terrific cast and superb direction from the aforementioned Wright, it's utterly understandable as to how Atonement has earned itself such praise. Diligently told, with some superb photography, Wright is blessed by terrific central performances by Knightley and McAvoy, both of whom have never been better. His trick also is to get the pacing of the film bang-on, taking his time to build up and layer events before he looks for any kind of pay off.

As a result, as Atonement heads into its latter stages, it proves itself as a top quality drama, with a real emotional punch. Furthermore, it's one of the increasingly rare breed of films that sticks in your head for days after.

As a result, for once, it really is worth seeing what critics the world over have been raving about: Atonement really is something very special indeed. --Jon Foster

DVD Description
On the hottest day of the summer of 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her older sister Cecilia (Kiera Knightley) strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house. Watching Cecilia is their housekeeper's son Robbie Turner (James McAvoy), a childhood friend who, along with Briony's sister, has recently graduated from Cambridge.

By the end of that day the lives of all three will have been changed forever. Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed a boundary they had never before dared to approach and will have become victims of the younger girl's scheming imagination, and Briony will have committed a dreadful crime, the guilt for which will colour her entire life.

From the director of Pride & Prejudice and based on the novel by Ian McEwen comes "the best British film in years" - Sunday Times.

"As close to perfect as a movie can get" - Daily Mirror.

"An Essential" 5 Stars - Empire

Synopsis
On a sultry summer day in 1935, an upper-class British family prepares for a dinner party at their country estate. The participants include Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan), a precocious preteen writer, her older sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley), Cambridge graduate and femme fatale, Robbie Turner (James McEvoy), the housekeeper's virtuous son, who carries a torch for Cecilia, and various visitors and family members. A series of misperceptions, fuelled by the summer heat and Briony's childish hurts and fevered imagination, lead to a dramatic false accusation that lands Robbie in jail. We meet all three characters five years later in the thick of World War II, as foot soldier Robbie prepares for the Dunkirk evacuation and the two estranged sisters train as nurses in London.
Director Joe Wright (PRIDE AND PREJUDICE) deserves high praise for translating Ian McEwan's highly internalised, multilayered tale of guilt, redemption, and the power and limits of the artistic imagination, into a sumptuous visual feast that not only conveys the intricate plot points of the novel, but dives headfirst into the emotional subtleties that make the story so wrenching. Whether any of the characters' actions are ultimately atoned for by the end of the film is a matter of perception, but Wright's sympathetic eye ensures that every player gets a fair trial. The young director favours long, lingering close-ups that trace every flicker of feeling--Ronan's luminous blue eyes clouding over with righteous gravity; the tremors of hurt and anger and love in McEvoy's sensitive face; the defiant jut of Knightley's jaw as it melts into tender affection. The honey-drizzled look of the first two thirds of the film contrasts achingly with the tension and seriousness of the action unfolding (and the grim intensity of the wartime sections), and the scenes on the beach at Dunkirk include masterly camera. ATONEMENT is a powerful story, retold in a way that even diehard fans of the book will appreciate.

Customer Reviews

Best pic of 2007
Know im not a fan of Pride and prediduce the film made before attonement by the director.This movie should of won an award for best picture.A story about telling the truth when you realy should.The movie has realy good cinematography a brilliant drama that we dont realy see the likes of that often.If you liked the englsih paitent im pretty sure you will like this just the movie isnt as big.Great acting apart from Knightley not a very known cast that i recognise from other films but a brilliant cast at that.I just wish this film was filmed in 2.35.1 instead of the 1.88.1 widscreen apart from that one of the best films i have seen in ages.

Over-wrought melodrama with little to commend it
How I loathe films like this! The camera moves dramatically, the violins surge and the story is shoveled down the audience's collective throat. Worse, there is virtually no chemistry between any of the major players! The result is a couple of hours of uninvolving, unconvincing sub-Speilberg twaddle.

If you want to see how it should be done, take a look at Losey's The Go Between or Altman's Gosford Park -- these are directors who understand the importance of subtlety and nuance and who don't underestimate their audiences.

Don't believe the hype.
Only god knows why this film was so much loved by the media and alike. Which is why I was disappointed when I came to watch it. If nothing happening for the majority of the movie is your cup of tea then I say give this a try. The pacing is very slow and yet the character development is rushed and you feel that chunks of important story has been cut just to shorten it for this medium. Oh yeah one more thing... Keira Knightly must know some big wigs as she won a Bafta for her role... erm... she is hardly in it compared to the rest of the cast not to mention she wasn't even the best actor. Don't expect the 2nd coming of Jesus and you may like it.