Film #87: ATONEMENT (2007)

This was a sweet but weird film. I liked the concept of it but I have one small tiny detail which I think should have changed in order for me to grasp the narrative immediately. Basically the film looks at the life of three characters, Cecilia (Keira Knightly), Robbie (James McAvoy) and Briony (Saoirse Ronan/Romola Garai). As Briony looks at the world and only sees her point of view and jumps to conclusion she accuses Robbie of being a sex addict and of forcing himself on their friend Lola (Juno Temple) and from her walking in on him and Cecilia (her sister) together in the library, resulting in Robbie's imprisonment. However the bit that I think the film should have made more clear is the jump in time between Robbie's imprisonment and the rest of the film (basically) as there is a jump but is not immediately made clear until the audience sees an older Briony. Therefore I would have loved a simple "5 years later" or however long into the future it is. But other than that it's a really well shot film and McAvoy and Knightly worked extremely well opposite each other. Joe Wright shot the film beautifully also.