Hit Me with Your Best Shot: Atonement

Atonement is one of those movies filled with dozens of gorgeous and iconic shots - I'm sure that silhouette of a soldier on the poppy field or Robbie looking at the bodies of dead schoolgirls will get several mentions here. I looked at a bunch of screenshots from the movie, some truly startling, unforgettable images - like Robbie and Cecilia frozen in passion against the bookshelf (echoed again as we see her dead body floating in the tunnel), Cecilia engulfed in flames as Robbie is being taken away or Briony peeking through red curtain. There is so much symbolism hidden in this rich, wonderful and absolutely heart breaking movie. But I chose the shot highlighting a moment, a scene and a performance that I think goes largely under appreciated.

I'm still surprised Saoirse Ronan was the only one who got Oscar nominated for her work here. McAvoy was absolutely outstanding portraying such a passionate man, torn apart between his good nature and the effects of awfulness and injustice of what was done to him. And then we have excellent Keira Knightley who makes her Cecilia so alluring, mysterious and wiser beyond her years. And for me the most affecting moment in this movie - other than the flashback reveal of real fates of Cecilia and Robbie - is the scene where after witnessing the wedding Briony comes over to visit her sister.

There is an outstanding moment here where Robbie lashes out at Briony asking her if she understands what she has done. Cecilia keeps calling onto him to come back to her, only the power of their love being able to stop Robbie's rage at Briony. And then Briony, sounding like a little, fragile girl - unlike how she sounded when we actually saw and heard her as a little girl - tearfully repeats how sorry she is for what she has done, repeats it as a child would, a child that was scolded but in Briony's way of saying these words there is understanding and a sense of atonement.

And then the camera shows us the look on Cecilia's face -

so beautifully captured by Knightley is the hurt, the love and the sadness she feels for her little sister. Cecilia doesn't hate Briony. and in that moment she sees her little sister destined to carry that burden for the rest of her days - that burden of the lives destroyed, tears shed and lovers kept apart because of her words that were spoken. There is such crushing realization in Cecilia's eyes here - that no matter what Briony does, her suffering won't ever go away - the way Knightley managed to portray that and the way the cinematographer Seamus McGarvey caught that moment is not something I'll ever forget. For many Atonement is a war story, for others it's a doomed romance. But there is a painful and eternal bond between sisters portrayed here that is often neglected when talking about that movie - while the script doesn't necessarily capture it well Knightley and Ronan and especially Garai do it beautifully.

(for TheFilmExperience HWYBS series)