The English Patient: Episode 2 (Atonement (DVD))

Member Name: thedevilinme

Product:	Atonement (DVD)
Date:	07/06/09 (85 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Visually strong

Disadvantages: Bit boring

Sometimes three dooyoo stars means five dooyoo stars with me because when it comes to Oscar laden movies I tend to knock one off when they fail to inspire, however well made and acted they are, especially meandering British war time epics like the English Patient, a film that had me pulling my nails out in frustration of the dullness of it all, surely one of British cinemas most over-rated films (Four Weddings comfortably top of that list), the main reason I was reticent to rent this, Atonement almost a tribute to that three hour groan in all but name.

It's a visually stunning and authentic piece make no mistake and Keira Knightly is the stand out performance as the decadent moneyed daughter from the manor, but the central love story between her and James McAvoy has little chemistry and so not a truly romantic film in any way, or at least in my book, the film as cold as a broken fridge in the North Pole, Cold Mountain coming to mind if you need a comparison.

For some reason the Academy expect this type of film when the Brits push for Oscars and so we go along with those cold clipped middle class stereotypes. When we do the likewise broadsheet arts & culture press cut from the same cloth tend to gush over these movies and increase the hype, when in truth if you strip down the narrative and love story there's nothing remotely new here, however respected the pedigree.

Atonement, of course, is based on best selling author Ian McEwen's book by the same name, his third book to film project so far, Enduring love his best, The Good Son
the worst by far. The film features an extravagant tracking shot, some five-and-a-half minutes of the Dunkirk retreat from the beaches, which to be fair although celebrated as great screenplay work was surely put in to make the film less dull. The scene was shot at Redcar beach in Yorkshire. The tracking shot was done in four takes (the third one was used). The crew only had a day to film and had limited time with the 1,100 extras and so had to shoot before the tide would come in and wash the set into the nearby Filey-Butlins. The Redcar locals were all paid £50 each for their services.

-The Cast-

Saoirse Ronan ... Briony Tallis - Age 13
Brenda Blethyn ... Grace Turner
Julia West ... Betty
James McAvoy ... Robbie Turner
Harriet Walter ... Emily Tallis
Keira Knightley ... Cecilia Tallis
Juno Temple ... Lola Quincey
Felix von Simson ... Pierrot Quincey
Charlie von Simson ... Jackson Quincey
Alfie Allen ... Danny Hardman
Patrick Kennedy ... Leon Tallis
Benedict Cumberbatch ... Paul Marshall

-The Plot-

It's the decadent 1930s in the English Home Counties and 13-year-old Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan) has a crush on 23-year-old Robbie (James McAvoy), who is chasing her big sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) whilst staying at their huge house in the country. Cecilia is playing haughty and hard to get and when young Briony discovers a love letter written by Robbie to Cecilia that contains the most obscene of words beginning with 'C' and then catches them at it in the drawing room she knows their passion is real and she will never have him, the age difference nothing to the precocious Briony, her passion for writing plays adding to the drama playing out in her mind of turmoil overt this discovery.

When one of the visiting Tallis family's underage but flirtatious cousins, Lola Quincey (Juno Temple), is sexually assaulted by Paul (Benedict Cumberbatch), Cecilia's brother Leon's (Patrick Kennedy) best friend, Bryonies jealousy gets the better of her and tells Lola to say it was Robbie that did it, which Lola reluctantly agrees to, resulting in his arrest, the family far too well to do for this to get out in the press and so Robbie taken down.

The film then flips forward to World War 2 and the failed Dunkirk invasion, Robbie a private in the army and trying to escape occupied France, joining up his only option to escape his prison sentence. Cecilia and Briony have never spoken since and only letters connect Robbie to his lover. But will that love survive the war and how can Briony repay her treachery that looks set to ruin so many lives and loves lost...

-The Conclusion-

After yours truly won the Daily Mail caption contest on Friday, involving an insulting comment about Hugh Grants rather wooden acting skills, Ikea Knightley naturally popped into my head in the video store, so Atonement my final selection for the Blockbuster five films for five quid deal to get me through this inclement spell of weather. I've been putting it off because I feared it would be another English Patient but to be fair it's not too boring and I lasted the two hours. Why Oscar chasing movies always have to be over two hours is beyond me but at least there was some sort of story to fill those two hours here, these big movies often too much about the performance and the period visual to the last minutia than the actual narrative.

Its beautifully scored and very cinematic, expressing the decadency of the 1930s and how courting would painfully suppress passion in the upper classes, one having to marry into money to keep their status rather than marry for love. Through subtle flashback to the tap of the typewriter as the secret letters too-and-fro the story is allowed to unwind through different angles and perspective, the passion of relationships always about the bits when you are apart rather than together, when what you want most is not with you, always the suggestion that what you are seeing on screen is a novel within a novel.

The first 50 minutes of the film does linger on the flirting at the house a bit too much and a posh gal can only twiddled her pearls for so long before she wants to jump on him, at this point needing a good boot up the bum to get the film going. Keira does great in that role and it's a breeze for McAvoy, Saoirse Ronan excellent as the young and precocious temptress.

I never read the book as I'm not clever enough for the author but I'm sure it transfers well under Joe Wright's direction. But at the end of the day it's exactly the film I thought it would be and so not really my cup of tea. But if you like this sort of period costume drama then I suspect you will disagree and absolutely love this, British film at its most frightfully middle-class and so geared towards Americans that like that sort of thing and have that perception of this country. But this is not my cup of tea dear boy.

= = = = = Special Features = = = = =

-Audio Commentary-

Joe Wright gives a studious account of the making of.

-Deleted Scenes-

Quite a few sprawling ones

-The Making Of-

Straightforward behind the scenes stuff that goes into that five minute continuous shot rather too much. The cast & crew also chip in to elevate the product some more to the Academy.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Imdb.com scores it 7.9 out of 10.0 (69,657 votes)
RuN-TiMe 123 minutes
5 films for £5 weekly deal at Blockbusters
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Summary: Another period drama...