Home > VHS Atonement Starring : Availability:  This item is currently not available.   Accessories: (none) Similar Products: (none)     Customer Reviews   Stunning..... Rating: 5 Kiera Knightley and James McEvoy star, in Oscar winning performances, as two doomed lovers torn apart by lies and war. Director Joe Wright proves here that Pride and Prejudice was no fluke as Atonement is well crafted, superbly photographed and with an intelligent script makes this film a total success and triumph. Beginning in the summer of 1935 in an English Manor we are introduced to Briony, a precocious and over imaginative young writer. The film starts as she tries to understand the relationship between her older sister Cecilia (Knightley) and the housekeeper's son Robby (McEvoy). After a horrendous attack on their cousin, Briony's innocence, naivety and jealously leads her to put the blame on Robby who is immediately taken away to jail. Cut to 1940 and Robby, who got the chance to join the army, is now an evacuee in Dunkirk. Cecilia is a nurse in London as is Briony. What follows is Briony trying to come to terms with what she has done and trying to make peace with her sister. From the lush Countryside to the bleakness of the beaches of Dunkirk the photography is spellbinding. The direction is first rate with a stunning tracking shot of Dunkirk. Also the music and the use of the sound from the keys of the typewriter are used to perfect effect. The performances are first rate, notably Saoirse Ronan who plays the young Briony. While the film does lull a bit during the middle, the performances carry the viewer through it. A hugely enjoyable period/war drama, that's as ambitious as it is compassionate. A stunning achievement. Magical Tingles Rating: 4 Starting a romance film with a group of unlikeable characters is not the best way to start a love story for me. Still it was shortly afterwards, that the story became interesting. Based on the novel of the same name by British writer Ian McEwan and set just before and during the Second World War, Atonement stars Keira Knightley of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy and James McAvoy of The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe. Yet despite Knightley and McAvoy receiving top billing, this is not their characters' story. The story belongs to the character of Briony Tallas who we ultimately see at three points in her life. At the age of 13 and in a wonderfully bitchy performance by young actress Saoirse Ronan, Briony is a girl who has a crush on Robbie Turner (McAvoy) and is jealous of his attraction to her older sister Cecilia. It is this jealousy that leads to the splitting apart of our lovers due to one big lie. And although the performance of Saoirse Ronan will be the most memorable Briony, for me the most interesting part of the story is the journey of Briony at age 18 (played by the beautiful Romola Garai of Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights) as she begins her atonement. It isn't until we see a much older Briony (played by acting legend Vanessa Redgrave) however that revelations are revealed and the complete truth is told. If you're expecting a period drama for the whole family you probably won't find it with Atonement. This is due to the vulgar use of sexual language and the graphic grotesqueness of War. However for a few older members of the family they won't find anything they haven't heard of or seen before. All in all, despite the high calibre acting from the cast, for me the majority of the movie moves forward at a 2 and a 1/2 out of 5 star movie pace, then when Briony is 18 much later on in the film it steps up to being a 3 and a 1/2 star movie. Thankfully when it comes to the final truth the movie becomes a 4 star movie due to a wonderfully special moment- There are some movies and TV shows in which a climactic sudden emotional reveal can spread magical tingles down your spine, and as Atonement progressed I did not expect to be getting that feeling at the end, but I did and I am so happy about that. And that was when the movie reached its peak, and where to better put the movie's peak than at the end. spellbinding Rating: 5 Ian McEwan, one of my very favorite authors, had me mesmerized by his detailed characters and all of their interplay in Atonement. The movie promises to be as delicious. I am fascinated by how much the actors look as I had imagined them as I read the book.