Atonement
March 12th 2009 20:08
I previously had no desire to see the movie whatsoever, because of my irrational hatred of Keira Knightley. However, having now finished and loved the book, I caved and decided to give the movie a shot.
I am glad that I did. It was a lovely movie, very much in keeping with the spirit of the book. Of course there were changes, as there always are when a book is transferred to the screen, and some I very much liked, whilst some I did not. There were also some features of the novel, I found, that loaned themselves very well to a movie, whilst others did not.
One thing that worked very well was the repition of events from various points of view, it was a technique I found trying in the novel (mostly because of my own impatience to discover what happened next), whereas in the movie it was interesting and kept my attention firmly fixed on the screen.
I was rather disappointed at how much had been cut once we moved past part one, though. In particular, I missed the scenes of Robbie, Mace and Nettle marching to Dunkirk. The road to Dunkirk was possibly one of my favourite parts of the novel and I would have loved for it to have been included. I can't really see a reason for it to have been cut, either, apart from, perhaps pacing. Including it would have added to the pity we feel for Robbie - seeing everything that he has to go through in his attempt to get back to Cecilia. Of course, I must admit that when I read about the scene with the Flemish woman and her young son I did wonder how that had been depicted on screen as it could have left people viewing Robbie as a 'bad guy'. I think that they, perhaps, tried to compound the horror and pity we would have felt for him, with the scene where he discovers all the dead children lying under the tree, however I loathed that scene. It felt trite, overblown and I would certainly have preferred just the single leg as it leaves so much more to the imagination. Cutting Briony's time in the hospital was a smart move and I was not disappointed that we didn't get to see that, however, I am slightly annoyed that the Lola storyline is never resolved, and those who have not read the novel do not know who it is who actually committed the crime - although it is relatively obvious.
The ending. Well...like that of the novel, I loved it. I thought that Briony's final exposition was so much more suited to a movie than to a novel as the flashbacks shown during her explanation made it that much more moving and yes, there were more tears. I imagine, though, that her explanation doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you have not read the novel, and so I am very glad that I have done.
Keira still annoyed me but, despite being one of the main characters, she actually spends little time on screen, and so it's easier to focus on the other characters.
I am glad that I did. It was a lovely movie, very much in keeping with the spirit of the book. Of course there were changes, as there always are when a book is transferred to the screen, and some I very much liked, whilst some I did not. There were also some features of the novel, I found, that loaned themselves very well to a movie, whilst others did not.
One thing that worked very well was the repition of events from various points of view, it was a technique I found trying in the novel (mostly because of my own impatience to discover what happened next), whereas in the movie it was interesting and kept my attention firmly fixed on the screen.
Keira still annoyed me but, despite being one of the main characters, she actually spends little time on screen, and so it's easier to focus on the other characters.
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