New Movie Friday: Atonement

One of the most sure-fire ways to garner critical acclaim for your film is to set it during World War II. This period in time still captivates and moves the world to this day. For example, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sparks outrage regularly for minimizing the Holocaust. Also, look at the list of critically-acclaimed films set in this era: "Schindler's List, "Saving Private Ryan," "Flags of our Fathers" etc. Just pretend "Pearl Harbor" didn't happen. Besides, "Pearl Harbor" doesn't count because it starred Josh Hartnett and Ben Affleck. What period piece can withstand that?

Another tip for movie-makers is when doing a period piece, especially those set in Britain, make sure you grab Keira Knightley. She's all about taking it back to the old school, she did "Pride and Prejudice."

"Atonement," a film based on the book by Ian McEwan, hits theaters today and director Joe Wright made sure to do both of these things. Good job, Joe.

The story is one of star-crossed lovers meeting and being torn apart by a false accusation from a young girl. It's character-driven, dialogue-heavy and a dense drama. I'm sure it'll be an Oscar favorite next year. I have to admit, I'm a sucker for the period piece and I especially love the ones set in Britain. I just love the Brits, their accents, their history, their vocabulary. It all seems very exciting from my ol' American point of view.

And Knightley isn't the only star in this film. For those of you who caught the gem that is "The Last King of Scotland," "Atonement" also features James McAvoy who played the lead in that movie. His character, and accent, is vastly different from the Scot he played in "Scotland" so don't mistake McAvoy as a one-note thespian.

Check out this clip from the film in which the director of "Atonement," Joe Wright, talks about filming a shot of Britain post-WWII.

-Ricky

Comments

[patrick]

Atonement was a decent flick; it looked and felt a lot like Pride and Prejudice... come to think of it, both movies have the same director, leading lady, both are based on books and both take place in England