I watched the film Atonement last night. I have to admit that I picked it up in the video shop just because it’s one of the nominees of the Oscar Award. Fortunately, it didn’t disappoint me. The story starts in 1935. Briony Tallis is a girl with a huge imagination who loves to write. This is a girl whose world is shaped with words, regardless of whether or not she understands them. Due to her wild imagination she accuses Robbie, the housekeeper’s son and her sister’s beloved, of a crime that he doesn’t commit. Robbie is sent into prison and later into army, and Briony spends her rest life in regretting and atonement.

       The storyline of Atonement is where the film holds most of its impact. It is an engaging story and the ending is kind of unexpected. The way the movie is directed is also something note. The beautiful colours of the summer house are amazing, but the way the camera moves around the house makes it even better. But the direction will be remembered for one scene in this movie, and it’s in Dunkirk. I mentioned this previously for the performance in that scene, what I failed to mention is that the shot is a continuous shot that lasts five minutes as we see the chaos of Dunkirk. From horses being shot to a man hanging from a ferris wheel, the sequence is shown in all its glory. It really is a powerful moment, and probably the one scene that got me closest to tears, purely because of the singing in the background, it is shocking just how amazing this sequence truly is.

       Overall Atonement is a perfect movie, in actual fact its a movie with pretty much no flaws whatsoever. Superb performances, beautiful direction, a script and storyline to die for.