This year has been rife with cash-in sequels and inferior remakes. Sure, Transformers was fun. Okay, so Shoot ‘Em Up made me bounce up and down like a giddy child with it’s over the top absurdity.
But occasionally you feel that, even though these big dumb action movies are fun, after the hundredth movie where the plot exists solely to provide a link from set-piece A to set-piece B, you start to wonder if the art and the storytelling of cinema has gone down the pan.
Flashy, over the top music video directors are all the rage, but they’re all visuals. They come across as having no concept of how to tell a real story or how to present characters that aren’t stereotypes.
With his second movie Atonement, and at only 35 years of age, British newcomer Joe Wright strides confidently on to the scene and makes the like of Zack Snyder and Brett Ratner look like they learned their craft from a “For Dummies” book.
However, with this talent comes a feverishly overactive imagination. When she sees an incident between her elder sister Cecilia (Knightley) and servant’s son Robbie (McAvoy) on a hot summer’s day, her immature imagination misconstrues an awkward flirtation as something darker.
Briony’s imagination continues to twist events throughout that day with terrible consequences.
His previous movie Pride and Prejudice was a visually impressive film in itself, but for Atonement he brings his A-game.
But occasionally you feel that, even though these big dumb action movies are fun, after the hundredth movie where the plot exists solely to provide a link from set-piece A to set-piece B, you start to wonder if the art and the storytelling of cinema has gone down the pan.
Flashy, over the top music video directors are all the rage, but they’re all visuals. They come across as having no concept of how to tell a real story or how to present characters that aren’t stereotypes.
With his second movie Atonement, and at only 35 years of age, British newcomer Joe Wright strides confidently on to the scene and makes the like of Zack Snyder and Brett Ratner look like they learned their craft from a “For Dummies” book.
Briony Tallis is a highly talented 13 year old daughter of a well to do family in pre-WWII England. While her cousins want to go swimming in the lake, she wants them to help put on a performance of her latest play.
However, with this talent comes a feverishly overactive imagination. When she sees an incident between her elder sister Cecilia (Knightley) and servant’s son Robbie (McAvoy) on a hot summer’s day, her immature imagination misconstrues an awkward flirtation as something darker.
Briony’s imagination continues to twist events throughout that day with terrible consequences.
Atonement might possibly qualify as one of the most visually stunning films of the year. Wright doesn’t use shaky-cam or the hyperactive editing common of his young directorial peers. In fact, where other directors seem determined to blind and overload your senses, Wright slams on the brakes.
His previous movie Pride and Prejudice was a visually impressive film in itself, but for Atonement he brings his A-game.
There are many moments which wow but one scene in particular, a 5 minute single-take steadicam shot, is stunning not only for its immaculate choreography but also a bizarre detached quality which adds to the interpretation of how the character we are following feels.
Read more on Atonement at Cinema Blend
Read more on Atonement at Cinema Blend
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