When it comes to Joe Wright movies, there is none better than his adaptation of Atonement, which hit the big screen back in 2007. For me, it was a wonderful adaptation of a great novel and was one of the best films to hit the big screen that year.
Atonement
It's hard to believe that Atonement was only the second feature for Wright as he reunited with Keira Knightley for the first time since the duo had success with Pride and Prejudice two years earlier.
Based on the novel by Ian McEwan, the film follows wannabe writer Briony Tallis, as a 13-year-old, irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.
Firstly, Atonement is a stunningly beautiful movie as the cinematography really will spellbind and leave you totally breathless. Wright and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey capture a peace and a beauty at the start of the film, which is contrasted to the dark and devastation of war in the second half of the film.
Wright also captures war images that are difficult to forget as the director captures Dunkirk on an epic scale. The long tracking shots show the number of men that were waiting for evacuation and the awful conditions that they had to cope with - many of them were injured and died as they were waiting to leave France. The Dunkirk moments in the film pack the biggest punch and they are images that stay with you long after the credits have rolled.
However, a film it not all about cinematography and images as the cast deliver wonderful performances that bring the characters that McEwan created alive.
We had seen Knightley take on a whole young of 'girl roles' and Atonement really was the first time that we saw her step onto the big screen as a woman. Cecilia Tallis is a character that is incredibly restrained and while Knightley does capture this well, she also makes sure that she is not a character that is completely unlikeable or totally cold.
James McAvoy's plays the film's everyman Robbie, the house of the Tallis family's housekeeper who aspires to be more. It is through this character that we are taken into the Tallis world and it is with the character of Robbie that the audience go on the greatest journey.
Knightley and McAvoy are just perfect together - two people from different backgrounds and class who struggle to hide their feelings for one another. It is in the early part of the film that the pair set up and establish their relationship; a relationship that hangs over the whole film and you are rooting for them to triumph.
Atonement is a sweeping romantic and war drama that is wonderfully faithful to the novel and captures the moments and characters that McEwan created beautifully.
Wright and screenwriter Christopher Hampton have stuck closely to Ian McEwan's much loved novel producing a very literary and faithful account of the story. And that's what so great about this film it won't disappoint lovers of the novel as well as turning those who are coming to the story for the very time to the book.
It is part love story, part war epic as Wright has produced a complex and devastating story which combines the literary qualities of the novel with the highly polished acting and production values.
Atonement was both critically and commercially successful and went on to be nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture. Atonement was the movie that really cemented Wright as a British filmmaking talent to keep an eye on and, for me, remains his best film.
Pan is out now.
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