This seems to be the first year in a long time that I’ve seen all the best picture nominees. I loved Juno, No Country, and There Will Be Blood.
But Atonement? It started off good with the whole jealous sister angle, the love story, and what-not. It got really exciting when the bitch younger sister falsely accused gardener dude of rape.
But then, good god, bogging the movie down in WWII, when WWII was not even germane to the point of the film… That whole middle section of the movie was just too much. Gardener dude running all over France for an hour just bogged the movie down way too much. The sisters and their nursing stories during WWII were interesting, I’ll admit. This movie should have cut 20 minutes or so out of WWII and got back to the love story angle.
And am I the only one who kind of rolled my eyes a bit at the end when the bitch sister “gave them them life they could never have”? How nice of her! I felt that the movie should have made me feel sympathy toward her, but I didn’t.
It was a good movie, but it failed for me based on not making me feel sympathy for bitch sister at the end, and the plodding middle section in WWII.
I don’t think the audience was supposed to feel sympathy for Briony. The whole point was that she completely failed in her attempt to “atone” and could not give up control over their lives, even after their deaths.
I liked it. I thought everyone was really good in their performances (and that Romola Garai isn’t getting nearly enough kudos for her part). And considering that
Robbie dies during a lull in the action, and Cecelia gets killed along with other refugees / volunteers / hapless victims during the Blitz
I’d say WWII plays a pretty big part in the plot, and I think it developed Robbie’s character, too.
But yeah–I’ll be pulling for No Country for Old Men or Juno on the Oscars night.
I can’t believe how disappointed I was with No Country. What a waste of characters. The way the various endings tried to be all artsy, pointless or both. At parts it was a fun ride, but “Best Picture”? Pffft.
Well, to be honest I haven’t seen enough movies this year to be a good judge. I just saw No Country two days ago and can’t believe the clamoring for Best Picture it’s getting. I’m a Coen brothers fan too.
lol, I guess I should have saved my comments for a thread about No Country since I can’t really compare. Carry on!
I watched it on DVD over the weekend and enjoyed it. Having said that, I rarely dislike films; perhaps I’m just easily entertained, or not intelligent enough to deconstruct and critique films properly. I can see why people might not think too highly of this film, the war scenes and final ‘twist’ in particular. This is also exacerbated by the high praise and oscar nods. I wasn’t particularly moved by this film, but never got the impression that it was trying to be particularly moving, although I thought the romantic aspect sincere and rooted for the two leads. The acting is pretty solid, especially by the young and irrepressibly cute Saoirse Ronan. As a watch-once ‘serious’ flick that leaves you with a little philosophical fat to chew on, I think you could do a lot worse.
And Keira Knightley is far less irritating in this than she can be.
Well, I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I’m trying to read the book. Basically what you’ve said here describes exactly how I’m feeling about the book. I was totally engrossed up until the point where all the WWII stuff started. I’m not into war stories and didn’t know this was going to be one. I’m plodding along and hoping it will pick up again, but it’s not looking good.
Like I said in my own thread about Atonement, I think the love story was the weakest point. We’re supposed to accept that they’re in love and that their separation is tragic just because the movie says so.
I’ve seen all 5 of the nominated movies and I think Atonement is the 5th best movie on that list.
I haven’t decided what I think would be the best on the list, though. I could make arguments for No Country, Blood, and Juno, but I don’t know that any of them are clearly ahead of the others. TWBB is probably the best in terms of sheer technical accomplishment and has an iconic lead performance. NCFOM is exquisitely shot, written and acted and introduces an instantly classic villain. Juno might be the most purely entertaining. Juno has grown on me with repeated viewings. I think the performances of J.K Simmons and Allison Janey might be the most under appreciated of the year.
We’re not supposed to feel sympathy for Briony.
I’d list Atonement #4 on the list of possible Oscar winners, after There Will Be Blood, No Country, and Michael Clayton, and before Juno, which better not win BP or I’ll commit murder and it won’t be pretty. I’ll make Daniel Plainview, and Anton Chigurh look like schoolgirls.
Huh? What various endings? It only had one ending, and I didn’t see anything particularly artsy (though it was artful) and it certainly wasn’t pointless.
Or, wait, did you think the movie was about Moss and the money?
I’m a little confused at this one: I don’t know if I’m seeing a great movie that’s extremely subtle or a film with some major flaws in it. I feel that it wants to damn Briony as much as the viewer does, but it then asks the viewer to accept lifelong remorse as atonement enough for Briony’s actions. And I don’t buy it - feeling bad for 40 years while you build yourself up to become a writer/pundit of some repute, finally confessing on your deathbed, doesn’t really atone for the consequences of her earlier lie. Imho. At times, I see what it’s trying to do I just don’t think the film is successful in doing it.
I’ve also never been a fan of the “what you’re seeing is a figment of one of the character’s imagination” storylines… for some reason, I feel cheated and lied to when I find out that part of the story I read didn’t actually “happen”. So when I found out that 1/2 of the movie was made up by one of the characters, I wasn’t pleased. But I will say, Atonement handled this twist better than most.
I’ve seen three out of five so far (NCFOM, Juno, and Atonement), and I like NCFOM the best.
Atonement was beautifully filmed and I enjoyed the ending, but the rest of the movie was too boring and pointless. It seems to go out of it’s way to make a statement about trying acting sophisticated while reality makes it all but impossible. I did not see how that tied in with the main story about atonement, which I kept wondering about while Robbie was running across a beach.
Do try to see There Will Be Blood before Oscar night, if you can, if only to understand the reasons behind the standing ovation that Daniel Day-Lewis will get when he wins.
I’m completely clueless what you mean by that. Could you explain more?
I’ve only seen Atonement, but not only did I not think it was Best Picture worthy, I found it be more than a bit crap. I found it baffling, I found nearly all the characters unsympathetic, I found it painfully pretentious. I was never quite sure if I didn’t know what was going on at any given time because I was supposed to be confused, because the editing was confusing or because I frankly didn’t care.
I liked it, for the most part–but no, not Best Picture. The ending ruined it for me–I hate talk-show gimmicks in movies, and this one was particularly cliche-ridden. It was a pretty shocking contrast to a movie that did a hell of a job dodging cliches and balzing its own trail otherwise. I wouldn’t see it again.
OTOH, that has to be the hottest sex scene without the actors actually having sex, ever. My girlfriend and I very nearly ripped our clothes off and went at it right in the theater. It took no small amount of composure, lemme tell ya. (And yes, jjimm, Kira Knightley. Up against a bookshelf.)
I haven’t read the book, and the intent may be more clear there and I might be wrong, but I THINK that the audience is supposed to feel like Briony is copping out and trying to give herself redemption for writing a false scene of confession and pennance that never really occurred. We aren’t supposed to feel that she’s redeemed herself. We’re supposed to feel like she’s absolved herself, which is not the same at all. She never atones for anything.
Who are you rooting for, then?
Huh? What various endings? It only had one ending, and I didn’t see anything particularly artsy (though it was artful) and it certainly wasn’t pointless.