Atonement

I almost had this in my previous post then realized it was just getting far too long. I'm chatty... can you tell???

We went to go see Atonement @ the Capitol Theater in Arlington last night. An absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking film of love, loss, and redemption (sort of).

It was not the film I expected. I thought a young couple in love was just separated by war and then reunited. I wasn't sure who needed atonement.

The story is of a little sister (Briony) that is in love with a man (Robbie). He was in love with her older sister (Cecilia). She witnesses some interactions between the two and is torn between jealousy and bitterness that it's not her, and not really understanding the situation at her young age. She then decides to wrongfully accuse him of a crime when she KNOWS it wasn't him that committed it. He gets taken away to jail and disgraced in front of their family and friends. This lie changes the path of all three of their lives forever.

Five years later we catch up with Robbie who has now gotten out of prison by entering the war (WWII). Cecilia has disowned her family for their wrongdoing and is living in London and working as a Nurse. They meet up at a restaurant before he ships off to war where she begs him to come back to her and hands him a photo of a house they will stay at for a vacation when he gets back. This hope keeps him and Cecilia going throughout their separation during the war.

Time lines bounce around in this movie - for example: we see Robbie in France somewhere, then find out what happened 6 months earlier before he went to war. Each account is from a different perspective: Robbie's, Cecilia's, or Briony's. The cinematography is beautiful and the movie doesn't quite give you the Hollywood ending I expected. I won't spoil the ending - it's worth watching this emotional film on your own. Even if it's just to admire how hot James McAvoy is :)