The whole film is constructed in Bioni's fantasy, and everything is Bioni's perception and inference of his own experiences, showing obvious fragmentary characteristics, and these fragments are unified in a soul full of remorse. From a young girl's cherishing of spring, to the cruelty of war and inner struggle, to the helplessness and calmness of old age, a life full of scars is on the paper, accidental mistakes in childhood, and repentance throughout his life. Caring for the wounded, imaginary reconciliations, and fantasies of happy endings are unbearable, the result of atonement is that there is nowhere to redeem it, or the act of atonement never really happens from beginning to end.
This is obviously not a story about love. Robbie and Cecilia just exist as two passers-by in Bioni's life journey. The subtle feeling between them is as incomprehensible as Bioni. What really haunts Bioni is the mistakes she made inadvertently, and because of the changing times, it has become a lifelong irreparable sin. The director awakened Bioni's memory with a beautiful beginning. The decorative scenery full of British style left a deep impression on people, and also made what happened below seem sudden. The rushing sound was just right for the young girl Bioni's youthful restlessness. There was an uncontrollable undercurrent flowing in the ticking typewriter. The result of the first collision between the innocent world of children and the world of adults is so painful. The film's gradually slowing rhythm indicates growth, and it also shows helplessness. The flames of war rushing to the face suddenly pull people from heaven to hell. The journey of life has only just begun...
Director Joe White uses exquisite and beautiful pictures to package this thought-provoking story. The peaceful and leisurely English countryside, the shocking battlefield, and the tragic rear are blended into a natural and smooth world of light and shadow. The sometimes brisk and well-proportioned music forms a special rhythm similar to the rhythm of thoughts, in which truth and illusion, past and reality are all contained, and the distance between people is both close and far. But perhaps it is precisely because the director Joe White pursues the perfection of the film's form too much, but to a certain extent weakens the ideological atmosphere of the film, makes the content of the film to be swaying, and also makes the audience feel uneasy about Robbie and Cecilia. The short-lived emotional experience is full of expectations, and there is an illusion of insufficient rendering of the war that caused the tragedy, which is not without regret.
View more about Atonement reviews
