Atonement Annoyance and Appreciation

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Spoilers for Atonement!!
       On February 16, I watched the first hour of Atonement. When I went back to finish it the next day, Netflix removed it! Just my luck! And I never got around to finishing it. It’s a two hour movie based on Ian McEwan’s book, starring Keira Knighley (Cecilia), James McAvoy (Robbie), and Saiorse Ronan (Briony). 
       Ugh, Briony.
       
       Yesterday I decided to finish it (on YouTube this time), because I really did love the portion of the movie I had watched, and I was in love with the characters and the actors and the aesthetics and the plot of the film. Whenever I thought of the movie, I thought of Robbie’s bright blue eyes or Cecilia’s silky emerald green dress or Briony’s typewriter. But now, it’s something much deeper than that. 

         Atonement means a “reparation for a wrong or injury.” Briony, at the beginning of the movie, is only thirteen years old, but because of her inaccurate accusations and immature impulses, irreparably damages the lives of her sister Cecilia and servant Robbie. The romantic relationship between Cecilia and Robbie is abnormal, but genuine and meaningful. But because of Briony, they never meet again.
          Only when Briony is 18 does she slowly understand the magnitude of her actions, but not to the full extent of what she should have. Though she is capable, she does nothing about the past, and the innocent are forever punished by her. 

As an old woman, Briony publishes a novel titled Atonement, in which she gives Cecilia and Robbie the happy ending they deserved. The movie depicts emotional scenes of Cecilia and Robbie reuniting (happy scenes from Briony’s book), but these scenes never actually take place in real life. Cecilia and Robbie both die in the midst of tragedy and war, separate from each other and their family.

I kind of dislike this, though. "This" meaning Briony's decision. What bothered me most was the fact that she seemed to be gratified by her novel while speaking to an interviewer. She claims to have done Cecilia and Robbie well by writing about them on the beautiful beach house they dreamed of before they were separated. But I think that some things cannot have happy endings, and that Cecilia’s and Robbie’s hope of the beach house should have been reserved for them, not the pages of Briony’s book. I don't believe she ever fully grasped or made atonement for her actions.
Unlike most movies, however, Atonement made me think deeper, deeper than about just cinematography or outfits or an actor's hairstyle. For that reason, I think it's one of my favorites.


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