Atonement Essay

“Atonement” is a 2007 British romantic drama war movie , set between 1930s and 1940s directed by Joe Wright based on the 2001 novel Atonement by Ian McEwan. Cinematic techniques were used throughout the movie for the viewers to gain a perception of Briony Tallis, the protagonist of the film. At the beginning of the film the audience sees Briony as an innocent and naïve girl who due to her young age and lack of understanding accuses Robbie Turner of rape. As the film develops, Briony becomes a mature young lady who has begun to understand the consequence of her lie. Briony tries to make amends for her actions by working as a nurse aiding the wounded soldiers from the war. The last stage of Briony’s life is her as an elderly woman who has become

Before we are introduced to Briony, the camera pans over her bedroom and a model of the Tallis house, filled with carefully arranged model figures, she has organised her characters telling a story. This shows that Briony enjoys controlling her surroundings, whether it be her toys or the lives of her friends and family. The pan over the model house also foreshadows the events that are soon to occur in the Tallis house. Briony’s confident nature is emphasised as she walks along the halls in military steps, along with the soundtrack of the typewriter increasing its intensity and power. This foreshadows Briony’s “story” of Robbie’s accusation of rape and it is associated throughout the film with Briony, restating that she is telling a “story” and all that is being followed is a consequence of her actions. The sound of the typewriter is the most significant symbol of the film as the theme of atonement is the power of words. The typewriter is also a mark of Briony’s imagination, the way she uses words and stories to control and manipulate. Once we are introduced to Briony, another recurring camera technique is used to develop her character further. The majority of them are wide angle shots, but director Wright used a lot of extreme close-ups for Briony, as it makes it perfectly clear who is telling the story and letting the

A close-up shot reveals her empty and cold expression in which she appears extremely vulnerable. The dull lighting embraces her sufferings, as her guilt indicates her remorse and her separation from her former self. Briony has completely detached herself from her family almost entirely as she lives in London and limits her communications with her parents to monthly letter in which very little is revealed. Her guilt is further emphasised in a close-up shot where she is looking out the window and telling herself that “there is no Briony” and “but no matter how hard I work, no matter how long the hours, I can’t escape from what I did”. Briony’s obvious remorse and overwhelming guilt is seen through the image of her scrubbing her hands which is similar to Shakespeare “Macbeth” where lady Macbeth also scrubs her hands to get rid of the guilt of murdering Duncan. We see more of Briony as a nurse during the war scenes and through these scenes she has developed maturity, this can also be seen when she is nursing the French solider as she displays affection, compassion and understanding, qualities which was lacked by the younger Briony. This scene particularly included a lot of close up shots which aided the audience to see her new found maturity with the use of light warm tone colours reflecting on her