Dorkgasm Gonzo Is God

See You Next Tuesday By Michael C. Riedlinger Editor-In-Chief             With seven Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations, (it won Best Picture and Best Score at the Globes) Atonement seems poised to pick up some box office receipts in the next few weeks. The film is making its way to suburban multiplexes around the country, so I finally had the opportunity to see it. This year’s Oscar front-runner is about a thirteen-year-old aspiring writer named Briony who makes a mistake and irrevocably destroys the lives of the people she cares about most.             So what makes this different from the millions of sappy romantic period dramas that come out every year? Look at the nominations and it is easy to see. The story is fairly rudimentary on the surface, but goes so much deeper. The film is about what we see and what we understand at different ages about love. When she is only thirteen, Briony cannot understand the subtle differences between lust and love. She mistakes a moment between her sister, Cecilia (played by Keira Knightley) and the groundskeeper Robbie (James McAvoy) for something more sinister. Later she stumbles on sexually charged letter Robbie has accidently sent Cecelia and marks the man as a sex fiend. Not surprisingly, when her cousin is raped, she lies and fingers Robbie as the culprit, landing him in prison on the eve of the Second World War.             Robbie is conscripted straight from prison and we later find him involved with the ill-fated retreat at Dunkirk in one of the greatest long takes committed to celluloid. Briony, meanwhile carries her guilt with her into adulthood, where she is now a young nurse trying desperately to apologize to her sister. She had walked in on the couple the only time they made love, and confused it for further evidence that Robbie might be the one who attacked her cousin.

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            What really happens is much sweeter than a lusty encounter, and the chemistry between Robbie and Cecelia is so convincing that you really want to see this couple make it in the world. Of course, the photography and editing have a bit to do with that. The shots are all rich with color and texture and you begin to think that life in London during the war might not be so unappealing. The images linger in your mind like a good wine. This is the stuff Oscar speeches are made of. The costumes also earn their keep, and Ms. Knightley’s wardrobe alone is enough to make me pick this up on DVD. The stylish forms and images are nothing, however, without good actors to flesh them out, and the cast does a phenomenal job.             For one, the misunderstandings of a thirteen-year-old girl are so clearly emoted by Saoirse Ronan that you can’t help but feel her pain when she realizes what a horrible mistake she has made. Over the next few years, you can bet we see her in a lot more films, and if she gets any better with age, we may be looking at the next Emma Thompson. Juno Temple (daughter of rock videography icon, Julien Temple) puts in a spectacular turn as Lola, Briony’s cousin, and we will see more of her later this year in The Other Boleyn Girl. Keira Knightly and James McAvoy also put in stellar performances, the kind that make you forget that you were watching a movie at all. We come to the end of their sad tale and care just as deeply for them as Briony does in her old age. See, in the end, this isn’t a love story about a couple torn apart; there is no happy ending to be had, because there rarely is in real life. Instead, we learn a lesson; not only about love, but also about the pain we can cause others with our carelessness and fear.             At the end of February, expect to see Atonement win a lot of awards. When we discuss cinema as art, this film epitomizes how all the elements of such a work make that discussion possible. Sure, it makes a good date movie, but you should see this for the same reason we look at paintings or sculptures in museums. It will enrich your life, and remind you to live each day with honesty and passion because there might not always be time later for love or atonement.