Briony's eyes. Every shot is telling, this one directly, confrontationally to the camera.
Stupendous. It's stupendous, darling."
That's Mother Tallis's review of her precocious daughter Briony's (Saoirse Ronan) very serious new play at the beginning of Atonement (2007). It's also any sensible person's reaction to this amazing motion picture. Seeing it again (I hadn't seen it since 2007) was close to overwhelming. Praise be to Director Joe Wright and Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey because this thing hasn't aged a single day. If anything it's become more beautiful with the passage of time, a neat trick since memory is one of its great subjects. It's superbly acted (particularly by James McAvoy in what is certainly his most moving performance), and features a veritable parade of emblematic, gorgeous, and thrillingly visceral images for this exercize of ours. What to even choose: Cecilia wet and haughty at the fountain; The lovers, already "characters" in future novelists Briony's mind erotically pressed against books in the library (my runner up for Best Shot); that amazing tracking shot at Dunkirk which pulls us out of the story (sort of) just long enough to stingingly remind us that War doesn't care about Individual Characters and Their Arcs -- it's ready to soil everything; any closeup of Briony whether she's imaginatively confused (Saoirse Ronan), guilt-ridden shellshocked (Romola Garai), or, wide-eyed with the fraternal twins of truth and fiction (Vanessa Redgrave); and of course anything and everything involving Keira Knightley in the green dress, the dress that should've won Jacqueline Durran the Oscar in a landslide.
Here are the choices from our Best Shot Club, open to anyone who wants to join after the jump...
(My Honorable Mention) This image is heart stopping. It's the kick off of the whole tragedy but since the film has already played with rewinding itself you're desperate to stop the movie and rewrite the scene. DON'T GIVE HER THE LETTER. Even better: Note all the foreshadowing and character play. Briony is surrounded by wildly unkempt nature (she can't help herself) in all of these early scenes, and as Robby stops to hand her the letter, he's already behind bars.
ATONEMENT (2007)
Best Shot Visual Index
15 images from 19 corresponding articles.
Reading the other choices is my favorite part!
a girl who lives entirely in her head in a world that is much too big for her...
-Movie Motorbreath
THIS is the moment...
-Me Says
Often dismissed as Prestige Historical Melodrama, Atonement is more sharply intellectual than meets the eye.
-Best Shot in the Dark
This is a true sliver of knowledge...
-Bennett Prosser
Subtlety ceases to matter when you are enveloped in a cinematic world as rich and kinetic as his...
-Coco Hits New York
Restraint is so potent in any English romantic period drama but this needs something else to dirty it up...
-I Want to Believe
the library...
-Christian Bonamusa
a master class in how to shoot, cut, and score a sex scene...
-Dancin Dan on Film
the confession...
-Out to the Movies
The framing of the shot makes one’s heart sink...
-Awards Madness
There's more going on here than just the dress of course - much more...
-Antagony & Ecstasy
Using the agony of war to magnify the isolation of his own personal anguish...
-Film Mixtape
20 minutes of story stretched out into 2 hours...
-54 Disney Reviews
Robbie's emotions finally get the best of him...
- Sorta That Guy
Worth noting is how unsteady the camera is in this sequence
-Scopophiliac at the Cinema
On this viewing of the film, I found myself feeling more sympathy for Briony than ever...
- Film Actually
The hurt, the love and the sadness she feels for her little sister... beautifully captured by Keira
-Cinematic Corner
Not a film about a love story, but rather a film about storytelling itself...
-Magnificent Obsession
PLEASE CHECK OUT THOSE GREAT ARTICLES!
Click here for the Upcoming Best Shot Schedule
P.S. [spoilers ahead] I couldn't leave you without the green dress and this final thought.
We never learn what critics think of Briony's work but the visuals tell us she becomes a great novelist. Note how when she is telling the story from her perspective she never really sees her sister, often looking at her from a distance and often through some filter or with obstructed views. Then when she's telling the story from Robby's perspective (though we don't know it's all her storytelling until the end) the camera gets as close as it can to Cecilia, particularly in the replay of the arrest scene. We've already seen it when it looks like a proscenium with the entire ensemble staring at Robby. When we return to it again the camera swoops in dramatically complete with fog and heightened color and in complete awe of Keira Knightley's beauty
Briony's view of Cecilia
Robby's view of Cecilia (my best shot)