FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: Atonement [DVD] [2007]

Atonement [DVD] [2007]
enlarge	Director: Joe Wright Actors: Keira Knightley, Saoirse Ronan, James McAvoy, Romola Garai, Vanessa Redgrave Studio: Universal Pictures UK Category: DVD List Price: ~~£19.99~~ Buy Used: £0.50 as of 20/11/2009 21:35 GMT details You Save: £19.49 (97%) New (30) Used (86) Collectible (1) from £0.50 Seller: robert52462 Rating: 212 reviews Sales Rank: 1812 Format: PAL Language: English (Original Language) Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Region: 2 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 118 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1 Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5050582532517 ASIN: B000YGHBWU Theatrical Release Date: 2007 Release Date: February 4, 2008 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Editorial Reviews: Amazon.co.uk Review IAtonement/I reunites Keira Knightley with her IPride Prejudice/I director, Joe Wright, for the movie based on Ian McEwan's book of the same name. The result? Once of the most widely acclaimed pictures of 2007. P IAtonement/I tells the story of Cecilia Tallis (Knightley), and the housekeeper's son, Robbie Turner (played by the increasingly prevalent James McAvoy). Set during the heat of 1935, their coming together and the ensuing drama brings in Cecilia's thirteen-year old sister, Briony, whose actions prove to have far-reaching repercussions. P With a terrific cast and superb direction from the aforementioned Wright, it's utterly understandable as to how IAtonement/I has earned itself such praise. Diligently told, with some superb photography, Wright is blessed by terrific central performances by Knightley and McAvoy, both of whom have never been better. His trick also is to get the pacing of the film bang-on, taking his time to build up and layer events before he looks for any kind of pay off. P As a result, as IAtonement/I heads into its latter stages, it proves itself as a top quality drama, with a real emotional punch. Furthermore, it's one of the increasingly rare breed of films that sticks in your head for days after. P As a result, for once, it really is worth seeing what critics the world over have been raving about: IAtonement/I really is something very special indeed. --IJon Foster/I

Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 212 1 2 3 4 5 6 ...43 Next » Best romantic film I've seen in ages - suitable even for action fans! December 10, 2007 Comical Engineer (UK) 26 out of 36 found this review helpful I'm not a film buff, but I was able to see this at the cinema whilst on holiday with my wife. I'm also not a fan of weepies of any flavour, the new Bond is more my kind of film. I had no previous knowledge of the story, not having read the book, and I wouldn't have known Keira Knightley had I tripped over her in the street. br / br /However... br / br /I spent the first 30 minutes wondering when the story would start, it's quite a slow build up. That said, wonderfully filmed, very atmospheric and not un-enjoyable to that point. From there on it got better and better. Briony is the kind of little sister that everyone must dread and some of the scenes were so well studied that they made me cringe in sympathy with the actors. The twist in the tail was worth the wait, and I'm not going to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. br / br /Having seen the film I now feel the need to read the book! I would also like to watch the film again. I was told off at one point for tutting at a Lancaster flying overhead (in 1939 because the first one didn't fly until 1941 - my anorak is in the hall) but that's nit picking! br / br /Highly recommended for a night in with a bottle of wine watching the DVD! br / Perfect performances in a truly great movie November 30, 2007 Lynda Tull 32 out of 46 found this review helpful An outstanding film from the director of Pride and Prejudice, which perfectly captures the feel and tone of Ian McEwan's wonderful novel. The genteel claustrophobia of the first half of the story is perfectly portrayed, while the five minute, single-shot sequence of Dunkirk is one of the most outstanding sequences of modern cinema. Excellent performances from Keira Knightley (her best to date) and James McAvoy (surely to be Oscar nominated) give the film real emotional depth. Surely a film which will be enjoyed by all lovers of intelligent cinema. br / Shocked, speechless moved February 27, 2009 (caught up in the) Spiral (Coventry, UK) 2 out of 2 found this review helpful I'd been waiting to see this film for so long especially after buying the soundtrack upon its release, but I never quite got round to it. br /Last night I sat down and put the DVD on and the screen came alive right from the beginning, I was transported from out of my living room and into the world of Briony, Cecilia and Robbie. br /The film began with the haunting music and Briony (Saoirse Ronan) sitting on her bed, flicking through sheafs of paper; it seems like an innocent day with the family going about their usual activities and the servants also, all seems fine and dandy and a little too perfect but it's not until Keira Knightley comes onto the screen that the film really begins. She has this presence that seems to grab the viewer's attention and her accent fits in perfectly, she seems very much at home in the 1930's. br /By the end of the day however, Briony, Robbie and Cecilia's life will change forever ... br /I'm not going to say too much as I was glad that I didn't really know the plot because when the credits rolled I was shocked, speechless and moved. br /Whatever happened in this film, I cared about the characters, I wanted Robbie Cecilia to be re-united, to be in each other's arms once more and I also wanted Briony to realise what kind of an impact she had caused in both CR's lives. br /I always thought this was an 'over' romantic film, based on trailers basically showing James Keira snogging and I think that was why I always avoided it, but if I could recommend any film this would be it. br /It shows the heights humans will reach to live and ultimately to love, it makes you proud to be alive but at the same time fills you with such sorrow. br /This film is also a tribute to the many brave men who fought and died in both wars. br /Please watch this film, it's beautiful. An Emotional Masterpiece March 2, 2009 Ann McGrath 2 out of 2 found this review helpful Although receiving mixed reviews from critics and movie-goers alike, there is no denying that Joe Wright's adaption of Ian McEwan's Atonement is ambitious and engaging. The film is crammed with a talented young cast with Keira Knightley and James McAvoy portraying the ill-fated lovers with class and sophistication. br / br /The opening act sets the scene perfectly. Following the immature Briony, we see the crucial incident that plunges the family into tragedy through two distinctive viewpoints which creates a mysterious and dark mood. From there, the film moves rapidly through different stages in time, from the evacuation of Dunkirk to the latter years of Briony's life, which reveals an unexpected and heart-breaking twist. br / br /Atonement is consistently enthralling, however a few key sequences stand out. The sweeping, continuous shot of the beach at Dunkirk which weaves it's way through the crowd is particularly impressive, as well as when Briony, desperately seeking redemption, nurses a dying soldier. br / br /However, they key component which makes Atonement a piece of gripping cinema is the masterpiece soundtrack. Dario Marianelli's score ingeniously employs a type-writer as a musical instrument to accompany the orchestral pieces. The soundtrack brilliantly enhances the tone of the movie; Atonement is an accomplished and emotional masterpiece. Oh so pretty, oh so clever - maybe too clever? April 12, 2008 Jon Rowe (UK) 9 out of 13 found this review helpful Yes, Keira Knightly (Celia) is ravishing and James McAvoy (Robbie) is studly and the child-acting (Briony, Lola) is of a wonderful quality; the script is sharp and arch in all the right ways and the photography is simply immaculate. I can't unsay a word of the praise that has been rightly heaped on this film. br / br /I was predisposing myself to dislike this film, you see - in spite of being thoroughly seduced by the director's previous outting, the Keira vehicle Pride Prejudice. Dislike it why? Well, not the Edwardian setting or prim English reserve on offer. I mean, if The Go-Between and Brideshead Revisited leave you cold, why on earth are you watching a film like this anyway? But I adore Waugh and Hartley and Graham Greene and McEwan's novel seems to synthesise all of them, so I positively wanted the lawns to be as clipped as Keira's vowels and wartime London to be seedy and dystopian. No no, all of that is marvelous. I guess I just dreaded the Keira/McAvoy love story drenching everything in syrup, pressing a lot of cinematic buttons to make us, the viewers, like unlikeable people - you know, the way The English Patient [1996] did? br / br /So, surprisingly, the film had quite the opposite effect on me. I was enchanted by the central love story, which manages just the right degree of reticence, and found myself rooting for the two, strangely remote, protagonists. In fact, if the film has a shortcoming, it's that it's too aloof, too clever, too stylised. br / br /For example, in a breathtaking cinematic tour-de-force, the evacuation of Dunkirk is introduced through a stunning tracking shot that follows Robbie and his soldiers across the beach, past the shooting of horses and the burning of books (note: symbolism; the novel's themes of failed communication and the destructive power of the word being illuminated), once round the bandstand where the traumatised troops sing a baleful hymn, across the shattered promenade with the ironic symbol of the ferris wheel rotating in the background and onto the pier where drunken squaddies retch into the sea, only to touch upon the soldiers' hymn again, wafted to us on the breeze. br / br /So stunning, in fact, I had to rewind and watch it again! I was impressed, yes, but somehow a film should wear its technical accomplishment more lightly, don't you think? The percussive rhythm of typewriter keys that drives the soundtrack along is daring and hints at the plot's true nature - the novelistic construction created by Briony, not a "true story" at all - but serves somehow to rob the whole of ambiguity, rather than enhancing it. br / br /Maybe I'm straining at gnats while swallowing elephants. This is a beautifully shot, imaginatively constructed and artfully acted movie, a masterclass really. If, in creating an ingenious adaptation of a clever-clever book by a clever-clever author, it's become a little too clever-clever itself, well who can blame it? br / br /I was going to award this film four stars, to reflect my slight discomfort with its overly-intellectual style and construction. Then I gave myself a pinch. For goodness' sake, how many films can you really criticise for being intellectual while still managing to pack an emotional punch too? Here's a film that works on every level and anyone who stays away from it because they dislike period dramas or novelistic adaptations or stick-thin Keira is impoverishing themselves. Bravo to movies like this - and more of them, please! Showing reviews 1-5 of 212 1 2 3 4 5 6 ...43 Next »

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