"ATONEMENT"
Starring Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai
Released: Jan. 11, 2008 (in C-U);
limited release since Dec. 7, 2007

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Together Knightley and McAvoy are brilliant as the star-crossed lovers, telling their story with heartbreaking clarity.

IT'S NOT THE intense heat of the summer weather that sets “Atonement” off to a sultry start. It’s the erotic tension.

The year is 1935, and when 13-year-old Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan — pronounced SEER-sha) looks out of her window she catches sight of her older sister, Cecilia (Keira Knightley), emerging from a fountain, her underclothes plastered to her, in front of the housekeeper’s son, Robbie Turner (James McAvoy), she naïvely assumes that Robbie is abusing her sister.

We later see the same scene from the eyes of Robbie and Cecilia and learn that she jumped into the fountain to retrieve a family heirloom that Robbie accidentally dropped. But, however innocent the cause for the scene actually was, the damage is done.

But the real twist of fate comes when Robbie entrusts his apology letter to Cecilia — the wrong one — to Briony. The letter only heightens her suspicion of him, and when she interrupts Cecilia and Robbie in the library in a moment of passion, she is sure that Robbie is targeting her sister.

Later that night, cousins staying at the mansion run away, and the family and guests are all enlisted to help search for them. Although Briony does not find the twins, she witnesses the rape of her cousin, and though she never sees the face of the offender, she is sure that it is Robbie.

At this point, nobody except Cecilia and Robbie’s mother are sure of his innocence. Despite his safe return with the twins, the police are called, and he is sent away.

Only five years later does Briony, now 18 (Romola Garai), begin to realize what she did, and the devastating effect it had on Robbie and Cecilia. Having given up her dreams of becoming an author, she trains as a nurse in London, which Cecilia remarks, seems to be “some kind of penance.”

Cecilia, also a nurse, arranges a meeting with Robbie before he ships out to France as a private in the British army. It is brief and awkward, and they seem almost unsure of what to say to each other, but it is obvious that they are still deeply in love.

Knightley and McAvoy nail this scene. Their characters have been apart for five years, and although they’re both hurt, and not quite the same people they were, their continued love is tangible.

In past movies with Keira Knightley, I’ve always been able to see a difference between the character she happened to be playing and the actress herself. But, in this movie, for the first time, it seems that she is one with her character. The result is stunning.

As for McAvoy, he plays a character that everyone is meant to love and sympathize with, and he does it perfectly. From the carefree scenes at the Tallis home to the grim backdrop of World War II, McAvoy is as convincing in his role as the highest-caliber actors.

Together Knightley and McAvoy are brilliant as the star-crossed lovers, telling their story with heartbreaking clarity, estranging themselves from everything they held dear. At least, that’s how Briony sees them.

Romola Garai, as the 18-year-old Briony, is stuck with the most difficult role, which she satisfies superbly. As an adult, Briony realizes the effects of her lie, and begins to feel it tugging on her conscience. But rather than trying to make up for her mistake, she chooses to write about it, letting her still fervid imagination run wild.

When Briony realizes that she made a tragic error, one that she will spend the rest of her life atoning for, she approaches Cecilia, who has attempted to completely distance herself from the rest of her family, and offers to change her evidence.

But this offer comes too late for Robbie, stranded on the beaches of Dunkirk.

In the shadow of the destroyed buildings of the French town, the ferris wheel and carousel still turn, carrying soldiers waiting to be taken across the channel. As Robbie makes his way through the chaos, so do we — catching glimpses of soldiers performing gymnastics, swinging in the sails of a beached ship, riding down the streets on horses that they will be forced to kill, and awaiting the arrival of the ships, all while a haunting hymn sung by soldiers in the bandstand echoes around the beach.

While he is faced with complete devastation, absolute chaos, and a surreal landscape, we begin to understand how much Robbie has paid for the crime for which he was wrongly accused.

It is only at the very end of the film that Briony (Vanessa Redgrave), now an elderly novelist, reveals the truth of her story — without embellishments or details.

Redgrave isn’t onscreen long. She doesn’t need to be. She reveals, in a way that only a magnificent actor can manage, how completely — how stupidly — Briony has managed to betray Robbie and Cecilia for her entire life.

Briony’s misinterpretation of the events on that summer day in 1935 caused pain not only to Robbie and Cecilia, but also to Briony herself. Was it ever possible for her desire to atone to be made real?

Is it truly possible to atone for one’s wrongdoings?

“Atonement” is currently playing at the Goodrich Savoy 16, 232 W. Burwash, Savoy.

“ATONEMENT” AT A GLANCE

• Starring: Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai
• Directed by: Joe Wright
• Written by: Ian McEwan (novel), Christopher Hampton (screenplay)
• Genre: Drama, Romance, War
• Rated: R
• Runtime: 130 min.
• Release date: Jan. 4, 2008
• Summary: Fledgling writer Briony Tallis, as a 13-year-old, irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.
• External sites: IMDb entry, Official site