You Can Only Imagine the Truth

Still on the path to the Oscars, I saw Atonement late yesterday afternoon (the tagline of which is the title for this post).

What a superb movie! The scenery was breathtaking and shot just perfectly. The story was deep and moving. Of course, with an eye and ear toward things legal, the issues of wrongful accusations screamed silently off the screen.

Of course, the acting and music was wonderful as well--with them even incorporating a typewriter into the score. Well, almost all of the acting was great. The eighteen-year-old Briony left something to be desired. Perhaps it was because she was the only character who had a new actress for the scenes four or five years into the future, and the older Briony just missed too many facial features of the younger one? With that, if the younger Briony was intended to be thirteen, then they did nothing to change her appearance from the memory-sequence of when she was eleven. The appearance of this central a character pulled away slightly from the effect of the film--but only slightly.

And again, the ending was nothing what I expected, and it was quite uncharacteristic of movies. I've since read several reviews, and a few people complain about the manner in which that part of the story was handled, but I thought it made it all the more powerful--the depth at which Briony wished she could have changed things was communicated in such a manner to the viewer that my heart ached for her and her obvious struggle within the depths of her soul.

No, I haven't seen the other movies that were up for a Golden Globe, but I can say I can understand this flick having won for Best Drama. Indeed, it is a good movie--on so very many levels.

What's up next? Well, the Oscar nominees will be announced tomorrow, so I'll know what I want to hit next Sunday after that.