Suffragette

Directed by Sarah Gavron and written by Abi Morgan, Suffragette is the story of a laundress who takes part of the Suffragette movement in the 1910s in the hopes that she and other women would have the right to vote. The film is a historical drama set in the real-life period of women’s suffrage in Great Britain before World War I. Starring Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne-Marie Duff, Brendan Gleeson, Natalie Press, Ben Whishaw, Romola Garai, and Meryl Streep. Suffragette is a compelling yet evocative film from Sarah Gavron.

Set in 1912 Britain after many attempts to get the right for women to vote, the film is about a young laundress who finds herself being part of the Suffragettes movement where she eventually becomes an active member. It’s a film that follows a woman who is lured into a movement she is reluctant to be part of yet is unable to ignore the treatment that she has endured working in the laundry factor as she notices the teenage daughter of a Suffragette activist is being sexually harassed by her boss. Even as she also realizes that she doesn’t have the legal right to determine the future of her own son which prompts her to not only take part full-on but also learn what it means to stand up for herself and other women. Abi Morgan’s screenplay doesn’t just follow the journey of this young woman in Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan) but also the women she would meet as she takes part in this movement.

While she would get herself into some trouble as well as risk losing her son who is forced to be cared by his father Sonny (Ben Whishaw), Maud would find a purpose about what to do as she thinks about the women in the future. Still, she and the other Suffragettes would face numerous challenges and obstacles as they’re seen by those in the government including authority figures such as Inspector Steed (Brendan Gleeson) who is this unconventional antagonist of sorts. Notably as he actually cares about the women yet is aware of the job he has to do while he becomes disgusted with the tactics of those he works for. One aspect of the script that is underwhelming is the appearance of Suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep) as she is this mysterious figure who makes her appearance in the second act for a big speech and then she is gone as her character would disappear.

Sarah Gavron’s direction is quite simple in terms of the compositions that are created as it also has some ambition for the fact that it is shot on location in London and in studios to recreate some of the old buildings. The usage of the wide and medium shots play into the locations as well as the tense and grimy atmosphere of the factories where Maud and Sonny work at as it feels repressive and hard. By the time the film hit the streets, Gavron’s direction definitely becomes richer where it does play into this sense of time where protests are happening as well as a very intimate scene where Maud testifies to the government about her own experience as it would lead to a key moment in her development. There are these moments of violence in how the women are beaten by police as well as do small guerilla-style warfare by blowing up mailboxes. Gavron’s usage of close-ups are definitely entrancing as it play into the anguish that Maud endures as well as what she would have to sacrifice. Notably in the climax as it would play into a real-life key moment that would be the catalyst for the Suffragette movement as it would end with images of a real-life event of the movement. Overall, Gavron creates a fascinating and riveting drama about a young woman joining the Suffragettes movement in their right to have a say in the world.

Cinematographer Eduard Grau does excellent work with the film‘s cinematography from the usage of low-key lights for the interior scenes at the factory as well as what London looked like at night including a key scene involving the bombing of a Parliament member‘s home. Editor Barney Pilling does nice work with the editing as it is largely straightforward with some rhythmic cutting to play into some of the intense moments in the film. Production designer Alice Normington, with art directors Jonathan Houlding and Choi Ho Man and set decorator Barbara Herman-Skelding, does amazing work with the look of the factory as well as the buildings that were prevalent in those times as well as a church where Maud would stay during her time as a Suffragette. Costume designer Jane Petrie does brilliant work with the costumes from the fancy dresses in those times as well as the ragged look of the women during that period of protest and activism.

Hair/makeup designer Sian Grigg does fantastic work with the look of the women in the hairstyles they had as well as some of the burns and scars in Maud‘s skin from years working as a laundress. Visual effects supervisor Simon Hughes does terrific work with the visual effects as it is mostly set-dressing to help create that look of 1912 London in its exterior setting. Sound editors Stephen Griffiths and Andy Shelley do superb work with the sound as it play into the frenzy of the crowd and the protests as well as in the sparse yet eerie moments at the prisons where some of the women would go for their actions. The film’s music by Alexandre Desplat is wonderful for its orchestral-based score with its lush string arrangements that play into the drama as well as some of the intense moments in the film while music supervisor Karen Elliot create a soundtrack that play into the music of the times.

The casting by Fiona Weir is remarkable as it feature some notable small roles from Adam Michael Dodd as Maud and Sonny‘s son George, Grace Stottor as Violet‘s teenage daughter Maggie, Finbar Lynch as Edith‘s loyal husband Hugh, Geoff Bell as the factory foreman Taylor whom Maud dislikes, Samuel West as a government official, and Adrian Schiller as Parliament minister David Lloyd George. Ben Whishaw is terrific as Maud’s husband Sonny as a man that is trying to maintain his role as a man while struggling to take care of his son when Maud isn’t around. Natalie Press is superb as Emily Davidson as a passionate activist who does a lot to herself for the cause as well as be the one person who would make a major sacrifice towards its climax. Romola Garai is fantastic as Alice Haughton as the wife of a government official who is trying to support the Suffragettes any way she can as well as get them to meet with the government. Meryl Streep is excellent in her brief role as Suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst as she does have this great presence about her though it’s a role that is just merely a cameo that doesn’t do enough to establish the character.

Brendan Gleeson is amazing as Inspector Steed as a law enforcer whose job is to watch out for the Suffragettes as he is trying to do his job yet is someone that is sympathetic into what these women do as he tries to get them to do less time and such while becoming disgusted with the tactics of his government. Anne-Marie Duff is brilliant as Violet Miller as a woman who had just worked at the laundry factory as she is also quite committed to her work as a Suffragette inviting Maud into the action until she would deal with things beyond her control forcing her to take a step back. Helena Bonham Carter is great as Edith Ellyn as a pharmacist who is one of the organizers of the movement as she is also someone who gives Maud some perspective about what happens if women don‘t get a say about matters into the world. Carey Mulligan is incredible as Maud Watts as this young laundress who is trying to do her role as she is sucked into the world of the Suffragettes where she realizes what it means to her as it‘s performance filled with determination and anguish as it‘s one of Mulligan‘s finest performances to date.

Suffragette is a remarkable film from Sarah Gavron. Featuring a great cast, gorgeous visuals, and some strong themes about women’s right to vote and say something about the world. It is a film that captures a moment in time that shows what women can do in a world that is afraid of change. In the end, Suffragette is a marvelous film from Sarah Gavron.

Sarah Gavron Films: (This Little Life) - (Brick Lane)

© thevoid99 2016

Angel (2007 film)

Based on the novel by Elizabeth Taylor, Angel is the story of a writer who is eager to succeed while enduring all sorts of trials and tribulations throughout the course of her life. Directed by Francois Ozon and screenplay by Ozon and Martin Crimp, the film is a look into the life of a woman who is eager to succeed yet deals with the reality she tries to run away from in her life. Starring Romola Garai, Michael Fassbender, Sam Neill, Lucy Russell, and Charlotte Rampling. Angel is a gorgeous yet extravagant melodrama from Francois Ozon.

The film is essentially a rise-and-fall tale told in a melodramatic style about a young girl named Angel Deverell (Romola Garai) who craves to live a life that doesn’t exist as she constantly writes stories filled with imagination and fantasy in the hopes to succeed and live a rich, fabulous life. Once she’s published and becomes successful, she has everything a woman could want in the early 20th Century including the love of her life in an artist named Esme` (Michael Fassbender) and a supportive assistant in Esme’s sister Nora (Lucy Russell). When World War I arrives and Esme` decides to enlist, Angel’s world crumbles little by little as her book sales decline as well as her detachment from reality leading to elements of tragedy and despair.

Francois Ozon’s screenplay that features additional dialogue from Martin Crimp play into that rise and fall schematic where they use a traditional structure to convey the journey of this woman who is ambitious and talented but also very self-centered, melodramatic, and is practically a dreamer. Still, there is something about Angel Deverell that is intriguing for someone who has this idea about what people should strive for and how she expects to be treated. While her publisher Theo (Sam Neill) is intrigued by her ambition as well as the stories she writes. She is disliked by his wife Hermione (Charlotte Rampling) who sees Angel as an outrageous dreamer with no sense of reality. While she does have another admirer in Nora who would eventually become Angel’s caretaker, there are things in Angel’s world that includes the house called Paradise that seems very surreal.

The film’s second half has this sense of collision between reality and fiction where Angel deals with World War I from afar as she starts to not just lose touch with an ever-changing world. She is in complete denial over the fact that her work is too detached from that ever-changing world which doesn’t reflect anything that she is surrounded by. It’s a character who is very flawed and can be very despicable towards people as she would try to get Esme` to paint things that doesn’t really suit what he’s feeling as he couldn’t live up to her idea of what he should be as he is carrying a secret of his own that only his sister and later Theo would know. The third act isn’t just about the tragedy Angel deals with but also some harsh truth that she faces not just about herself but also the world that she had wanted to leave behind in the beginning of the film.

Ozon’s direction is very stylish in not just the way he presents the film as this rise-and-fall melodrama but also in the moments where reality and fantasy collide. Notably as there’s scenes where Angel is traveling with these artificial backdrops to play up this idea that she’s living a life that is extraordinary and lives up to what she thinks is the way to live. There’s compositions that do play up something that would recall these period-costume films filled with lavish set pieces and gorgeous costumes. Even as it plays to that idea of melodrama where a woman is so full of herself as she has to make a grand entrance to make people believe she is great. It’s all part of this world in the film’s first half that builds up to Angel being a woman that people admire and revere for her work.

By the film’s second half, Ozon goes for less artificiality while upping the melodrama even more where it plays into Angel’s sense of denial about the real world as well as the fact that Esme` is a man eager to find himself only to come back the war a ravaged and detached man. With Esme` wanting to pull away from Angel, he has no choice but to come back to her as she welcomes back in a grand style oblivious to what he is feeling. It does lead to this very dreary third act where the shots are much tighter and the drama is stripped-down a bit to unveil the sense of loss of not just what Angel is feeling but also the realization of a world that has changed and in no need of her at the moment which does lead to an ending that is quite extravagant in some respects to who Angel Deverell is. Overall, Ozon creates a very fascinating and exhilarating film about the rise-and-fall of a dreamer.

Cinematographer Denis Lenoir does brilliant work with the film‘s very gorgeous cinematography that is filled with lush images for some of its exteriors and interiors as it‘s colorful as well as intoxicating to look at. Editor Muriel Breton does nice work with the editing to create some wonderful jump-cuts to play with the rhythm while keeping things methodical for some of its drama. Production designer Katia Wyszkop, with set decorator Gerard Marcireau and art director Alexandra Lassen, does amazing work with the set pieces from the lavish home that is Paradise to some of the halls and places set in the early 20th Century.

Costume designer Pascaline Chavanne does fantastic work with the costumes to play up Angel‘s vivacious personality as it has her becoming a young woman being poor to someone being glamorous with all of these expensive dresses. Visual effects supervisor Daniel Trujillo does terrific work with some of the backdrops that is created in Angel‘s travels to showcase her idea of the world as she‘s disconnected from reality. Sound editor Benoit Hillebrant does excellent work with the sound to capture some of the atmosphere of the intimate moments of the film as well as some of the livelier moments such as the play Angel attends based on one of her books. The film’s music by Philippe Rombi is just exquisite for its serene yet soaring orchestral flourishes with some lush string arrangements and melancholic piano pieces to play up the melodrama.

The casting by Karen Lindsay-Stewart is superb for the ensemble that is created as it features some notable small roles from Simon Woods as an art curator looking into Esme’s work, Christopher Benjamin as Esme` and Nora’s uncle Lord Norley, Jemma Powell as a woman Esme` knew in Angelique, Janine Duvitski as Angel’s aunt Lottie, and Jacqueline Tong as Angel’s mother whom Angel would later claim that she was a famous concert pianist. Charlotte Rampling is wonderful in a small but crucial role as Theo’s wife Hermione who watches Angel from afar with some disdain while later gaining her pity to see how far she’s fallen. Sam Neill is excellent as Angel’s publisher Theo who takes on the young writer as he’s amazed by her work while also falling for her from afar as he also tries to deal with her disconnect from the real world.

Lucy Russell is great as Nora as a woman who goes from an admirer of Angel to someone who is devoted to make sure she is in a good state of mind while forcing to carry secrets to not make Angel lose control. Michael Fassbender is amazing as Esme` as a man eager to succeed with his own approach to art while dealing with the expectations he’s been saddled with when he’s with Angel as he is later undone by his time in World War I. Finally, there’s Romola Garai in a magnificent performance as the titular character as a woman who is clearly someone filled with imagination but couldn’t handle the idea of reality as Garai isn’t afraid to make the character very un-likeable at times while displaying a bit of sympathy to a woman who later endures tragedy in her life.

Angel is a splendid and delightful film from Francois Ozon that features a mesmerizing performance from Romola Garai. Along with a supporting cast that includes Michael Fassbender, Sam Neill, Lucy Russell, and Ozon cohort Charlotte Rampling. The film is definitely one of Ozon’s most stylish as well as intriguing films that explores the plight of dreamers. While it’s a film that can be overwhelming at times, it is still fascinating to showcase a woman’s rise and fall as she is disconnected from reality. In the end, Angel is an extraordinary film from Francois Ozon.

Francois Ozon Films: See the Sea - Sitcom - Criminal Lovers - Water Drops on Burning Rocks - Under the Sand - 8 Women - Swimming Pool - 5x2 - Time to Leave - Ricky - The Refuge - Potiche - In the House - Jeune & Jolie - (The New Girlfriend) - The Auteurs #33: Francois Ozon

© thevoid99 2013

One Day (2011 film)

Based on the novel by David Nicholls, One Day is the story about a man and a woman who meet each other in the same day in the span of several years. During this time, the two would encounter many changes in their relationship and the individual lives they take. Directed by Lone Scherfig and written by David Nicholls, the film is a story about these two people and their unique relationship. Starring Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, Romola Garai, Jodie Whittaker, Rafe Spall, and Patricia Clarkson. One Day, for all of its take on love, is an episodic and maudlin film from Lone Scherfig.

The film is essentially the story about these two people in Emma Morley (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter Mayhew (Jim Sturgess) who meet on July 15, 1988 on their graduation day as they become friends and eventually, lovers. In the course of more than 20 years, these two people would communicate and be with each other to discuss their lives while they both pursue their individual goals. Emma becomes a teacher and later a children’s novelist while Dexter’s aspirations as a producer has him starting off as annoying TV show host and later becoming a man with a sense of direction. They would also engage into different relationships with other people where they eventually realize how much they really care for each other.

It’s an interesting premise about the lives of these two people in the span of more than 20 years on one particular day being July 15. Yet, it’s a story that doesn’t do a lot to make it much more interesting as it ends up being episodic in its formula where they always do something on the 15th of July. There would a moment where they each have an individual moment in their lives and for a moment, not speak to each other for a few years. A reconciliation would happen as it would eventually lead to them finally being together that is later followed by something in the third act that would change things. While both Emma and Dexter are quite interesting and flawed characters, it’s just that the story isn’t well-executed as it plays too much into convention.

Lone Scherfig’s direction does have a lot of wonderful scenes and images that is playful and romantic. Yet, she doesn’t do enough to make the story more engaging as it does play into a lot of the conventions of being flirty in the first act, frustration in the second, and finally coming together in the third. Some of the moments between Emma and Dexter together are compelling in their conversations with bits of humor and drama. Once the story progresses, it starts to be a bit repetitive at times whenever Dexter is fooling around or Emma is just taking the moments of disappointment in her life. Though things do relax a bit in the third act that is followed by a very shocking moment. Scherfig does manage to find something that is poignant and give it a fine ending. Overall, Scherfig creates a film that is watchable but somewhat unsatisfying in terms of the love story it wanted it to be.

Cinematographer Benoit Delhomme does excellent work with the gorgeous, colorful photography for many of the film‘s locations in Britain and parts of France to complement the changing times the characters go through. Editor Barry Pilling does nice work with the editing to play out the structure and some of the film‘s emotional moments. Production designer Mark Tildesley, along with set decorator Dominic Capon and art director Denis Schnegg, does superb work with the set pieces such as the apartments Dexter and Emma lived in during their lives along with studio sets where Dexter worked at.

Costume designer Odile Dicks-Mireaux does some fine work with the costumes to complement the looks of Dexter and Emma in the different times they live in . Makeup designer Ivana Primorac does some terrific work with the look of the hair and makeup to make the character age a bit during the course of the film. Sound designer Glenn Freemantle does wonderful work with the sound to capture the energy of the clubs that Dexter frequent to the more intimate places that he and Emma go to. The film’s music by Rachel Portman is very good for its melancholic-driven orchestral score to play out the sense of longing between the two characters. Music supervisor Karen Elliot provides a decent soundtrack that captures the moment of the times with music from James, Tracy Chapman, Fatboy Slim, and Del Amitri.

The casting by Lucy Bevan is brilliant for the ensemble that is created although appearances by Jodie Whittaker as Emma’s friend Tilly and Patricia Clarkson in an excellent performance as Dexter’s mother Alison is kind of a waste as they don’t get enough to do. Ken Stott is very good as Dexter’s stern but caring father while Romola Garai is terrific as Dexter’s wife Sylvie. Rafe Spall is excellent in a standout performance as Emma’s aspiring-comedian boyfriend Ian who tries to make Emma laugh while deal with her relationship with Dexter.

Finally, there’s the duo of Jim Strugess and Anne Hathaway as they both give pretty remarkable performances. Strugess provides a lot of wit and energy to a character who is quite arrogant at times only to have humility as he later becomes a father. While parts of Hathaway’s English accent isn’t perfect, she does manage to create a performance that is full of charm and depth as a woman who just wants to be friends only to realize how much she cares for him. Sturgess and Hathaway do have some chemistry together in the way they interact as they do make a fine pair to watch and be compelled by.

Despite the terrific performances of Jim Sturgess and Anne Hathaway, One Day is a mediocre film from Lone Scherfig. While it will have something that fans of romantic movies might enjoy, it doesn’t do enough to make it more unique or adventurous for audiences that want more. In the end, One Day is an okay film from Lone Scherfig.

Lone Scherfig: (Dogme 12-Italians for Beginners) - (Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself) - (Just Like Home) - An Education

© thevoid99 2012

Scoop

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 12/14/06 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.

Written, directed, and starring Woody Allen, Scoop is about a young, American student trying to be a journalist gets a big scoop from a ghostly spirit who is trying to catch a tarot-card carrying serial killer. Helping the student is an American magician who suspects a rich heir as does the ghostly spirit while the young woman falls for the handsome suspect. Taking cues from his old films and love of mystery and comedy, Allen goes for laughs as the films reveal he's been re-inspired. Also starring Scarlett Johansson, Hugh Jackman, Ian McShane, Romola Garai, and Charles Dance. Scoop is an entertaining, witty mystery from Woody Allen.

Revered British journalist Joe Strombel (Ian McShane) has just died as he meets a woman named Jane Cook (Fenella Woolgar) on their way to the afterlife. When Cook revealed that she had been poisoned by her boss and rich heir Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman), she believes that he's the Tarot Card killer who has been killing hookers in a similar style to Jack the Ripper. Strombel jumps off the boat to give someone the scoop as a young college student journalist named Sondra Pransky (Scarlett Johansson) is trying to catch a break. Going to a magic show with her friend Vivian to see Sidney Waterman aka Splendini (Woody Allen) perform magic tricks, Sondra is part of the act as she sees Strombel giving her the scoop of a lifetime.

When Sondra learns who Strombel was and finds information about the Tarot Card killer, she talks to Sidney about his magic box where they see Strombel's spirit who gives them more information. Sondra and Sidney decides to to investigate Lyman, who is the son of a well-respected lord (Julian Glover) as they managed to get into a posh gym through Vivian's connections where Sondra meets Peter Lyman as she calls herself Jade Spence with Sidney posing as her father. The two get invited to the Lyman estate as Sondra doesn't think that Lyman is the killer as she starts to fall for him. When Sidney holds another magic show, Strombel appears out of the box in front of an audience as he gives Sidney information about a vault in Lyman's home. Sidney goes to Lyman's home during the party as he goes into the vault and finds nothing much to Sondra's disappointment until she later finds a deck of tarot cards when she spends the night.

After turning to Vivian's father (Charles Dance), a newspaper editor, about what she believes, Sondra realizes that it might not be enough until the news that the real Tarot Card killer was caught. Sondra meets Peter again to confess who she really is as the two starts a relationship. Sidney however, doesn't think the case is over as he still suspects Peter Lyman as Strombel makes a last appearance where Sidney realizes who the Tarot Card killer is.

While the film doesn't rank up there with Allen's earlier, funnier films of the early 70s or some of his other comedies and the 80s and 1990s, Scoop does achieve in what Allen aimed for. A witty, clever mystery that features laughs and the kind of neurotic, insecure characters that Allen is known for. The screenplay is really Allen's most entertaining since Sweet & Lowdown where he finds the right timing for comedy while building the suspense of mystery where although it's kind of predictable. The adventure is still fun to watch where Allen's direction and locations of London really brings a new energy to his comedic style. Allen understands that mystery can be funny and he uses these flawed, characters who aren't smart or very driven but have something that audiences can relate to. Overall, the film features Allen in his finest.

Cinematographer Remi Adefarasin, who worked on Match Point, returns to bring in a more colorful, vibrant look of London in its exterior setting of the country side to the posh, interiors of some of the locations. Production designer Maria Djurkovic and art director Nick Palmer do excellent work into the look of posh London with its inspiring locations as well as costume designer Jill Taylor for the dresses that Scarlett Johansson wore. Editor Alisa Lepselter does some wonderful, tight editing to the film a nice, leisurely pace in its 96-minute running time. The film's soundtrack is filled with a lot of classical cuts that Allen has often compiled but most of its is done in a playful way along with elements of suspense as the music really adds a lot of wit and joy.

The film's cast is wonderfully assembled with notable small performances from Julian Glover, Kevin R. McNally, and Fenella Woolgar. Other minor performances from Charles Dance as Mr. Malcolm and Romola Garai as Vivian are excellent and memorable in their supporting roles. Ian McShane is very funny and intelligent as the wise, driven Joe Strombel. McShane, often known for playing dark, brooding characters, proves his range as a comedy actor where he plays his character very straight and intelligent as he steals every scene he's in. Hugh Jackman is wonderfully charming as the shady, charismatic Peter Lyman. The Australian-born actor proves he can do an authentic English accent while bringing a lot of wit and complexity to his character. Coming off films like the X-Men series and The Prestige, Jackman proves that he can do comedy and bring a lot of joy into a performance. Woody Allen is very funny in his usual, neurotic persona. While it's essentially Woody playing himself, Allen sticks with what works and it's consistently funny and witty as Allen brings a cleverness to his role while performing some magic tricks.

While not up to par with the sarcasm in Ghost World and the eerie minimalism of Lost in Translation, Scarlett Johansson gives an excellent performance as Sondra Pransky. A far superior performance than she gave in Match Point, in which it was uneven, Johansson brought more layers as she plays a nerdy, frumpy kind of woman who is driven but not very confident. When Johansson plays the sensual Jade Spence, it's all done in a comical way as Johansson plays a great straight-woman to Allen while having some wonderful chemistry with Jackman. It's clearly one of her better performances and far superior to the recent ones in The Black Dahlia and The Prestige also with Jackman.

While not as groundbreaking or one of his great films, Scoop is still a clever, witty mystery-comedy from Woody Allen. With a great cast led by Allen, Scarlett Johansson, Hugh Jackman, and Ian McShane, it's a film that is filled with some wonderful, funny moments while being entertaining at the same time. Though it's one of the better films he's made in the 2000s, Scoop is a good and enjoyable comedy from Woody Allen.

Woody Allen Films: What’s Up, Tiger Lily? - Take the Money & Run - Bananas - Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) - Sleeper - Love & Death - Annie Hall - Interiors - Manhattan - Stardust Memories - A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy - Zelig - Broadway Danny Rose - The Purple Rose of Cairo - Hannah & Her Sisters - Radio Days - September - Another Woman - New York Stories-Oedipus Wrecks - Crimes & Misdemeanors - Alice - Shadows & Fog - Husbands & Wives - Manhattan Murder Mystery - Don't Drink the Water - Bullets Over Broadway - Mighty Aphrodite - Everyone Says I Love You - Deconstructing Harry - Celebrity - Sweet & Lowdown - Small Time Crooks - The Curse of the Jade Scorpion - Hollywood Ending - Anything Else - Melinda & Melinda - Match Point - Cassandra’s Dream - Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Whatever Works - You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger - Midnight in Paris - To Rome with Love - Blue Jasmine - Magic in the Moonlight - Irrational Man - (Cafe Society)

The Auteurs #24: Woody Allen: Pt. 1 - Pt. 2 - Pt. 3 - Pt. 4

© thevoid99 2011

Atonement

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com at 1/20/08.

In 2005, an unknown director named Joe Wright brought another film adaptation of the beloved Jane Austen novel Pride & Prejudice to the big screen. With an all-star cast led by Keira Knightley, the film became an unexpected hit for the young director as Knightley herself received an Oscar nomination for her role as Elizabeth Bennett. Following the film's success, Wright's next plan was to adapt the beloved Ian McEwan about a love affair torn apart by a lie from a young girl who is trying to figure out her sins. The novel known as Atonement was a hit with critics and book readers as Wright chose to expand his ambitions into a huge film adaptation of McEwan's beloved novel.

Directed by Joe Wright with an adapted script by Christopher Hampton, Atonement tells the story of a young rich girl and the son of a housekeeper who fall in love only to be torn apart by a misinterpreted accusation of the girl's young sister. Following this supposed crime, the lovers try to come together during World War II while the young girl is trying to figure out her sins and the truth itself. Reuniting with Keira Knightley, Joe Wright takes a huge leap in making a film that is grander and more harrowing than his previous film. Also starring James McAvoy, Brenda Blethyn, Harriet Waller, Juno Temple, Patrick Kennedy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Danny Mays, with film director Anthony Minghella, and in the role of Briony, Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai, and Vanessa Redgrave. Atonement is a rich, powerful study of sin and its effects from director Joe Wright.

It's the late 1930s as a young girl named Briony Tallis (Saorise Ronan) is completing a play she hopes to show when her eldest brother Leon (Patrick Kennedy) is set to return. Meanwhile, everyone is getting prepared as Briony wants to rehearse the play with her young cousins including Lola (Juno Temple) and twins Jackson and Pierrette (Charlie & Felix von Simson). Later that day, Briony talks to her older sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) about the housekeeper's son Robbie (James McAvoy) who is set to go to medical school with help from Cecilia's father. During a botched rehearsal for Briony's play, Briony sees a moment between Cecilia and Robbie that led to Cecilia jumping into a garden-infested fountain.

Later that day, Leon arrives with a friend named Paul Marshall (Benedict Cumberbatch) who wows Cecilia's cousins with chocolates. With Robbie invited to the dinner by Leon, Robbie's mother Grace (Brenda Blethyn) is amazed at how he’s starting to have a great future as he tries to write a letter to Cecilia about his feelings. Yet, when he sees Briony playing in the garden, he asks her to give the letter to Cecilia but then realizes he makes a mistake when Briony reads the letter that she gave to Cecilia. The night starts to become troubling when Briony catches Cecilia and Robbie having sex. Things become more complicated when Briony's behavior towards Robbie is aggressive when she is asked by her mother (Harriet Waller) to fetch the twins. When the twins aren't in their rooms, everyone goes for a search where Briony sees an incident involving Lola that changes everything.

Four years later in the beginning stages of World War II, Robbie is a soldier in Northern France as he is joined by Tommy Nettle (Danny Mays) and Frank Mays (Nonso Anozie) during a mission in France. Robbie accepted to become a soldier to avoid further jail time for a crime he didn't commit due to Briony's testimony years ago. Robbie thinks about a meeting he had with Cecilia six months before as she has become a nurse with a promise to her that he will return to her. Walking to the north beach of France with Tommy and Frank, the ill Robbie finally reaches the beaches of Dunkirk hoping to be evacuated with the rest of wounded soldiers. Meanwhile, Briony (Romola Garai) has become a nurse in training. Trying to figure out what she saw those years ago, she is trying to write a story while hoping to have contact with Cecilia through unsuccessful attempts. Briony finally understands the horrors of war where at one moment, she tries to comfort a dying French soldier named Luc (Jeremie Renier) as she tries to come to terms with her own misinterpretations.

When she finally finds Cecilia's address where three weeks before Robbie is sent to France, she meets her older sister and Robbie as she reveals what she really saw and everything. Yet, with so much bitterness towards her, Briony remains haunted until by the time she becomes 77-year olds and as a writer, Briony (Vanessa Redgrave) reveals what she wrote and the result of everything that had happened as she comes to terms of these events in her final days.

While Ian McEwan's story of sin and its effects, the film is a study of morality and how simple mistakes and misinterpretations can ruin the lives of people and such. Screenwriter Christopher Hampton and director Joe Wright creates a film about perspectives in the style of what happened and such. The first example is the broken vase scene where Cecilia dives into the fountain to retrieve a broken piece. The first scene is from Briony's young perspective and then the second is from Robbie and Cecilia's. This is a style of storytelling that is made famous by the Akira Kurosawa 1950 classic film Rashomon about a rape & murder told from four different perspectives. It's really a psychological film where Hampton and Wright are trying to get the audience to think about what they've seen and such.

The film is also a character study of sorts from the mind of Briony. Here's a young girl who saw a few things she didn't understand and then, when a crime that she witnesses turns out to go wrong. The motions in event happen as everything falls apart where this girl turned into a young woman is trying to figure out what she really saw and how she can atone herself from these incidents that she caused. Hampton's study of character and sin is really engrossing as the sadness and frustrations in both Robbie and Cecilia for their love together and how these events are forcing them to be apart. While there's an abrupt shift in that moment from Briony's life in World War II to her present time. It conveys the sense of Briony's state of mind from the previous event she just saw as she begins to think about as a 77-year old woman. The script is definitely faithful to Ian McEwan's novel in some respects while it really serves as a film that is part romance and part mystery.

Director Joe Wright whose lush, stylized approach to directing that made his feature-film debut Pride & Prejudice such a delight to watch now takes a huge step forward into crafting his style. The presentations, the compositions he creates as well as the atmosphere from the dream-like world of the Tallis estate with its gardens and ponds to the harsh, desolate world of Dunkirk beach that included an unbroken tracking shot from a steadicam that conveys the sense of horror and sadness. What is clear is that Wright is becoming more confident as a director as he takes the audience back in time to a period where things are tense and such that included such moments of horror during the war. Even Wright's dramatic presentation is more intimate as directs the actor in a theatrical approach, particularly in the Tallis estate scenes and the sequence involving Cecilia, Robbie, and the 18-year old Briony. Overall, Wright has now become a director who is on his way to fulfill his potential.

Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey does some wonderful work with his lush presentation of the Tallis exterior daytime scenes with some intimate lighting in some of the darker, interior scenes in the estate. The nighttime sequences are wonderfully colorful as it conveys the sense of emotion while the war-time scenes are wonderfully shot to convey its horror. Notably a scene where Robbie with his fellow soldiers walk into the woods to see an act of horror that has McGarvey doing some amazing work. Editor Paul Tothill does some great cutting from the use of backwards movement to the perspective cutting. Tothill's editing is truly superb to convey the sense of emotion and action that goes on. Even through the very emotional scene of Briony, Cecilia, and Robbie that has a rhythm to confirm every moment of drama that goes on.

Production designer Sarah Greenwood with art director Ian Bailie and set decorator Katie Spencer do amazing work in the posh look of the Tallis estate with all of its period look in the furniture, antiques, and such while the war-time scenes are great to convey the dirty, working-class look. Even in the ruins of the Dunkirk scenes are wonderfully built to convey the sense of horror and tragedy. Costume designer Jacqueline Durran does great work in the period-style costumes from the swimsuits Knightley and Ronan wears to the dresses that Knightley wears at night and in the wartime scenes. Durran's costumes are wonderfully exquisite to the times as even the men whether in tuxedos or in army gear are great. The sound work of Catherine Hodgson, recordist Danny Hambrook, and mixer Paul Hamblin is wonderful in capturing the atmosphere of war in the arrival of the Dunkirk scene while it's in greater use to the Tallis estate scenes in some of young Briony's writing in mix with Robbie's writing a letter to Cecilia.

The film's music consists of operatic and classical pieces by Claude Debussy and Giacomo Puccini plus wartime music by Walter Kent & Nat Burton and the prayer piece Dear Lord & Father Of Mankind by John Greenleaf Whittier and Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry are featured. Yet, the music that dominates the film is the sweeping score of Dario Marianelli. Marianelli's score is truly one of 2007's best film scores with its huge arrangements and rhythmic orchestration that includes themes of Briony that is accompanied by a typewriter-rhythm while the more romantic score is very dramatic with flourishing arrangements. The music of the Dunkirk is also sweeping and dramatic with its sense of horror and tragedy as Marianelli creates a score that truly amazing in its own.

The casting by Jina Jay is superb with wonderful small performances from Belgium actor Jeremie Renier as a wounded French soldier, Nonso Anozie as Frank Mays who walks with Robbie in the woods of Northern France, Gina McKee as Briony's head nurse Sister Drummond, Alfie Allen as servant Danny Hardman, film director Anthony Mingella as the interviewer who interviews the 77-year old Briony, Charlie & Felix von Simson as Briony's twin cousins Jackson and Pierrette, and Pride & Prejudice co-stars Peter Wight as a police inspector, and Brenda Blethyn in a great performance as Robbie's caring mother. Harriet Waller is also good as Cecilia and Briony's mother who adores Briony's talents while in shock over Robbie's actions in the crime.

Patrick Kennedy is good as Cecilia's eldest brother Leon while Benedict Cumberbatch is excellent as the charming Paul Marshall. Juno Temple is also excellent as Briony's cousin Lola who manages to become a key player in an incident as she acts a precocious young teenager. One of the film's best supporting performances is Danny Mays as Robbie's fellow soldier Tommy Nettle who brings some humor with some comments but becomes the companion who tries to comfort Robbie in the dire of times.

Keira Knightley delivers a fine performance as Cecilia, a young woman who is deeply in love with Robbie though she couldn't show her feelings publicly. When the love is gone, she is a woman desperate for him as she refuses to have contact with her sister. While it's not as good as her previous collaboration with Wright in Pride & Prejudice, Knightley is at least proving that she's more than a pretty face. James McAvoy delivers an amazing performance as Robbie, a man with ambitions to become a doctor and Cecilia's lover who is good, kind man. When he’s accused of a crime he didn't commit and becomes a soldier, McAvoy's performance is just amazing for his observation and weariness as he sells the sense of frustrations and tragedy of his character. McAvoy and Knightley display amazing chemistry in the scenes they’re in as McAvoy has the look and presence of traditional leading men that came before him.

In the roles of Briony, the trio of actresses for the role are all superb in their performances. Newcomer Saorise Ronan is amazing as the 13-year old Briony, a young girl who has a crush on Robbie and has aspirations to be a writer as she conveys the misguided innocence of a young girl. Ronan's performances in the more dramatic scenes are great for her quick-wit reaction and angst that is displayed as her performance is just unforgettable. Equally as great as well as impressive is Romola Garai as the 18-year old Briony. Garai's performance is astonishing for her sense of restraint in how she tries to come to terms with her actions while not having contact with a lot of people.

Her scene in her attempt to atone for her actions is more surprising as she completely restrains herself from the more dramatic Knightley and forceful McAvoy. It's in that scene that Garai steals the show as she is proving to be one of Britain's finest actresses. Vanessa Redgrave is brilliant in her brief role as the 77-year old Briony who is still trying to find forgiveness in her final days as Redgrave's performance is just powerful for her look and weariness.

Atonement is a rich, powerful, and haunting masterpiece from Joe Wright and company helmed by fantastic performances from Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, and the trio of Saorise Ronan, Romola Garai, and Vanessa Redgrave. While fans of the book might have some issues with the adaptation, they will at least enjoy Wright's interpretation of the book. Those who loved Pride & Prejudice will be amazed in what Wright did as a director as his next film will definitely be one to anticipate for. In the end, for a rich film that questions sin and its consequences, Atonement is the film to go see.

Joe Wright Films: Pride & Prejudice (2005 film) - The Soloist - Hanna - Anna Karenina

(C) thevoid99 2011