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Anybody out there seen Atonement? (SPOILERS)
Fran:
Thanks, Mikaela.
southendmd:
I just saw Atonement today, and am left with lots of impressions.
I personally enjoy novels or films where the narrator/point of view shifts or is ambiguous and this is certainly the case here.
Because I was very emotionally affected, and a friend I saw it with was not, I had to think of the "universal". For me, it was the "thou shalt not bear false witness" thing.
I think the challenge for the audience is: can you feel sympathy for Briony? (This is not the same as forgiveness.)
My sympathy for her came when she told the French soldier, who was obviously going to die, that she loved him. Perhaps her first completely selfless act (and, perhaps, also a lie). To me, she suddenly became human, with his blood on her face.
Clearly, as a girl, she was in love with Robbie; I'm sure she was confused by the sexual images she witnessed between him and Cee. Don't forget, 13 year olds can have intense sexual feelings. One can see how her jealousy led to her lie, which takes him away from her sister.
Of course, we have to think about the "atonement" of the title: she has to live with the guilt and widespread effects of her actions for the next 60+ years.
As a side note, I found the "mole" on her right cheek a physical representation of her "sin". Notice how it was continued in all three actresses.
Finally, the act of writing the novel, at least to the author, helps redeem her (boy, I love Vanessa Redgrave). She has given them a life together, their happiness by the "White Cliffs of Dover".
MaineWriter:
--- Quote from: southendmd on February 03, 2008, 07:28:46 pm ---
Finally, the act of writing the novel, at least to the author, helps redeem her (boy, I love Vanessa Redgrave). She has given them a life together, their happiness by the "White Cliffs of Dover".
--- End quote ---
Well, yes, in her mind, she did. But the question is, is that enough of an atonement?
And, Dr. Paul, I have a question for you. I am convinced the whole middle section is written as Briony envisioned it. Even though we feel like we are with Robbie in France, that is how Briony pictured it for Robbie in France. I posted this over on IMDb (and some rude person shot me down)....someone was complaining that Robbie's death seemed odd. He was talking and seemed okay one minute, then started babbling nonsense, then boom! he was dead. If you notice, the French soldier did the same thing. I said that the French soldier died of sepsis and was the first person Briony had ever seen die. When she heard that Robbie died of sepsis, she wrote Robbie's death (which we saw) based on her experience of the French soldier. The person who shot me down said, "Don't be stupid, he didn't die of sepsis, he died of a hole in his head." But my contention (and I stand by this) is that since the hole in his head didn't kill him instantly, it wasn't going to kill him slowly--something else would. In this case, infection. Which isn't hard to believe when you look at that filthy bandage! Thoughts on this?
As I have continued to think about this, I have come up with other items which I think point to the notion of it all being Briony's POV. Which doesn't mean it is all fictitious--she did do some research (which she says in the interview). But she was able to bend things just enough to assuage her conscience.
L
southendmd:
Her living with the guilt, and making reparations via her writing is her atonement. Is is enough? That's for the audience to decide.
I didn't really worry about the medical realism. Luc could just have easily have died from blood loss as from infection from the hole in his head. I seem to remember Robbie poked at a hole in his chest--more symbolism?
Certainly we learn that much of the film is from Briony's POV. Despite her "research", it's a novel, and not a history.
Clyde-B:
I saw Atonement and I liked it, but it didn't effect as much as BBM.
****** SPOILERS ******
I thought Briony was telling the truth at the end.
She had lied in the beginning. She had lied with her novel telling herself and the world Cecie and Robbie had had a happy life. She had lied to herself that somehow fiction could make up for their lost love.
I think her atonement was finally telling the truth, facing up to what really happened. Perhaps realizing there was no way for her to make up for it.
I liked the way the story played with the idea that fiction writers are essentially liars, sometimes using reality as it happened, sometimes making it come out the way we would have preferred. Trying to use a lie to tell a truth.
The movie made me want to read the book to see how it's handled there.
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