Atonement
Adapted from the novel by Ian McEwan , theAtonementending shew the tragical results of how a child ’s misapprehension complicates the romanticism between two grownup . The movie begins in 1935 present the mutual attractor between wealthy inheritress Cecilia ( Keira Knightley ) and the housekeeper ’s boy , Robbie ( James McAvoy ) . However , Cecilia ’s sister , Briony ( Saoirse Ronan ) , misinterpret the position and indulges in a Trygve Halvden Lie about Robbie being guilty of intimate assault . Joe Wright ’s flick goes on to span several 10 in the lives of these character , capturing the traumatic aftermath of prevarication , heartbreak , and war .
The movie fracture from alove story to a war movieseamlessly enough to appall first - time viewers . Dabbling in notional utopian and actual - life sentence dystopian scenarios , the last scenes might also confuse audiences initially . However , once all the pieces strike into position , empathy is adhere to get up for the three main characters , specially for Briony , whose battle for atonement is what defines the movie ’s title . The ending ofAtonementhas endured since its release , imprinted in popular memory board further due to the performances of its lede and Dario Marianelli ’s evenly tragical Academy Award - winning score .
What Happens In Atonement’s Ending?
Cecilia And Robbie’s Happy Ending Was Imagined
Atonement ’s tragic epilogue uncover thatCecilia was kill during the Blitzkriegas she was trapped in the Balham Tube Station when it was flush it by German airplanes . Robbie , who had help in World War II in exchange for being released from prison , go in Dunkirk due to blood poisoning ( pedigree poisoning ) .
Most of this fictional novel is revealed to be rooted in fact except for the part where Cecilia forgive her and settles down with Robbie .
Only Briony survives the warfare , eventually becoming a successful writer . With Briony face the price of former geezerhood ( now played by Vanessa Redgrave ) , it is revealed that her last novel , Atonement , is a semi - autobiographical work . Most of this fictional novel is reveal to be root in fact except for the part where Cecilia forgives her and settles down with Robbie .
Through a fictional glad closing , Briony hopes she can make thing proper . Using time jump and multiple actors for Briony is integral in build up to this ending . From theOscar - nominated performance by Saoirse Ronanin the pic , viewers see the confusion that 13 - year - quondam Briony undergoes while making a serious allegation against Robbie , as she also pick him for sexually assaulting her cousin Lola ( Juno Temple ) .
Romola Gorrai ’s portrayal of the girl at 18 display some grade of self - reflection while Redgrave ’s purpose as an mature Briony utterly embodies the teardrop - jerking conclusion . Despite uttering a lie at 13 years of old age , Briony continue to bear its emotional burden all her life .
Was The Final Scene Robbie’s Hallucination?
The Imagined Final Movement Could’ve Been From Briony Or Robbie
Despite Briony establishing that both her sis and her lover encounter tragical fates during World War II , Atonementstill makes a final jump to Cecilia and Robbie playfully walking and run by the seashore . It is suggested that they are belike living by the sea just like they had designate to once they reunited . This is , of course , yet another imaginary scenario as the devotee could never meet during wartime or afterward .
The genuine nature of this scene is equivocal . It might be a scene from Briony ’s novel , which had a much happy end . However , the scene forego Robbie ’s death might hint otherwise . Given the surreal nature of some of Robbie ’s scenes during the war , it is also possible thatAtonement ’s last scene might actually stem from Robbie ’s imagination , perhaps as his final thoughts before he breathes his last breathing space .
Though not a unfeigned war story , Robbie finds himself in a historical setting at the beach at Dunkirk look saving that derive too tardy for him . With most of his comrade stagnant and he mortally wounded , Robbie still imagines that he is cheerily passing through a circus , watching moving picture , and singing merry Sung dynasty with other soldiers . Of naturally , he never gets to enjoy such a life as he just ends up dying on the beach of Dunkirk . It ’s clear that after his wound got infected , Robbie hallucinated these moments , and mayhap his happy reunification with Cecilia .
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Did Briony Deserve What She Got?
Many Viewers Feel It Was Karma
A simplistic understanding ofAtonement ’s story might make some viewing audience brand Briony as the villain . After all , it was her lie and testimony that get the distance between Cecilia and Robbie . However , what involve to be count is that she was just in her other teens when all of this transpired .
However , succumbing to pressure level and based on her own suspicions about Robbie , Briony end up pointing the finger at him .
Atonementexplores how a naive miss gets corrupted in the face of her own calf love with an honest-to-goodness military personnel and an actual case of sexual ravishment involve her cousin and a unlike aged man . In one ofBenedict Cumberbatch ’s earlier movies , he playsAtonement ’s Paul , the actual culprit behind what happened to Lola . However , give in to pressure and based on her own suspicions about Robbie , Briony end up pointing the finger at him .
Atonement is a romance and war drama released in 2007 by director Joe Wright. The film stars Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Saoirse Ronan, and Romola Garai. The film takes place in 1930s England, spanning multiple years afterward as a man is wrongfully incarcerated and then must face a war, all while wanting to get back to the girl he loves.
unintentionally show Robbie ’s sexually explicit letter to Cecilia also direct the girls to grow suspect of him , with Lola even calling him a “ sex madman . " plainly , Briony realizes her mistakes as she grows senior , but by then , it is regrettably too late . Lola is after revealed to have married Paul , so not just Robbie and Cecilia , but even Lola ’s future adds to Briony ’s guiltiness .
How Does The Book End?
The Book Doesn’t Mean The Suggest A Happy Ending For The Tragic Couple
Compared to its film adaptation , Ian McEwan ’s period romance bookAtonementhas a gloomier end , with the final Sir Frederick Handley Page focalise on Briony ’s life as an elderly woman . It is give away that she is a successful writer while Paul and Lola cease up leading a happily married life . In the very final stage , while attending a birthday party at her childhood menage , Briony finds children perform prospect fromThe Trials of Arabella , a play she had written year earlier .
However , instead of the TV audience seen in the movie , the book focuses on a more self - reflective approach . The movie ’s final shot by the ocean is also not mentioned in the novel . With Briony ’s final monologue making for some of themost tragic quotes ofAtonement , the leger ’s ending comes off darker in look . The wordy verbal description of Briony ’s life as a nonsocial old woman adds to the load that she ’s been carrying all these yr .
With her penning her confession in the end — unlike the film , which express her Good Book has already been published — her future is left uncertain . The reactions of her readers are entrust open to rendition . Unlike the cinema adaptation , there ’s not much to think about in terms of any " what if " situations for the couple either as the novel does n’t mention anything beyond their death .
The Real Meaning Of Atonement’s Ending
Briony Wasn’t The Sole Reason For The Tragic Romance
Even more than just Briony ’s statement , the war is also to blame for the distance that develop between Cecilia and Robbie . If the two actually survived the violence of World War II , there was still a chance for them to really reunify and live happily by the sea . With Lola turn down to bear witness against her now - married man Paul , it was almost unacceptable to try out Robbie ’s innocence .
The war setting inAtonementgoes to show how an already ruined relationship between devotee and sister can be ruined even further .
Still , at least Robbie would have been capable to forgive Briony , give her the much - take atonement that she so desperately attempt . The warfare set inAtonementgoes to show how an already ruined relationship between lover and sisters can be ruined even further .
How The Atonement Ending Was Received
The Heartbreaking Twist Was Praised By Many While Also Creating A Debate About Briony
Atonementwas a critically acclaim picture show when it was release and earned seven Oscar nominations , include Best Picture . Many aspects of the moving picture have been praise , from the costume design to the execution to the cinematography to the stunning Dunkirk prospicient - take chronological sequence . However , it is the closing ofAtonementthat has likely added the most to the motion picture ’s live on legacy .
Critic Roger Ebert place out as much in his review ofAtonement , praise the movie ’s ability to furnish an fascinating narration and then overturn it at the last minutewhile stay true to what derive before ( viaRogerebert.com ):
" How many films have we fancy that fascinate in every import and then , in the last moments , pose a question about all that has go before , one that forces us to think deeply about what treason and atonement might really entail ? "
The encroachment of the final reveal have the picture a heartbreaking conclusion , but one that is also marked with disputation among fans . While some criticized the ending for being interchangeable to the derided figure ending of " It was all a dream ? " , others admit that , as annihilating as it was , it was fitting for the tarradiddle . However , they argue about what that ending mean value for Briony , with many still check her as the villainofAtonementand continuing her ego - function way . Redditorsonofceutashared :
I know we ’re meant in some agency to empathise with her in this second , but it made me angrier than ever before . Even in decease , Briony was compelled by her own haughtiness and selfishness to change their write up in yet another self - serving way in an attempt to make herself finger better .
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Cast
Atonement is a romanticism and war drama unfreeze in 2007 by managing director Joe Wright . The film stars Keira Knightley , James McAvoy , Saoirse Ronan , and Romola Garai . The moving picture take topographic point in 1930s England , spanning multiple geezerhood afterward as a military man is wrongfully incarcerated and then must face a war , all while wanting to get back to the girl he loves .
