Atonement (2007)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Audio Commentary-Director Joe Wright Featurette-Making Of Featurette-Novel to Film Deleted Scenes
Rating
Year Of Production	2007
Running Time	117:52
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (74:05)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Joe Wright
Studio Distributor	Working Title Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Saoirse Ronan Ailidh Mackay Brenda Blethyn Julia West James McAvoy Harriet Walter Keira Knightley Juno Temple Felix von Simson Charlie von Simson
Case	Amaray-Opaque
RPI	$29.95	Music	Dario Marianelli

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English French Spanish Greek Icelandic Portuguese	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Wow. Who would have though that would-be pirate master Keira Knightley and James McAvoy (the fella with hooves in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe) could really act? Not something I would have believed 12 months ago. Maybe that's a little harsh on McAvoy, who has redeemed himself countless times for his campy turn in Children of Dune, but Keira Knightley certainly has a lot to prove to anybody who sat through Domino or King Arthur. OK, enough with the jabs at it's stars.

    Atonement is a film version of Ian McEwan's critically acclaimed novel of the same name. Though it sounds like a cliché, the book was widely regarded as impossible to accurately translate to film, primarily because it was the novel's style (told from several points of view), its masterful conveyance of emotion and characterisations that earned its critical acclaim rather than the story itself. Director Joe Wright and screenwriter Christopher Hampton took on an ambitious task in attempting to translate the story to the screen and have thankfully succeeded.

    The film largely succeeds thanks to the spectacular quality of filmmaking on show, much like the novel succeeded thanks to the high quality of its workmanship. In fact, Atonement is a fine example of how a relatively ordinary story can be transformed into a masterpiece through quality workmanship and by exploiting the spectacle of cinema. Case in point being a 5 minute long, single take scene that depicts the infamous World War II evacuation of Dunkirk (one that many viewers will specifically remember the film for). Miles of injured and dismayed troops lining the beaches, displaying a wide array of suffering, despair and camaraderie amidst the waste of war. This truly epic scene conveys more emotion in five minutes than has been seen in the sum output of Hollywood for years - with barely a word being said. The story itself could have easily been told without the spectacle of this scene, and for a fraction of the production cost, but the emotional resonance that the scene conjures enhances the depth and impact of the story immeasurably.

    On the surface the story is a fairly straightforward period drama. In the late 1930s, Cecilia (Keira Knightley), the elder daughter of an aristocratic English family, finds forbidden love with Robbie (James McAvoy), who is the housekeepers son. Briony (portrayed at various ages by Romola Garai, Saoirse Ronan and Vanessa Redgrave), who idolises Robbie, feels betrayed when she discovers the affair and falsely accuses Robbie of a terrible crime that has been committed on the property. As the years pass Cecilia disowns her family and moves into poverty while Robbie finds joining the army at the start of the second World War to be his only means to leave prison and be with Cecilia, albeit temporarily until he leaves for France. As Briony matures and realises the dreadful implications of her actions she seeks to atone for her betrayal.

    Beneath the surface of the story, Atonement is in fact a story about the art of storytelling; about perceptions, the ramifications of lies and half truths, about weighing truth against legend or a happy ending. No two viewers will take the same meaning from Atonement. Many will change their minds about it every time they watch the film. Impressively, the film works just as well for anyone looking to take in the period drama on the surface as it does for those looking to dig deeper.

    Atonement is a stunning cinematic achievement.

Video

    The film is presented in its original theatrical 1.85:1 aspect ratio and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The video is reasonably sharp, though the film employs a deliberate soft look at times, and clear. There is no sign of low level noise and only mild film grain is visible. Black levels are good and there is a reasonable level of detail in shadows.

    The film makes heavy use of filters to capture the look of the period. The results vary effectively from soft pastels to eye-popping greens and reds. Skin tones remain quite natural.

    There is no sign of any film artefacts or compression artefacts.

    White English subtitles for the hearing impaired are supplied, based on the portion I sampled they appear to be accurate and well-timed.

    This is a RSDL disc. The layer change occurs at 74:05 but was not noticeable on my equipment.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    English, French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (384 Kbps) language tracks are available. Fussy listeners will notice the reduced fidelity due to the lower than average bitrate, however the tracks do sound reasonably good (certainly good enough to satisfy most listeners).

    The dialogue is at a good level in the mix and is both clear and easy to understand. It appears to be well synchronised to the video.

    The film features a stunning orchestral score with a haunting piano component that truly accentuates moods of the film. Composer Dario Marianelli rightfully won the film's sole Oscar for this effort.

    The surround channels are put to excellent use and build an engrossing atmosphere. The subwoofer is used sparingly, but to good effect.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    The disc opens with a language select screen followed by a skipable anti-piracy trailer and a trailer for Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Anyone willing to brave foreign language menus can watch a different foreign anti-piracy trailers to boot.

Audio Commentary with Director Joe Wright

    An excellent commentary from director Joe Wright. The commentary is reasonably chatty and when it gets technical is explained well in layman's terms.

Making Of Featurette (26:54)

    A watchable featurette, but more a pat on the back for the filmmakers than a genuine Making Of. Mostly comprised of on-set interviews with the cast and crew.

Novel to Film Featurette (5:05)

    This short featurette is really an extension of the Making of featurette that briefly discusses the challenges involved with adapting the much-loved book for the screen.

Deleted Scenes (7:34)

    7 deleted scenes with the option of refreshingly candid commentary and subtitles. None are really essential to the plot, nor add anything that the film otherwise lacked.

    The Region 1 and Region 4 versions are identical, save for PAL/NTSC differences.

    More than just a good film, this is a stunning cinematic achievement. Some viewers may take issue with the story, though few if any will complain about the film as a whole.

    The video presentation is of a high standard. The audio suffers slightly from a lower than average bitrate, but is generally of a high standard. The disc features a decent range of high quality extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall