Blu-ray of the Day: Atonement

Cast: James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Vanessa Redgrave.
Director: Joe Wright.
Screenplay: Christopher Hampton.
Score: Dario Marianelli.
Cinematography: Seamus McGarvey.

Pride & Prejudice star Keira Knightley and director Joe Wright reunite for another period drama, a tragic romance that straddles World War II. She plays a woman of privilege whose precocious younger sister, a budding writer with a rampant imagination, sabotages her fledgling relationship with their housekeeper’s son (James McAvoy) when she accuses him of rape. Like Ian McEwan’s novel, it leisurely unfolds from different points of view and seamlessly segues from the real to the surreal, from the lyrical to the cruel. In addition to the excellent performances and breathtaking production design, there’s an outstanding five-minute tracking shot of the Dunkirk evacuation that rivals Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas benchmark. On the SD extras, McEwan, who’s an executive producer, praises screenwriter Christopher Hampton (The Quiet American, Dangerous Liaisons) for the “demolition job” on his book – he cut it from 130,00 words to 25,000 – and Wright for capturing the expanse of time, “of fates being worked out”. Wright provides a commentary and there are eight deleted scenes.

Movie: 😀 😀 😀 😀
Image: 😀 😀 😀 😀 😐
Extras: 😀 😀 😀 😀