Yowazzup: A Directory of Happening Things

The Edge of Love is a 2008 British film starring the lovely Keira Knightley. The movie opened on June 20, 2008 in UK and will have a limited release in the US on March 13, 2009.

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Keira Knightley plays Duchess of Devonshire in The Duchess.

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Atonement, meaning “Amends or reparation made for an injury or wrong; expiation” is a movie about atonement, of course. Its tagline says “You can only imagine the truth”, which brings us to the story.

Directed by the director of Jane Austen’s classic, Pride and Prejudice, Joe Wright, the movie Atonement has already created an Oscar buzz before even the movie is released.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In 1935, young Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan), a 13-year-old girl fledgling writer, is furiously typing the last act of her play. Briony and her family live a life of wealth and privilege in their enormous mansion with her cousins, Lola Quincey (Juno Temple) and her twin brothers, Pierrot (Felix von Simson) and Jackson (Charlie von Simson).

On the hottest day of the year, the country estate takes on an unsettling hothouse atmosphere, stoking Briony’s vivid imagination. She observes a flirtation between Robbie Turner (James McAvoy), the educated son of the family’s housekeeper and her older sister, Cecilia (Keira Knightley) and childishly misconstrues the intention of Robbie.

Keira Knightley and James McAvoy in Atonement

Leon Tallis, the brother to the Tallis sisters, comes home with a special guest, Paul Marshall (Benedict Cumberbatch) who is believed to own a chocolate factory. Paul shows keen interests in Lola, especially when he chooses to give Lola a piece of chocolate from his factory instead of the twin brothers.

Everyone, included Robbie is invited to a reunion dinner in the Tallis mansion. Before the dinner, Robbie has asked Briony to pass the apology letter he has written for Cecilia. Briony obeys but when she reaches the mansion, she rudely opens the letter and reads it. Robbie then, realizes he has given Briony the wrong letter but Briony has already read the letter, which is way too inappropriate for a 13-year-old. Before the dinner, as the nosy Briony ponders into the library, she sees Robbie kissing Cecilia but the two coolly walk off the library and pretend nothing happens.

During the dinner, the Quincey’s twins has gone missing. The disappearance of the boys has initiated a search in which only Cecilia and her mother, Emily (Harriet Walter) stays behind.

During the search, Briony has seen something she should not have seen. She has seen a guy’s raping Lola. When the police has arrived, Briony – who has a secret crush on Robbie, without hesitation, accuses Robbie of a crime he did not commit. Though Cecilia and Robbie declare their love for each other, Robbie is arrested due to Briony’s false testament. And with that, Robbie’s ambition of becoming a doctor is destroyed – by Briony.

As time passes on really quickly, the movie takes us into another time frame. Many years has passed since Robbie’s imprisonment. During those years, Robbie is given a choice to serve the country as an army or stay in the prison, he chooses the latter and therefore have served the country for several years. During the war, Robbie and several other soldiers are separated from the rest of the crews and are stranded in France.

Robbie returns to London and stays with Cecilia, who is a nurse. Briony who has also decided to become a nurse due to her seeking forgiveness, has tried very hard to seek forgiveness for her childhood misdeed. She finally manages to meet her sister and Robbie in a small house downtown to tell them she wants to change her testament as the actual criminal is Paul Marshall. But, on her way to Cecilia’s house, she has witnessed the marriage of Paul and Lola, therefore void the possible charges against Paul. Somewhat, Robbie is disgusted at the sight of Briony.

The movie then jumps into the modern day, in which Briony Tallis is being interviewed about her last book, “Atonement”, or rather it should be her first book. She talks about the childhood she had and the misdeed she carries which causes the three of them separated. She then tells the interviewer that part of the story has been altered to satisfy the readers – the part which she finally manages to meet her sister and Robbie through a terrible and courageous act of imagination. The actual fact is Robbie has died in France for a disease he suffered and Cecilia is killed by a bomb.

My ratings: 8 out of 10. Another great movie by director, Joe Wright, this movie is surely set to be nominated for Oscar once again.

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Keira Knightley stars in the movie, Atonement, a film about a fledgling writer Briony Tallis, as a 13-year-old, irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister’s (Keira Knightley) lover (James McAvoy) of a crime he did not commit. From the synopsis, this movie looks a lot like The Whisper.

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