In the hot summer of 1935, teenage Briony Tallis irreversibly alters the course of several lives when she misinterprets the relationship between her sister Cecilia and the housekeeper's son, Robbie, accusing him of committing a terrible crime.

This is the premise of Atonement, the adaptation of the novel by Ian McEwan that was brilliantly brought to the big screen in 2007 by the producers and director of Pride and Prejudice, who left for posterity one of the films with the most surprising, memorable, and devastating endings in cinema history.

Set in three different time periods, 1935 England, England and France during World War II, and 1999 England, the film explores the consequences on several lives over six decades of an innocent error driven by the jealousy of a 13-year-old high-class teenager.

With the exquisite direction of Joe Wright, Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, and Saoirse Ronan bring to life these three tragic characters whose lives are forever connected by a misinterpreted gesture through a window in the summer of '35.

The film is considered one of the most elegant and touching of the century, saving for its ending a revelation that delivers one of the saddest, most surprising, and unforgettable endings in film history.

In addition to its narrative triumphs, already present in the original work it adapts, Atonement excels in all creative and technical aspects, for which critics and awards rightfully recognized the performances of its main actors, the emotional soundtrack by Dario Marianelli, the costumes, and the direction.

Seven Oscar nominations

The film was nominated in seven categories at the 80th Academy Awards, winning the Best Original Score award by Darío Marianelli.

It also received fourteen nominations at the 61st British Academy Film Awards, winning for Best Film and Best Production Design; and it won the Golden Globe for Best Drama Film.

A single-take shot that made history

From Dunkirk, by Christopher Nolan, to 1917, by Sam Mendes, the one-shot sequence has been used to portray the fragility of humanity amidst the brutality of war, but none has been as emotionally effective as the one in Atonement. By the time it ends, it has inevitably left the viewer devastated.

*This article has been automatically translated using artificial intelligence