This adaptation has one of the most surprising endings in the history of cinema: it was nominated for 7 Oscars

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, left for posterity one of the most surprising, memorable, and devastating movie endings in the history of cinema. Set in three different time periods, England in 1935, World War II-era England and France, and England in 1999, the movie shows the consequences of an innocent mistake driven by the jealousy of a 13-year-old upper-class girl in several lives over six decades. That girl is Briony Tallis, who in the hot summer of 1935 irrevocably 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. Directed by Joe Wright (Anna Karenina, Darkest Hour), starring Saoirse Ronan, Keira Knightley, and James McAvoy bringing 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 poignant of the century, reserving for its finale a revelation that delivers one of the saddest, most surprising, and unforgettable endings in the history of cinema. 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 rightly recognized the performances of its leads, the emotive soundtrack by Dario Marianelli, the costume design, and the direction.

Seven Oscar Nominations

The film received seven nominations at the 80th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, winning the award for Best Original Score, composed by Dario Marianelli. It also earned 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 Motion Picture – Drama.

A One-Shot Sequence 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 inevitably leaves the viewer devastated.

*This article has been automatically translated using artificial intelligence