That is the recurring "mantra" of Keira Knightley's character Cecilia Tallis in the movie Atonement. Her character says this several times to Robbie Turner played by the wonderful James MacAvoy.......gives you a reminder of Daniel Day-Lewis' "I will find you" in Last of the Mohicans.
Atonement is a story of class, love, desire, war, suffering but most of all perception. Directed by Joe Wright, it is based on the book by Ian McEwan. Having read 2 of his books and seen them as movies (Asylum starring Natasha Richardson and Ian McKellen and Young Adam starring Ewan McGregor and Tilda Swinton), I knew that this one would also be (*** Spoilers) tragic. Robbie, the son of a housekeeper is in love with the daughter of his mother's employer, Cecilia. It just takes one spark for this relationship to ignite.........But the movie's conflict starts when young Briony Tallis (a very good Saoirse Ronan) a girl with an overactive imagination witnesses something that she doesn't trully understand and thus changes the course of the lives of several people. She accuses Robbie of a crime he did not commit and for that he and Cecilia, although declaring their enduring love for each other.......become separated......he goes to war and she becomes a nurse in London. Both long for a time when they can be together again. In the meantime, Briony matures and realizes the consequences of her actions and spends the rest of her life seeking forgiveness.
From the previews, it's been built up as a sweeping epic love story in the likes of The English Patient but I think if you watch closely it's really a story of perception for it is Briony's story. As the movie unfolds, scenes of the fateful night and the resulting events in each of the character's lives are seen. As an audience member, I found myself thinking....Oh this is what happened.....then another scene of the same event is shown and you realize that THIS is what really happened. Only towards the end of the movie that you piece together that the the scenes that are first presented to you are actually the events as told in Briony's book.....how she saw things or would like to see things. You get a jolt when you see "WHAT" actually happened. It's good cinema when scenes a juxtaposed like this because the audience never knows where the movie is taking them.....well, at least that was my experience.
I must point out one other element that really impressed me so much during the movie.....no it's not the cinematography or the acting (although they were good) or the scenery.....it was the score! The theme music by Dario Marianelli is brilliant! Throughout the movie, when scenes showing conflict with the characters would arise, this symphonic music plays. The tempo gets faster and the music crescendos as the scenes get intense BUT interspersed with this music is a rhythmic clacking/typing of a typewriter which gets faster too. It really keeps the audience engaged in the story. Click the Atonement link above to hear and see what I mean.
(photo above fr RottenTomatoes.com)
