Atonement (2007): The ideas of who is at fault.

I adore this movie. And James McAvoy.

Warning: I will only be talking about the movie, haven't read the book yet because my "to be read" list is longer than it took for Briony to fully grasp what she had done. Also, mentions of what happened in the story, so; SA, grooming, death and a lot of me crying.

Briony Tallis, most find her unforgivable and an idiot. But I can't help but feel a sense of empathy for her, not just because of everything she goes through later in life, but also her time spent during her childhood. In this essay, I will explain why. And also other stuff about the movie I want to speak about.

What I've noticed when I had rewatched Atonement last night, is how Cecilia treats Briony before anything had happened. Cecilia laying in the grass next to Briony, the heat barely able to bare. And the way Cecilia communicates with Briony could just be because it's too hot, but at the same time she treats Briony less like a sister and more an annoying guest she's forced to hang out with, and then in comparison with her brother, she's very close with him and is glad to see him. Though I do suppose Cecilia and Briony had a 10 year age difference at the time, both their frontal lobes hadn't fully developed, yet still I think that Briony's fanciful behaviour was connected to how much she wished she had more of a connection with Cecilia. I don't think Robbie nor Cecilia realized how ridiculous one can be at 13, especially when they want to connect with their sister. Knowing the difference between right and wrong is something you learn practically when you are born, but in this situation it is much deeper than that when you thought you were saving your sister. I don't think Robbie or Cecilia tried to see it from Briony's point of view, but that was all Briony's fictional idea she added into her book that is "atonement". You never know that maybe if she saw Briony one last time, she'd actually listen to her and realize that Briony only wanted to protect her sister and didn't understand enough about love.

At the same time, Lola who was about Briony's age, was trying to keep her twin little brothers under control. She was like a parent, she was forcing herself to be independent, deep down the divorce of her parents was having an affect on her. We have no knowledge of what her parents were like. Because there was clearly something (that might just be the divorce of her parents) that made her fall for Paul Marshall's trap (I am not saying it was her fault, she is the victim and Paul deserves to rot in the depth's of a volcano). And that night Lola was assaulted, it was right after Briony saw Cecilia and Robbie in the library, obviously that mixed with the assault gave Briony the idea that, that sort of affection is only to be cruel and have your way with someone. And Cecilia dared to call Briony very "fanciful" when she could've probably pieced together herself that Briony must be going through something, but I honestly think Cecilia was a little selfish. 

The first time I watched Atonement, Briony pissed me off DEEPLY, but as I truly think about it, she was the most misunderstood. And I think as time passed on, it teaches us how certain things take a while to learn and understand and throughout life, you truly understand the world you barely grasped at an age you thought you were independent enough.  

I find that Atonement is a story trying to get you to understand reasoning and to care for others, to understand others (And throw Paul Marshall in prison).

Thank you for reading

xoxo

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