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I was a little lost last Saturday so I decided to just watch a movie despite my head ache. I don’t have much choice, it’s either Fool’s Gold or Atonement and I chose the latter because ever since I watched Pride and Prejudice, I immediately became a Keira Knightley fan.

Warning — spoilers ahead

It’s a story about Briony and Cecilia Tallis and Robbie Turner. When Briony was at about the age of 13, she saw her sister, Cecilia, and Robbie having a fight by the fountain, she saw her sister strip down to her underwear in front of Robbie and immersed herself into the fountain. Later that day, Robbie handed Briony a letter that should be given to Cecilia, when Briony was already far away from him, Robbie suddenly realized that the letter he just handed was the wrong version! It was the letter he wrote that was filled with sexual content, however, it’s too late to take it back because Briony, by then, was already so far from him.

When Briony gets home, she immediately read the letter and was scandalized by its content, she gave the letter to Cee, Cecilia’s nickname. Later that day, Briony imparted the contents of the letter to her cousin Lola, who was staying with them because her parents are having a divorce, and she called Robbie a “sexual maniac.”

While having dinner, they knew that the twins, Lola’s brothers, ran away so they frantically searched for them. While searching for them, Briony saw Lola being attacked and she made Lola believe that it was Robbie having seen Robbie “attacking” her sister at the library. The police were called and Briony testified against Robbie, who was then sent to jail and then sent to war.

But that was all on Briony’s point of view. The truth is that Cee went into the fountain to retrieve a piece of their vase which was broken by Robbie. Robbie wasn’t “attacking” Cee in the library, they were making love after having declared their love for one another.

In reality, the letter that Briony and Cee read were not the version that Robbie intended to show but he realized his blunder way too late already.

After a couple of years, Briony became a novelist and her last novel was called Atonement. She told the real story of who really soiled her cousin Lola, her brother’s friend Marshall who Lola married in the end. Because of what she did, all that Cee and Robbie had were that few minutes in the library. They both died, on two different reasons hundreds of miles away from one another. Robbie were never able to go back to Cee’s side.

In Briony’s mind, it was all her fault (it really was! darn) so as her “last act of kindness” she changed the ending in the book. She came clean to her sister, Robbie went back from the war alive and they were able to live the life that they have wanted after Robbie’s name was cleared.

The movie was not told in a linear way as most films do and with 2 versions of everything that’s happening, its nearly impossible to make any sense of whatever is happening if you were not able to start the movie or until the ending. Everything about the movie screams, “you’re not allowed to feel good, people!” because it was so sad and the emotions of the character were all suppressed.

Anyway, it was a nice and pleasurable movie, when I was watching it reminded me of Knightley’s Pride and Prejudice because of the wonderful scenery shots and I knew later on that it was because the one who directed Atonement and Pride and Prejudice are the same - Joe Wright. I’m now a fan and is looking forward to The Soloist.