“A person is, among all else, a material thing, easily torn, not easily mended.”

Caution: contains gigantic heaps of spoilers.

On Sunday night my sister and I went down to the video shop because there was a special on: all movies $1! I couldn't be expected to pass up on a deal like that, even if the busyness of my life should presuppose the impossibility of DVD watching... We picked up a few brainless chick flicks before Tay spotted the face of one of her favourite actors on a cover. "James McAvoy," she shrieked, "let's get Atonement." In a moment of rashness, I said yes.

It only took me about a minute and a half to regret it. "I won't watch it with you," I told her. "It's MA and will probably be awkward. We'll watch Bring It On and I'll see Atonement by myself tomorrow."

I'm so glad I didn't watch this movie with my sister!

So, I sat down by myself with the DVD last night and watched the thing.
I take back what I said earlier about Love Actually. That film was, indeed, depressing and distressing to watch, but I managed to derive some enjoyment from it. I did not enjoy Atonement at all. I appreciated it. I thought it was beautifully made. The cinematography was to die for and the casting (apart from Keira Knightley. Yeuch.) was perfect.
Buuuuuut it was a horrible, excruciating experience. Why anyone would dream up such a story in the first place, let alone want to share it with the world, beats me. I love watching James McAvoy and Benedict Cumberbatch, bless them; but I don't want to watch James McAvoy write obscene letters and die horribly. I really don't want to watch Benedict Cumberbatch play a creepy rapist, even if he's such a good actor that I forgot that it was him. Ick. I don't want to see the depravity of war and child abuse and Keira Knightley's face.
Funny thing about this film: if you believe the promotional material and fan talk, it's a romantic love story. It isn't. I didn't think the love story was romantic, anyway. They're together, what, half a day before he gets carted off? This is actually pointed out at some point, but quickly handwaved. None of their so-called love story made sense, particularly that stupid and implausible scene in the library. *hits the fast forward button*
The protagonist of the story is actually the little girl, Briony. (This becomes apparent at the end of the film, though I would actually recommend that you don't watch the end of the film. So bloomin' depressing!) It's sort of weird of me, but I actually sympathised more with her than any of the other characters. Because, come on, she's a little girl! Little girls do stupid things! Stuff Cecilia, Briony suffers more.
And, really, that's what Atonement is all about. Suffering. And darn it, it's not just the characters who get to suffer. I aged about three years in the duration of this film.

So, yeah. It was pretty, had a lovely soundtrack, kudos to the director for good directing... but I hated it. A pretty stupid story all round.