ATONEMENT

The title is in all caps because it is definitely that sort of heavy, english drama. This movie was really good, but I'm not sure I liked it. I want to go ahead and state that the acting was great, stoic and contained in true English acting form. Besides that, due to the confusing nature of the film there was only one high point and one low point.
High:
Story I don't want to say that I have never seen a story like this on film, but I will say it was very fresh to me, and, if not a new story, a very new look at it. The story is simple. So simple in fact that, although it never dragged, I did leave wondering how it lasted two hours.
Misses:
Production For such a simple story and such restrained acting, the way in which it was filmed is so distracting. The process is not without merit, but it definitely makes it something you have to think about after the film or makes you enjoy the film more the second time you see it. The problem with that being, I know the story now and don't care to ever see it again; it's like an inside joke that someone you don't know talks about constantly and finally explains to you as you are leaving but who cares because you don't know them in the first place.
That was my overwhelming reaction to the film as a whole.
I will add that at the very end of the film, there is an interview with the main character, played by Vanessa Redgrave, which is heartbreaking. Vanessa Redgrave is so amazing in her ten minutes on the film that it will stay with you for several days (I think). However, it is odd because, watching it, I really wanted it to be real and it's not at all; this was a point at which I hated the artificiality of film.