Atonement

Settling down to watch the "period drama" of Atonement I was very apprehensive. "Old" films are not really my thing; they seem to be what history teachers just stick on at the end of term for two hours and hope their over-excited class shut sup. But Atonement is completely different. Maybe it was just because I wasn't in the stuffy classroom praying for the term to end but snuggled up in my bedroom with a large bowl of popcorn expecting a lovely Keira Knightly film - predictable and girly.

The story tells the tale of Cecilia, the stupidly rich daughter of uptight parents who's madly in love with Robbie, the house gardener. But in a mix up of events -caused by her naive sister Sophie, who wants Robbier to herself- they are split apart and forced to live their separate lives: Robbie in the army and Cecilia as a matron.

However, as I became engrossed in the second world war drama, I soon realised something wasn't quite right. As the tale went on, the letters that the two lovers sent each other became fainter and repetitive. This builds up in a rapid pace of events as their lives get more and more disastrous with the on-going rhythm of the war.

It all seemed to work out in the past didn't it? It's the present day we have to worry about. However the present is where a shocking confession will bring the lovers lives crashing to a close.