Although the film does veer towards the sentimental at times, there is good reason behind it.

Director Joe Wright has followed up his hit 2005 film “Pride and Prejudice” with a quietly heartbreaking adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel “Atonement.”

The film features stellar acting by James McAvoy, Keira Knightley and newcomer Saoirse Ronan. Combined with amazing cinematography that captures both the beauty of the English countryside and the grit and destruction of World War II on western Europe, it’s hardly surprising that the won a Golden Globe for the year’s best drama.

The film, which begins in 1935 England, starts with the point of view of 13-year-old Briony Tallis (Ronan) a girl with a writer’s imagination and a crush on Robbie Turner (McAvoy), the son of the housekeeper of the lavish mansion that she lives in. Robbie, however, is in love with her older sister Cecilia (Knightley), who has conflicting feelings towards him.

When Briony discovers Robbie and Cecilia making love, she is jealous, betrayed, and vengeful, and accuses Robbie of a hideous crime that he did not commit, while the guilty party goes free. He is sent to prison and given the choice to remain there or join the English army.

The events that follow explain how a mistake can easily change, ruin and take lives, as well as affect people for generations. The film is told in fragments rather than chronological order, which is an effective tool used by filmmakers who want to recreate the memory of a narrator.

At times, this can be confusing, but Wright always uses tag lines at the beginnings of scenes for clarity. For example, the viewers know that one particular event occurred several weeks before the preceding scene.

As a sort of penance for her past sins, Briony forsakes her Cambridge education to do hard and sometimes menial labor as a nurse in a veteran’s hospital. The final act of the film focuses on the lifelong toll that the childish mistake took on both the accused and the accuser.

Although the film does veer towards the sentimental at times, there is good reason behind it—Robbie and Cecilia, after making their feelings known to one another, get forcibly separated as the result of a lie of great magnitude told by a naïve little girl. The passionate letters they write to one another seem to come out of a sort of necessity to survive out of desperation, rather than an overflow of emotion.

The film had a definite emotional impact on the audience, as I heard several people choking up and sniffling in the theater. Several times, I had to wipe my eyes myself. Generally, moving an audience to tears signifies a well-done film. This was definitely true regarding “Atonement.”

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