While some may be astounded at the considerably unanticipated conclusion, or question what direction the film will take due to the constant shifting back and forth through time, Atonement unquestionably provides a story few have seen before. With piercing typewriter sounds blended into a strikingly catchy score and superlative acting all around, this is a sweeping, epic love story that is sure to receive Oscar attention in the coming months. Tragedies as rich and fulfilling as this are seldom indeed.

Young Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan) feels matured beyond her age of 13, and thinks only of adult tasks such as writing and conducting her play, The Trials of Arabella. When she sees her older sister Cecelia (Keira Knightley) being approached by Robbie (James McAvoy), the housekeeper's son, whom she has a childish crush on, she becomes jealous. That evening, visitor Lola Quincy is attacked and raped by a friend of the family during a search for her runaway brothers, and Briony names Robbie as the culprit. Wrongfully accused, but with no witnesses to clear him, he is sentenced to prison. Given the option to serve in the army rather than to rot in prison, he is quickly swept up into the atrocities of World War II. Meanwhile, Cecelia waits for him faithfully, serving as a nurse, and as Briony grows up she realizes the anguish she's put the two lovers through, and desperately seeks a way to right her wrongs.

The most discommodious aspect of Atonement is the manner in which time is lapsed and then backtracked, and mixed up in every method possible. At points the film jumps forward by several years, slides back a few months, repeats events from different character’s perspectives, and meets back up with itself at others. There's even a segment that plays in reverse and in slow motion. It is an artistic concept, but seems to serve little purpose in a film that focuses so heavily on character development and an unconventional love story.

The love story is unique in the sense that the intervention by Briony causes a need for narration from only one viewpoint, despite scenes being shown from many character’s perspectives. She struggles with the guilt of realizing how her meddling with their lives may prevent her from ever being able to achieve true atonement. The film follows her as she grows up and becomes a well-known author, and is finally able to write an autobiographical account of her life that includes her horrendous mistakes and how they affected Cecelia and Robbie. With the beauty of her brand of fiction comes embellishment and adjectives that mask the truth, for which she has abandoned in a final attempt to give the two lovers happiness. For her, truth no longer serves a purpose and in an effort to amend her estrangement from both family and ultimately love (what she refers to as an act of kindness), she writes her story the way she believes it ought to be told.

Technically, while there are a few noticeable prop inaccuracies, the cinematography is gorgeous and the music is unforgettable. Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey employs long tracking shots and seamlessly edited sequences in which the camera follows characters as they witness the aftermaths of various battlefields. The dead bodies of a young girl's school are laid out like railroad tracks, enemy horses are summarily executed like, ironically, humans, and a beachfront war zone showcases the dead and dying troops as they attempt to regroup. Through each scene, the score beautifully accompanies the wondrous imagery, and the most noticeable of all is the penetrating typewriter strokes that permeate the rhythms of the piano-heavy theme music.

“Come back to me,” Cecelia pleads with Robbie, who has undergone mental stresses that prevent him from fulfilling his dreams of marriage and living in a picturesque white beachside cottage. Both powerful and profoundly emotional, this Joe Wright directed film, based on Ian McEwan’s novel, is a rare treat among the largely predictable fodder frequenting the theaters this year.

- Mike Massie