PROFOUND consequences of one lie told by an imaginative teenager on the lives of those around her are at the heart of Atonement, the soon to be released film of Ian McEwan's novel.

It's a stunning film, taking the audience from a sultry summer's day at a country house in 1935 to the horrors of France during the second world war, an amazing portrayal of the beach at Dunkirk just before D-Day and hospital scenes as nurses tend the wounded.

Young Briony Tallis is a storyteller, churning out novels and plays on a typewriter in her bedroom at the family's country manor house in 1935.

Older sister Cecilia is forming a relationship with housekeeper's son Robbie Turner, closely watched by Briony.

But the would-be author wants the facts to fit her fiction and she uses her poetic licence to accuse Robbie of a crime he did not commit.

We see scenes through the eyes of the watching Briony and then replayed as they happened to those involved. For Briony is the narrator and the action is punctuated with the sound of her typewriter keys.

As the years go by and the second world war takes over, an older Briony is haunted by what she has done. Will she achieve the atonement of the title? You will have to see for youself at cinemas from September 7.

James McAvoy (Last King of Scotland, Inside I'm Dancing) gives a typically brilliant performance as Robbie, continually trying to make sense of Briony's motive for blaming him.

He brings plenty of emotion to the part as he also struggles with class barriers, falling in love and fighting in the war.

Complementing him is Keira Knightley's (Pride and Prejudice) classy portrayal of principled Cecilia, as she moves from the manor to working as a nurse and living in a small flat in Balham.

Young Saoirse Ronan (Proof) is very convincing as Briony, aged 13, her role being the crux of the plot, and Romola Garai takes over the character with equal ease aged 18.

It's the kind of film that will keep you pondering the issues it throws up for some time after the credits finish to roll.


DIRECTOR Joe Knight told of his affinity with the character Briony when he spoke to cinema audiences across the country by satellite after a preview of Atonement on August 19.

"I feel very much like Briony is me," he said. "When people say they hate her I feel very affronted. I used to make puppets at home and act out little shows.

"An inability to deal with reality is something Briony and I share."

ABOUT THE SCRIPT

Unhappy with parts of the script, he read Ian McEwan's book and totally changed the original, with screenwriter Christopher Hampton, making it more like the book.

IN THE COUNTRY

The cast spent five weeks at the house near Ludlow, Shropshire, where filming for the first part of Atonement took place.

THE HEAT

Camera crew used stockings to create the hot summer weather on film! "We tried a few and Christian Dior 10 denier were best. They went on the lens," said Joe.

THE WAR

The detail used in the film came from Ian McEwan's father, who was in Dunkirk.

About 1,000 extras were used for the beach scene, which cost more than the rest of the film put together.

It was filmed in one day and what started as a joke to pan round all that was going on in one shoot became reality. The third take was used.

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY

Keira, who worked with Joe in Pride and Prejudice, wanted to play the part of Cecilia.

Joe had thought of her as Briony. "I thought she was still the young girl she was in Pride," he said. "She has really grown up as an actress.

"Women in films are often just treated as pretty things in the corner – like she was in Pirates of the Caribbean."

JAMES McAVOY

"Robbie is the higher self and someone to aspire to. It is very difficult for an actor to play somebody good. They are always looking for an angle, a chip."

James trusted him enough to believe he should play Robbie as entirely good and they built a close relationship with each other.

"It was very important for me that Robbie felt working class and James does that.

"It is about an idea that an upper class family decides to give Robbie a life and then, when it suits them, they rip it out form under him."

"James is a beautiful human being and I love him."

WHAT COMES NEXT?

The Soloist is due to be filmed in LA, starring Jamie Foxx.