ATONEMENT

I loved the novel. I liked the film. There is nothing terribly special about the movie, except perhaps Vanessa Redgrave’s last five minutes. The movie is well crafted, well acted, it belongs to the same family as the English Patient and Cold Mountain, only it is Keira Knightley and not Nicole Kidman who whispers “come back to me” in the ear of her lover ; interestingly enough the movie in French is called “Reviens-moi” which is a litteral translation of “come back to me”. Atonement is a hard one to translate in French... It can be “rédemption” which carries a strong religious flavor or “réparations” which carries a strong legal flavor... Back to Atonement the film: Keira Knightley plays Cecilia, a British upper class gal ready to blow a fuse (one can actually feel her tension/frustration through the screen). It takes place in the mist of WW2... a gigantic mess created by a nosy little sister prone to misinterpretations leads to catastrophe. It takes a lifetime not to fix it but it is fascinating to watch. Read the book is my advice. And if you are looking for another illustration of atonement, watch Crazy Love (available in DVD in the USA) the documentary about Burt Pugach and Linda Riss: they loved each other back in the 50ies, she left him, he hired a bad guy to throw acid at her face, she became blind, he went to jail, she waited for him, he married her and they lived happily ever after (sort of). Many testimonies delivered in the most exotic (to me) New York accent by the couple itself and witnesses of the drama of their life: Burt looks like a car salesman (he was a a lawyer), she looks like a poodle with butterfly shaped glasses.

Etonnament, Atonement s’appelle Reviens-moi en français et c’est probablement parce que Rédemption ou Réparations ne sont ni sexy ni particulièrement attirants. Autant appeler un film Misère ou Ricorde (rien à voir mais pas grave). Bref, le film est correct mais le livre est formidable alors je conseille de voir le livre et de lire le film, ce qui est une expérience à peu près inoubliable. Comme on peut le voir je n’ai ni le courage ni l’envie d’interprêter le texte original Anglais et ce qui est agréable c’est que je n’ai pas à me justifier. C’est ainsi, c’est mon blog et je fais ce que je veux. Seuls ceux qui me liront sauront et je ne sais pas qui lit les deux versions de mes petites chroniques. Pourquoi ne pas louer “Crazy love” (en DVD) documentaire illustrant à merveille la notion d’Atonement que je n’arrive toujours pas vraiment à traduire. Est-ce culturel? Peut être. Alors Atonement ira rejoindre Privacy et Self-esteem dans la série des mots qui passent mal à la moulinette de la traduction.