The first section of this movie is near perfectly crafted, with some wonderfully sensitive acting on the part of Saoirse Ronan, playing the younger sister Bryony, witnessing, yet not understanding, the bizarre clandestine interplay between her sister Cecilia and the housekeeper's son Robbie, also beautifully portrayed (by James McAvoy).
After the cataclysmic climax of the first part of the story, the pace slackens and there is a loss of momentum in the plot. Coverage of the war years is fragmented and lacks the same depth - perhaps in an attempt to pack too much from the book into the allotted film time.
But the final section, with Vanessa Redgrave playing the elderly, now dying, Bryony, is again powerful in the extreme. The final scenes had the hair on the back of my neck prickling!! A superb study of the workings of remorse and atonement in the human soul. Go see the film, it is riveting!
After the cataclysmic climax of the first part of the story, the pace slackens and there is a loss of momentum in the plot. Coverage of the war years is fragmented and lacks the same depth - perhaps in an attempt to pack too much from the book into the allotted film time.
But the final section, with Vanessa Redgrave playing the elderly, now dying, Bryony, is again powerful in the extreme. The final scenes had the hair on the back of my neck prickling!! A superb study of the workings of remorse and atonement in the human soul. Go see the film, it is riveting!