Two “Atonement” trailers

Here are two trailers for Joe Wright‘s Atonement (Focus Features, 12.7), an adaptation of an Ian McEwan period drama which will play at both the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals in early September. The film doesn’t appear to be monumental art, but it’s almost shocking how differently these two trailers sell the film.
This cooler trailer makes it appear serious, adult, thoughtful, grounded; the other trailer makes it seem tawdry, vaguely cheap and almost soap opera-like. The differences are really amazing — the cooler version is posted above but watch the other one and compare.
The film, working from a screenplay by Christopher Hampton, seems to borrow a tiny bit from Lillian Helman‘s The Children’s Hour. Set in 1935 and moving into the World War II years and beyond, it’s about a 13 year-old girl who ruins at least a couple of lives when she accuses the lover (James McAvoy) of her older sister (Keira Knightley) of a crime he hasn’t committed. Shock from the observing of sexual intimacy seems to be part of her motive. Costars include Romola Garai, Saoirse Ronan, Brenda Blethyn and Vanessa Redgrave.

21 thoughts on “Two “Atonement” trailers

  1. If you think this is “woman’s romance in the Merchant-Ivory vein” you clearly haven’t read the book.
    Also, the older teaser trailer you have labeled “longer” is actually half a minute shorter than your “short” one. Making the rest of your comments pretty hard to follow.

  2. Your links seem to be a bit screwed up. Your “shorter” version links to the 2:14 (#2) trailer with a semi-classical score and wall-to-wall dialog. Your “Longer” link duplicates the 1:49 trailer embedded above (semi-classical score, minimal dialog). The actual shorter version (1:00) is available on YouTube, has no dialog, a percussive neo-Europop score and almost no dialog. All three seem very soap-operatic in increasing levels of syrup, respectively.

  3. Quote:
    “If you think this is “woman’s romance in the Merchant-Ivory vein” you clearly haven’t read the book.”
    Exactly. I loved this novel, but one of the first things I said to myself as I turned the last page was that there was no way it could be satisfactorily adapted to film, especially given what transpires in the final section. Perhaps I’m mistaken, though.

  4. I loved the book (well, except McEwan’s attempts at stream-of-consciousness, which made for a loooong reading experience), and can’t wait to see the movie. But knowing the plot, I have no problem with calling it a woman/period movie – insomuch as most period romances/tragedies could be described as women movies.

  5. Maybe this is just your Keira-revulsion talking? Maybe not. Maybe the movie will end up “woman’s romance,” but if they are true to the book’s grueling war and hospital scenes, then merchant ivory is def. the wrong reference. And it’s def. not set in the Victorian Age. At all. All I know is the trailer and your summary already offer one huge spoiler. Doesn’t even matter. The book was so strong that, even knowing the spoiler, my blood pressure spiked when the scene happened. McAvoy was so amazing in “State of Play” and the Idi Amin movie, and he’s just right for this role. God I hope it works.

  6. The movie’s set during World War II — well past the Victorian age. And yeah, the c-word’s been around for a few centuries now, and James Joyce used it in pretty much the exact same way it’s used in “Atonement”, in his letters to his wife Nora.

  7. I’ve actually been looking forward to this picture very much….
    I have high hopes for Joe Wright, and the novel is excellent.

  8. Tanks, the Old West was the Victorian Era in the U.S. It doesn’t seem Depression Era either, but they’re rich Europeans, right?

  9. The Victorian Age was the time during which Victoria was the Queen of Britain. So strictly speaking from 1837 to 1901.
    Atonement takes place from 1935 until the 1990s. There’s nothing Victorian about it.
    As it’s set in England (and France) it does feature a lot of Europeans and some of them are indeed rich.
    Adapting this book does present some unique challenges, but the early reactions I’ve seen (the film has already been shown to the British press) have all been very positive.
    As I’m so very familiar with the novel I find it hard to judge the effectiveness of the trailers. I automatically place every bit they reveal in the much larger context I know to be there – although much of it isn’t even hinted at in the trailer – and I can’t really know how it would have worked for me if I had known nothing about the story at all.
    I do think it looks stunning, though. (The Youtube resolution really isn’t good at conveying that for anything meant for the big screen). And the small parts of the plot we’re shown all seem quite faithfully adapted.
    We’ll have a much better idea quite soon. This is the opening film at Venice.

  10. The book is very, very Virgina Woolfish, and the excellent first two thirds or so (from memory) takes place during a single day. The ending was very “Life of Pi” but if done correctly, the first bit should be played with quite a bit of tension as you shouldn’t be able to tell what events signify-

  11. I haven’t read the book, so I can’t offer a guess as to how the adaptation will turn out. What I do know is that Wright adapted the crap out of Pride & Prejudice, and clearly knows his way around a strong piece of literature. If the book is in any way adaptable, I think he’ll find a way to do it successfully. Should be a knockout.

  12. Ishmael, you can’t be up in the air about the trailers. It’s like the longer one was a first stab with some nice elements and it became the shorter, better one. That’s why I wondered where it came from.

  13. I’m not up in the air about them at all. I like them both a lot. What I can’t say is to what extent that comes from recognizing things from a book I love, adapted in what seems to be an appropriate way.
    The teaser (the shorter one, released some months ago) with its minimal dialog has a more atmospheric quality and would probably function better as a stand-alone work. But that’s not what trailers are for and I could imagine the typical reaction from people not familiar with the book would be: “pretty pictures, but I have absolutely no idea what it’s about”.
    The longer one (released this week) does reveal a bit more about the plot. Doing this in only a few lines will, perhaps inevitably, make it seem more clichéd. But on the other hand I also got to see slightly more of the book, which I was happy about.
    Both of these were made for the British market. Focus will probably release an American trailer before long – complete with “the voice over guy” and all sorts of cheese :-)

  14. Well, the book was amazing. And I’ve yet to see a great book — that I’ve read — become a great movie. Some very good ones, but none that were great (not interested in arguing that, either).
    I just think the depth of emotion that can be pulled from myself, as the reader, over the course of a novel adds up to so much more than even the best two hours on screen can draw from me, as the viewer, so ive no expectation that this film will be a worthy match on that front.
    In my opinion, the best film adaptations of great novels are those that succesfully capture the mood of the novel through setting, pacing, and tone. Have the director and I both taken a journey to the same place and can he take us there, again?
    The director must capture the novel’s world in MY imagination in order to succed. Whether that be by luck, design, or kismet I don’t care, but he has to find a way to do that.
    …the best do.

  15. I look forward to seeing Atonement, but the novel is for people who don’t like McEwan’s other works, well written, of course, but soft around the edges. I prefer his earlier, much darker novels. Black Dogs is a true masterpiece.

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