Atonement

Exclusive DVD Extra: "Amends"

Literary adaptations too often become waxworks in slavishly reverent and cinematically lifeless screen incarnations. Joe Wright's version of Ian McEwan's novel, directed from a screenplay by Christopher Hampton, bristles with life, lust, jealousy, betrayal and tragedy with a small t, the kind reserved for us mere mortals. Wright drinks in the period while reaching beyond the surface and into the unsettled emotional lives of the characters, notably the young lovers played by Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. The clack of typewriter strokes becomes the driving beat of both the story (for reasons that come clear in the final act) and the distinctive score that earned the film's sole Oscar (of seven nominations). Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai and Vanessa Redgrave co-star in the role of Briony, playing the character at different moments in her life. "Bringing the Past to Life: The Making of Atonement" is the kind of making-of featurette that justifies the genre, an intelligent 27-minute documentary that addresses the creative challenges and solutions of filmmaking through interviews with the cast and filmmakers. "From Novel to Screen: Adapting a Classic" plays like an addendum, and the thoughtful commentary by director Wright on the film and the seven deleted scenes fills in the rest. Also available in HD DVD format.