Atonement: the movie

Just finished watching the movie. I hadn't read the book so I'm not entirely sure what liberty was taken by the filmmakers in making this movie. Though the movie isn't that apealing to me (only the beginning third is good), it reminded me of another British film based on a book by another British novelist Virginia Woolf. The movie, of course, is "The Hours." Both of these movies share simililarities, in terms of filmmaking at least, in that they both rely heavily on the sound and rythm to advance the narrative. I'm not sure if this is always a good idea. Although, it kind of worked in The Hours, it nonetheless isn't so effective in Atonement. I think it's becuase, intead of betting their filmmaking skills on the telling of the story, they overly rely on the atmosphere of the story. Unless this is music video or documentary, nothing can take the place of good storytelling. One thing it accomplishes, however, is that it's making this viewer want to rush out and buy the book. I'll post another one for the book next time.