Every week up until the Oscars, I'll be featuring the nominees in the various visual categories. This week, I'll be looking at the nominees for Best Art Direction, which encompasses the entire look and feel of a film from the scenery to the lighting. Yesterday I featured production stills from Ridley Scott's darkly evocative American Gangster, and today I bring you images from Atonement.
As a huge fan of Atonement, I think Joe Wright should win all kinds of awards for the way he beautifully captured the world described in Ian McEwan's novel. The scenes at Cecilia and Briony's family's estate depict the lush lifestyle of an upper-class family as well as the hazy heat of English summertime. The later scenes, especially of Robbie picking his way through the wreckage of war, are full of dark despair. The art direction in this film shifts between passionate, wistful, doomed and tragic, in keeping with what's happening in the story. Indeed, the visuals here are as great a part of the storytelling as the actual action and dialogue are.
For more stills from Atonement, read more.
Photos courtesy of Focus Features
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Casadei
This movie looks incredible. I need to see it before Oscar time.
1True, it looks very good, but there's not all that much interesting going on under the surface.
2I think Atonement was wonderful--and right after I saw it I told everyone that it was the most visually beautiful film I had ever seen. If you took a still shoot from each frame of the movie it would be breathtaking---just like all the pictures you showed here. The colors, lighting, mood---everything was perfect in every scene! It should definitely win, at least for art direction!
3figurine, I don't agree. I thought it was great both on and below the surface.
4Atonement was a beautifully crafted film. The art direction, cinematography, editing, score, acting and directing were all top notch. I think some people went into the film thinking it was more of a romance than it was which could have been a disappointment. I thought it was a beautifully tragic film that showed a mastery in filmmaking with the way the whole piece was woven together.
5I think it was a visually stunning film and it might deserve recognition for the art direction. I'll even say it was a good movie, but certainly not "Best Picture."
6where can you see some picture for the art direction, not only atonement, but in general?
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