"...If he had ever thought about her at all he might have said she was a bit horsey in appearance" (74).

After dwelling on my previous thoughts regarding the nature of the Atonement film and its relation to the novel, I decided to dig out my DVD copy of the film and see if there were any director commentary on this subject. To my happy surprise, I found a segment entitled "Atonement - Novel to the Screen," featuring commentary not just the director, but Ian McEwan, the producer, the screenwriter, as well as a notable actress from the film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz3uoahh9qs

In this interview, McEwan keeps with his aforementioned views of the limitations of films as opposed to novels, stating, "In a movie you only have what people say and do...and you must find some way of getting those interior feelings across." In addition, Keira Knightly, the actress who plays Cecilia Tallis, also admits to this difficulty, however she admits that this difficulty is also helpful to her acting,"It's always great, when you've got something based on a book, that has that much internal dialogue, to go back and go, "Okay, that is what my character is thinking at that point," and to be able to go back see that it's very clear where these characters are coming from." Having read the novel as many times as I have, as I watch the movie I almost unconsciously match the scenes with McEwan's elegantly descriptive prose about the event. I was never sure, however, if the actors were given the same stage directions that appear in the novel, or I simply perceived the acting to align with my expectations. It was extremely refreshing, then, to hear Knightly's commentary on the novel and its transition into film, acknowledging that not only has she read the novel, but she uses it as a basis for her acting. 

The film Atonement, in its transition from novel to screen, was given many opportunities to culminate in utter failure. Had the other screenwriter mentioned in the interview been picked, or if different actors and actresses had been chose, if McEwan had not worked closely on the project - the novel certainly could have ended in failure, much like The Trials of Arabella. I found the choices made in regards to the film were spectacularly made. The acting was terrific (In fact, ever since reading Robbie's description of Cecilia, "That long, narrow face, the small mouth - if he had ever thought about her at all he might have said she was a little horsey in appearance. Now he saw it was a strange beauty" (74) I could only envision Knightly as playing Cecilia as in different lights Knightly can be either radiating of beauty or, as Robbie says, "a bit horsey in appearance."), the screenplay was "stupendous," and the creation of the scenery was heartbreakingly beautiful.