Faith in Film, Week 5

Tonight we continue our time together looking at the film "Atonement." It's a beautiful, and a difficult film. It's one that looks at this idea of forgiveness, and why we crave it and why, apart from God, we can never achieve it. It's based on the novel from Ian McEwan, and he was very much interested in this question — especially considering it apart from God.

He said of his inspiration for the novel — which is on the "Time Magazine" list of the 100 most influential English language novels — that, “One important theme is the extent to which one can ever correct an error, especially outside any frame of religious forgiveness. All of us have done something we regret - how we manage to remove that from our conscience, or whether that's even possible, interested me.”

The story begins in 1935 as a girl named Briony, who is 13, sees a series of interactions between her sister Cecelia and the son of their housekeeper, Robbie. She doesn't understand what is happening between them, but she thinks she does. And it colors her impression of Robbie. And when something awful happens, that colored impression leads her to make a false accusation which fundamentally alters all their lives.

Skip ahead five years, and Robbie is forced into military service at the outbreak of World War II, while Cecelia is cut off from her family, serving as a nurse and waiting for her love. Briony has herself given up a dream and gone into service, seeking to atone. But she notes, "No matter where I go or what I do, I can't make up for what I have done and what it meant."

Scripture speaks of forgiveness, our need for it, and who it truly comes from—God. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 says, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” True forgiveness, true atonement comes from God. When we explore atonement apart from Him, it will always feel incomplete.

McEwan, an atheist, doesn't believe in God. And the ending to his story feels hallow. A reporter asked him how he felt about Briony's quest and its success, and he remarked, “She says, 'The attempt is all'. Comparing her moral life to that of Paul and Lola, she at least has remorse, guilt and conscience. Perhaps she is a foolish, priggish conceited egocentric little girl, but as a late teenager and adult, she pays her dues. But the crime stands, and nothings going to wipe it away. The novel she has written about it cannot absolve her because she's playing God, setting the terms and rules - and no one can absolve God. But I'd rather a world peopled by the likes of Briony than by Paul Marshall.”

That is what makes "Atonement" powerful, and ultimately heart-breaking. I look forward to tonight's discussion.

Discussion Questions:
1. Did this film work for you, why or why not?

2. The central conflict in this movie is a series of misunderstandings that leads to a false accusation. Why do you think Briony accused Robbie? Why did it trouble her years later?

3. The end of this film jumps forward in time and reveals an older Briony discussing her final novel. What struck you at the end of the story? Why is the title of this work “Atonement,” and why is that a fitting title for this exploration?