Atonement Trivias

The BEF was a professional army and was not staffed with conscripted prisoners.In the love making scene in the library, Robbie pulls down the strap of Cecilia’s dress and she pulls her arm out. In the next shot it is clearly up and over her shoulder again.The second No 19 bus in the shot is a post war vehicle.

When newsreel footage from the War mentions Queen Elizabeth, some have incorrectly assumed this is referring to Queen Elizabeth II, who was not crowned until 1952. However, the film actually shows Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, wife of King George VI, who was indeed 'Queen Elizabeth' at the time.On arriving on the beach at Dunkirk, Robbie is told of the sinking of the Lancastria and the loss of 3000 men. This event actually occurred 17 days later on June 17 1940.

In the approach to Dunkirk, Robbie is carrying a pistol, complete with webbing holster. He has no rifle and is carrying a bayonet on his haversack, presumably not having the usual belt frog to carry it more easily. As a Private (this is emphasized in the dialogue) in an infantry regiment, he'd have carried a rifle and not a pistol. Although he might have acquired the pistol during the retreat, he's less likely to have changed his webbing order to match. This may be a deliberate directorial choice. The dialogue emphasizes his natural "officer qualities", and that his prison record has prevented him from becoming one. The wearing of officer's equipment, even if historically inappropriate, also reinforces this and distinguishes him from his comrades.In the section of the movie set in 1935, there is a scene where Robbie is daydreaming and the image of a four engined bomber crosses the screen. The image is of a Short's Stirling (the tail configuration is markedly different to the Lancaster), an aircraft which did not enter service until 1939.

As Robbie is hauled off by the police and his mother frantically yells "liar" while running up the road, Briony peers from a staircase landing through a window decorated with figures in stained glass. The figure in the window Briony stares through is labeled Matilda. This is a brilliant and subtle allusion to a famous children's poem by Hilaire Belloc entitled "Matilda", whose first line runs, "Matilda told such dreadful lies, it made one gasp and stretch one's eyes". By the end of the poem, Matilda has burned to death, having called wolf one time too many.To capture the feel of wartime England, Joe Wright watched many 40s British films such as Rebecca (1940) and Brief Encounter (1945), the latter which proved to be a major influence on Wright's direction.Release prints were delivered to theaters with the fake title 'Saturday' (which is the title of author Ian McEwan's subsequent, though unrelated, novel).

The set of Dunkirk, built at Redcar, was the most expensive set, costing an estimated 1 million pounds.Local government in Redcar gave permission for a bandstand to be erected and for a shipwreck to be placed on the beach for authenticity. A number of houses along the beach front were painted to suit the era. The cinema, which looked the part already, merely had an advertisement painted on the side of the building to complete the set dressing. Everything was undone after filming was complete and Redcar seafront now looks like a normal seaside town again.

The opening film of the 2007's Venice Film Festival. Director Joe Wright, at 35, is the youngest director to have a film open this prestigious event.The locals of Redcar, who served as extras in the Dunkirk scene, were paid 50 pounds.

James McAvoy considered the script the best he had ever read.Joe Wright had wanted Keira Knightley to play the role of Briony in her late teens, but Knightley immediately liked the character of Cecilia, and also wanted to get away from playing girls on the brink of womanhood and play a more mature character for once.

The 4.5 minute long shot through the Dunkirk beach scenes took under 5 takes to film.The Dunkirk street scenes and generator room scenes were filmed on Grimsby Docks.

Romola Garai shot her scenes in 4 days.Both Emily Watson and Kristin Scott Thomas were approached to play Emily Tallis.

The small English town of Redcar stood in for the French city of Dunkirk.Abbie Cornish was considered for the role of Briony - 18 years old but backed out due to scheduling conflicts with Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007).