The Views

Joe Wright; Director of the award winning film, Atonement, did a fantastic job portraying original storyteller, Ian McEwan's view from his novel, Atonement. Although the film in my opinion, is as close as it could get to the novel, the story telling process between film and novel are different, as to be expected, and both have their own unique strengths and weaknesses. For example, in the novel, McEwan was able to explain to his readers exactly how the characters were feeling and what they were thinking; he was able to tell the story from a first person perspective, as well as third person. Wright on the other hand was unable to do this, however, he was able to rearrange scenes, and focus the camera on certain things from different angles to create a better understanding for his viewers.

"A book is an illusion, a series of symbols on a page that create a narrative in your mind. There are as many different versions of the book as there are readers of it. I’ve made an adaptation of the book that happened in my head as I read it." -Joe Wright says about his process of creating the Atonement film.

We will be exploring the different views of storytelling through film vs. novel, and all the different aspects involved, such as, the historical context, landscape and setting, casting, music and sound, transition of views, important "missing's", and of course the reality of "seeing is believing."

Please view:

Official "Atonement" Movie Trailer

Exclusive Interview with Director Joe Wright