UNITED KINGDOM: Screaming fans welcome Keira Knightley and James McAvoy at the London premiere of "Atonement"

Record ID: 220081

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Screaming fans welcome Keira Knightley and James McAvoy at the London premiere of "Atonement"
  • Date: 6th September 2007
  • Summary: KNIGHTLEY SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS FOR FANS
  • Embargoed: 21st September 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVA838SZBNG5BYOS5CM9Y9Z2VEED
  • Story Text: Actress Kiera Knightley and actor James McAvoy received a warm welcome by fans as they stepped on to the red carpet on Tuesday (September 4) for the London premiere of "Atonement."
    "Atonement," is big screen adaptation of Ian McEwan's acclaimed novel about a girl whose fertile imagination leads her to make a false accusation that has tragic consequences.
    The movie, starring British actress Keira Knightley, made its world debut last week at the 64th Venice Film Festival, where it impressed critics.
    In "Atonement", she reunites with up-and-coming British director Joe Wright after they collaborated on "Pride and Prejudice", in which the actress played Elizabeth Bennet and won an Oscar nomination.
    This time the 22 year-old plays Cecilia Tallis, whose life is turned upside down when sister Briony blames her lover Robbie Turner (James McAvoy) for a crime he did not commit.
    "I'm very proud of all the cast, I think they are extraordinary.
    Kiera and James both give beautiful, beautiful performances. Vanessa is just staggeringly, heart-stoppingly beautiful and little Saoirse is just an extraordinary find and Romola Garai and all of them are wonderful," said Wright.
    James McAvoy, also known for his recent critical triumph in "The Last King of Scotland," was thankful for his role in the film.
    "I'm incredibly happy with the roles that I play, I'm, I'm blessed with the industry allowing me to be versatile, express my versatility and long may that continue," he said.
    Faithful to the books' three-act structure, Briony is played as a 13-year-old girl by Saoirse Ronan, as a young nurse during World War Two by Romola Garai and as an ageing and ailing author by Vanessa Redgrave.
    The first act takes place in a grandiose English country house in the 1930s, where Turner is the housekeeper's son.
    It moves to the grim battlefields of northern Europe in act two, as Wright recreates the chaos of the evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk through an ambitious single, steadicam shot.
    The third act is set in a hospital for wounded soldiers and the "postscript" in a television studio where an elderly Briony is interviewed about her life and novel.
    Knightley who has already being tipped for an Oscar nomination by the critics said she found her role challenging but is very proud of the film.
    "I think we are all incredibly proud of the film. Really really proud. And um, and you know if it wins any awards then wonderful, if it doesn't then that doesn't devalue the film as it is," she said and added, "I think that's the whole point of acting, you have to challenge yourself. And yes I did find this role difficult in part but really exciting.
    I absolutely loved her. I loved her the moment I read the book and the script.
    Um so no it was a joy really."
    Throughout the action, the sound of an old typewriter mingles with the score, reminding viewers that what they are watching may be part of the narrative or of Briony's fiction.
    The performances are reminiscent of old black-and-white films, with stylised gestures and clipped, British accents which Wright uses to communicate the social restrictions of the time.
    "Atonement" opens at cinemas in the UK on Friday (September 7).
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