tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post94869298909838886..comments2024-03-27T18:24:19.683-07:00Comments on Steve Sailer: iSteve: "Atonement"Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-82303360864977943422008-01-27T16:54:00.000-08:002008-01-27T16:54:00.000-08:00Zimri says:"Robbie's death could be seen as Briony...Zimri says:<BR/><BR/>"Robbie's death could be seen as Briony's fault (he might have avoided war)"<BR/><BR/>But if the young romantic hero would, without Briony's perjury, have managed to weasel his way out of fighting in World War II, then he wouldn't be much of a young romantic hero, now would he?Steve Sailerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11920109042402850214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-34635202555911814822008-01-25T22:08:00.000-08:002008-01-25T22:08:00.000-08:00"Robbie's death could be seen as Briony's fault (h..."Robbie's death could be seen as Briony's fault (he might have avoided war)... but Cecilia's death undermines that possibility (because she couldn't have avoided it), making it seem more like "fate" and therefore what it actually is, authorial caprice."<BR/><BR/>Hmmm. Interesting perspective. I don't know how they did it in the movie but Robbie's anger and vindictiveness seemed to leave him as idiotic as the soldier who lost half his brain. I wondered about that. He wasn't noble enough to forgive Briony so he had to be killed? <BR/><BR/>Whatever the intent of killing off the lovers, instead of having them marry at long last, McEwan created a very convincing female protagonist.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-62469336304728399652008-01-25T19:02:00.000-08:002008-01-25T19:02:00.000-08:00On the contrary: where "What Dreams May Come" is c...On the contrary: where "What Dreams May Come" is concerned, Steve can do his worst. Paging MrCranky! :^)<BR/><BR/>I do take issue with this - "once the [book authors] sell the film rights, they're impotent demiurges". "Starship Troopers" is a good example of a book which was turned against itself on film. But other books have entered cinema with their message intact; if we are talking meta-fiction, then I give you the first half of Michael Ende's "Neverending Story" and the movie based on that. (I am not talking about whether the movie was <I>better</I> than the book; and I am also not concerned with nonsensical sequels, nor with deviations which don't affect the book's message.) Ende and now McEwan may have demanded that the movie adhere to the respective book in the contract. Or maybe they insisted on selling it only to someone they trusted.<BR/><BR/>We are agreed that writers need to stop killing their star crossed lovers in terrible, irrelevant accidents. George "Mill on the Floss" Eliot - I am thumbing my nose at your grave as I type this.) Robbie's death could be seen as Briony's fault (he might have avoided war)... but Cecilia's death undermines that possibility (because she couldn't have avoided it), making it seem more like "fate" and therefore what it actually is, authorial caprice.Darayvushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17973750966981889517noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-48655318295077994982008-01-25T12:02:00.000-08:002008-01-25T12:02:00.000-08:00Being as I've never known Sailer to like a movie t...Being as I've never known Sailer to like a movie that he reviewed, I've provided a list of some of my favorite movies/directors that he isn't allowed to review:<BR/><BR/>1. Twelve Monkeys<BR/>2. The Princess Bride<BR/>3. What Dreams May Come<BR/>4. Pi<BR/>5. Requiem for a Dream<BR/>6. Sex, Lies and Videotape<BR/>7. Almost anything by HitchcockAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-30627239379046180192008-01-25T07:16:00.000-08:002008-01-25T07:16:00.000-08:00A British film about WWII...quel surprise. And ye...A British film about WWII...quel surprise. And yet, no tart, insightful Sailer commentary--just a trite, grandfatherly "it was Hitler's fault" rejoinder that one would expect on the front page of USA Today next to the pie chart on America's favorite ice cream topping.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-21162804543487585082008-01-23T21:34:00.000-08:002008-01-23T21:34:00.000-08:00"And if "Atonement" is about the power of fiction ..."And if "Atonement" is about the power of fiction to harm and heal, what's the point of having the lovers die in the war? Correct me if I'm wrong, but my impression has always been that WWII wasn't actually the fault of a 13-year-old girl with an over-active imagination. It was Hitler's fault."<BR/><BR/>Only having read the book, I didn't get the impression that Briony was being blamed for WWII. The lovers died off b/c they lost their usefulness. Atonement wasn't about them anyway.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com