By Gregg Shapiro

Contributing writer

“Atonement” (Focus) – Based on the novel by Ian McEwan, Joe Wright’s Oscar-winning film adaptation of “Atonement” is an epic achievement in terms of the emotional upheaval it stirs in both the characters and the audience, and in the scope of the personal and historical events of the film. In England, in 1935, fanciful and precocious 13-year-old Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan) is at her typewriter typing out a play to be performed by her visiting twin cousins Pierrot and Jackson (Felix and Charlie von Simson, respectively) and their older sister Lola (Juno Temple). Briony’s older sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) and Robbie (James McAvoy), the son of the Tallis’s housekeeper Grace (Brenda Blethyn), are acting out their own drama near the fountain on the grounds of the Tallis estate. A long simmering sexual tension between Robbie and Cecilia, who have known each other since they were young, threatens to boil over. As it heats up, Robbie is soon at his own typewriter, composing both an apology for the fountain indiscretion and an erotic love note, unable to decide which to present to Cecilia. The latter wins out, and after asking Briony to deliver it to Cecilia, Robbie realizes he has made a grave mistake, but has no idea how much so. Immature Briony, who has long harbored an unrequited crush on the older Robbie, reads the letter before giving it to her sister. After discovering the two in a compromising position in the library, Briony begins to act strangely during a family dinner celebrating the return of brother Leon (Patrick Kennedy) and his friend, chocolate millionaire Paul (Benedict Cumberbatch). The sexual tension in the household isn’t limited to the aforementioned character, as Paul finds himself drawn to the considerably underage Lola. When the twins go missing during dinner, a search party is organized, and during that time Briony stumbles upon Lola being sexually compromised by a man who runs from the scene. The police are summoned and with her young and confused mind on sexual overload, Briony accuses Robbie of the act. When Robbie returns from searching for the twins, with the boys in tow, he is taken into custody, much to the dismay of Cecilia. Robbie is sent to prison, and four years later, with England embroiled in the Second World War, he is a British army soldier in France. Cecilia, who no longer has anything to do with her family following the incident, is working as a war nurse. Briony (Romola Garai), now a few years older, has also become a nurse, as if to do penance for the damage she has caused, while continuing to pursue her dreams of becoming a writer. It is then that “Atonement” becomes about the power of happy endings, something that you may have guessed, is inevitably out of reach for these characters. Late in the film, when a considerably older Briony (Vanessa Redgrave), who has become a successful and beloved writer, is being interviewed on TV for her 21st and, as it turns out, final novel, entitled “Atonement,” everything comes full circle in a “final act of kindness” so powerful it’s hard to imagine that there will be a dry eye in the house. Everything about “Atonement” is compelling and dazzling, from the performances to the costumes to the recreation of the period and, of course, the devastating revelation that awaits viewers at the finale. Special features on the widescreen DVD include deleted scenes, interviews with novelist McEwan and screenwriter Christopher Hampton in the featurette “From Novel to Screen: Adapting a Classic,” feature commentary by Wright and much more.

 

“Midnight Express: 30th Anniversary Edition” (Sony Picture Home Entertainment) – Based on a true story that began in October of 1970 and ended almost five years to the day later in October 1975, director Alan Parker’s gritty film depicts the experiences of Billy Hayes (the late Brad Davis), who spent time in (and escaped from) a Turkish prison for drugs. With foil-wrapped bricks of two kilos of hashish medical-taped to his body, Hayes attempted to board a plane in Istanbul bound for his home on Long Island. Because of a series of violent hijackings, airport security was on high alert. A fidgety and sweaty Billy is pulled from line, frisked and then arrested when it is determined that it is drugs, not explosives, on his person. In prison, with language and cultural barriers working against him, Hayes eventually finds a way to survive, befriending fellow inmates loose cannon Jimmy (Randy Quaid), gentle Erich (Norbert Weisser) and wisecracking junkie Max (John Hurt). It is Max who tells Billy about the “Midnight Express,” a prison term for escape, and then it becomes clear, with a four-year sentence ahead of him, that Billy’s only hope of survival is escaping. “Midnight Express” has its share of homoeroticism, including a budding relationship between Billy and Erich, illustrated in the way one bathes the other, a rigorous yoga session and a chaste kiss in the shower. But more than anything, the film is as brutal as you might expect a prison story to be, ranging from the graphic depiction of Billy’s revenge on the resident snitch and his final payback to the abusive warden Hamidon (Paul Smith). In addition to director commentary, special features for the 30th anniversary edition include three new featurettes boasting interviews with producers Peter Guber, David Puttnam and Alan Marshall, writer Oliver Stone, Hurt, Hayes and others.