Atonement: Trauma

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Atonement Trauma Post-modernism

• Cathy
• Chris
• Daphne
• Edison
• Janine
• Joby
• Joe
• Tony

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Content

1. Introduction
2. Trauma, History vs. Reality
3. Ideology
4. Post-Modern Interpretation
5. Cinematography
6. Conclusion
7. Works Cited

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Introduction

• Janine

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What is trauma?

• psychic trauma occurs when a sudden,
  unexpected, overwhelming intense emotional blow
  or a series of blow assaults the person from
  outside. Traumatic events are external, but they
  quickly become incorporated into the mind. (261)

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trauma

• Physical trauma
• ? any body wound or shock produced by
• sudden injury or severe impact
• e.g. accident
• Psychological trauma
• ? a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as
• a result of a traumatic event
• e.g. stress disorder

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What is postmodernism?

• It postmodernism was first used among literary
  critics as a definition for experimental
  fictional writing which came after modernism
  that signals unsteadily not a consensus of
  opinion with a discernible object of study, but,
  instead, a range of debates that are far from in
  agreement with one another. (177)

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postmodernism

• Cultural projects or a set of perspectives
• e.g. personal responses
• A reaction to modernism
• ? Associated with
• - difference
• - separation
• - textuality
• - skepticism

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Trauma, History vs. Reality

• Tony, Cathy, Chris

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Trauma

• Tony

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Traumatic Incidents

• Brionys false accusation of Robbie raping her
  cousin, Lola.
• Both Cecilia and Robbie are helpless because of
  social class differences.
• The War

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Briony Tallis

• Not married
• Unchanging hairstyle
• Need for confession/atonement (writing the book)
• The confrontation scene between that she wrote in
  her book shows her wish to receive some kind of
  punishment
• Need for confession also echoed
• in the scene with the dying solider.
• (example of both the false
• accusation and WWII)

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Cecilia Tallis

• Being alone after Brionys false accusation
• Loss of her love
• Cutting off all contact with her family
• Not being protected
• From higher level of living to lower apartment
• Died in the underground

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Robbie Turner

• Physical
• Kept in jail with freedom
• Physical exhaustion during the war
• Psychological
• Remain lower social class identity
• (servant? prisoner? solider)

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History vs. Reality

• Cathy Chris

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History vs. Reality
The fractured pieces of history in movie
The whole WWII in reality
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The Blitz in Atonement

• Cecilia killed at the bombing of the Balham tube
  station . (15042-15150)
• A well-known disastrous incident of The Blitz.
• Date 1940/10/15
• Result the bombing destroyed the water system to
  breakdown and drowned the Balham tube station

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The Blitz in reality
The Blitz the sustained bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 1940/9/7 and 1941/5/10, in WWII
Began the bombing of London for 57 consecutive night
Heaviest attack by 400 bombers and lasting six hours - hit London
Result over 43,000 civilians were killed by bombing
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The Balham tube station in reality
Balham tube station one of many deep tube stations designated for use as a civilian air raid shelter
Time At 2002 on 14 October 1940
Cause a 1400 kg bomb fell on the road above the northern end of the platform tunnels
What happened northbound platform tunnel ? southbound platform tunnel ? within 100 yards of Clapham South
Result sixty-four civilians were killed
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Dunkirk Evacuation in Atonement

• Robbie arrived at the beach (10510-25)
• Scene of brutality
• School girls
• Horses
• (10615-10625)

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Dunkirk Evacuation in Atonement

• Scene of surreal quality
• The singing in the bar at Dunkirk appear to be
  dream-like (11030-)
• His meeting with his mother (11220-11353)
• Robbie died in the last day of evacuation
• ?1 June 1940

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Dunkirk Evacuation in Reality

• Mission Evacuation of Allied soldiers
• Time Between 26 May and 4 June 1940 (six times)
• Miracle of Deliverance
• Cause German break through to the channel Ports
  ?getting the upper hand
• Result General Gort ordered to retreat to the
  near-by port of Dunkirk ? save the British Army
  to fight another day

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Ideology

• Daphne

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Ideology

• Social ideology love as an ideal
• Between Cecilia and Robbie

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Ideology

• Form (narrative frame) text as truth

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Ideology

• Authorial ideology Power of forgiveness vs.
  Power of art
• The text, rather, is a certain production of
  ideology, for which the analogy of dramatic
  production.it produces the text, transforming
  it into a unique and irreducible entity (128)

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Postmodern interpretation

• Edison

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Simply put

• The concept of Postmodernism applied in the
• movie analysis is to reveal the things against a
• viewers expectation of traditional concept/
• ideology that the movie would involve
• There is no absolute truth / interpretation

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Anti-heroine
angel-like face, energetic, clever, creative
sentimental, spoiled, jealous, insecure
Middle-aged face, Always in uniform or cloak
quiet, emotionless, gloomy, preoccupied
Wrinkled face, white hair, weak
sorrowful, regretful, lonely
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Anti-heroine
1. Her hair style remains the same the mole on
her face never ceases 2. She never grows up, but
she has only getting old
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Miscarriage of Justice
None should be punished because he tells a
joke!!!
Its not worthy 1. Robbie does not deserve the
punishment. 2. The letter is only a mistake only
a joke. Its injustice 1. Brionys lie makes
Robbie and Ceci suffer. 2. The slander is never
clarified. 3. Marriage btw the real villain
(Marshal) Laura 4. The villain
makes a lot of money during the war Powerless to
recover 1. Evidence can not be raised. 2. The
power of war is overwhelming.
Its just a joke!
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Anti-romance
The romance turns out to be a irreversible
tragedy.
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Brionys confession as Deconstruction

• If Briony had not confessed, the movie would have
  nothing to do with postmodernism.
• Thus, if Briony hadnt confessed, there would
  only be one
• interpretation of the text. In other words,
  viewers would just accept
• the happy ending without knowing the truth death
  of Robbie and
• Cecilia / marriage of Marshal and Laura.
• The interpretation of Atonement shouldve been
  limited.

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Interpretation of Atonement

• Atonement achieved
• The power of art (novel)
• Atonement unachieved
• Trauma is ever-lasting

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Frame Narrative

• Author as God
• Briony how can a novelist achieve atonement
  when, with her absolute power of deciding
  outcomes, she is also God? There is no one, no
  entity or higher form that she can appeal to, or
  be reconciled with, or that can forgive her. No
  atonement for God, or novelists . . .

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cinematography

• Joby, Joe

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Recall of Briony School Girl Scene

• Robbie showing his sympathy to dead girls
• ? Does he also show his forgiveness to Briony?
• Brionys perspective as an author/writer.

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Hands

• Touching water
• Holding the debris of vase
• Holding hands together at the dinner table
• Cecilias longing for Robbie
• Touching Robbies hand at the restaurant
• Robbies retreat
• Uncertainty about future

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Robbies typing/Mirror Scene

• Light Effect Soft, dreamy
• A way of showing Cecilia as Robbies longing for
  her love.
• Vague, blurry image of Cecilia ? unreachable
  lover
• Unspeakable love for Cecilia through typewriter.

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Dunkirk Evacuation

• A long take scene of war
• The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation
  Dynamo by the British, was the evacuation of
  Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbor of
  Dunkirk, France, between 26 May and 4 June 1940,
  when British, French, Canadian, and Belgian
  troops were cut off by the German army during the
  Battle of Dunkirk in the Second World War.
• Style of Joe Wright Several long takes in the
  film
• Shows in detail and in whole of the disastrous
  scene of war
• Robbies vain search for water
• Foreshadowing Robbies loss of life/ vain search
  for Cecilia
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v5hXMNhML0Ug

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Theatre Scene

• Robbies search for water
• Hand held camera unsteady shooting- reflects
  Robbies physical and mental condition- hints
  that Robbie is barely hanging on
• Tilted camera psychological condition of the
  character
• Overwhelmed and overweighed by thoughts of
  Cecilia gt loses his sanity and dies

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Rewinding Scene

• The night Robbie dies scene rewinds back to
  broken vase piece falling into the water.-
  Robbie and Cecilia could resume their story
• If time could rewind to mend from the beginning.
• When Robbie dies, they resume.
• Briony created rewinding scene?

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conclusion

• Janine

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Works cited

• http//www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/dunkirk.htm
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation
• http//www.squidoo.com/lancastria
• http//schoolshistory.org.uk/dunkirk.htm
• http//www.dover-kent.co.uk/history/ww2b_dunkirk.h
  tm
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v5hXMNhML0Ug
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_trauma
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_trauma
  
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodernism
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodernity