McEwan's prose has always been pared down but the full foliage of, say, Atonement, has now become the thinning leaf of The Children Act, whose title refers to the landmark legislation of 1989 governing the welfare of minors.
The minister who regularly visited him in his last weeks was astonished at his lucidity and the immense power and scope of his memory, but comments more particularly,... his illness drew out the whole heart and soul and spirit of the man: his firm and undoubting faith in the Incarnation and all its results; in the full sufficiency of the Atonement; in the work of the Holy Spirit.
In order of appearance, they are Sir David Hare (The Reader, The Hours), Christopher Hampton Dangerous Liaisonss, Atonement), Simon Beaufoy (The Full Monty, Slumdog Millionaire), Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon), Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada, Laws of Attraction) and Ronald Harwood (The Pianist, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly).
Winslow's story is legend, dense as a fairy tale and full of the images of religious atonement.
ALSO PLAYING ATONEMENT: In wide release (12/10/07).
Lang's biographers say it is no wonder he spent a lifetime making films full of guilt, false accusations, unsolved crimes, atonement, suicide, murder and manslaughter.
She said this as she introduced her final disc, the central prayer of the Yom Kippur liturgy, Avinu Malkeinu – a plea offered on the day of atonement, when Jews, after a full day of fasting, plead with God to grant us another year of life.
Where Botham's exoneration had eventually restored his mirth, Willis's atonement inspired a vengefulness to which he gave full rein during the post-match interview.
"Atonement" is also a page-turner, a realistic novel full of genuine feeling.
With his early films like Pride and Prejudice and Atonement, he built a box for himself – a straight-backed box, full of stiff upper lips, faraway glances and all manner of delicate period flourishes – that ended up stifling him creatively.
It's been nine years since she was invited to the dance for Pride and Prejudice, since which time she's taken on a range of baity-looking parts in polished prestige projects — Atonement, Never Let Me Go, Anna Karenina — that haven't quite taken her the full distance.
