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Director's Statement
This film is about the destructive and redemptive power of storytelling. During the course of the two years it’s taken to bring ATONEMENT to the screen, Ian McEwan's spectacular novel has revealed layer upon layer of meaning to me, that, when I first embarked on the journey, was hidden from my view. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Just when I thought I understood the book another facet would reveal itself and I'd have to re-think the whole once more. A book is an illusion, a series of symbols on a page that create a story in the reader’s mind. There are as many different versions of the book as there are readers of it. I‘ve made an adaptation of the book that happened to me as I read it.
Film, too, is an illusion, 24 still frames that move only in your mind. This story, this film, therefore, is now yours to imagine for yourself.