I just got back from watching the newly-released film adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement. It was, quite simply, brilliant. I can’t remember when I saw a better film. Visually, it leaves everybody (including Merchant Ivory) in the dust: the scenes on the beach at Dunkirk were some of the most powerful depictions of war that I know of. The metafictional elements of the novel, always a challenge in film adaptations, came across perfectly.
This should be a slam-dunk for the “Best Picture” Oscar.