Best Actress in a Supporting Role 2007: Saoirse Ronan in Atonement

Saoirse Ronan received her first Oscar nomination for her performance as Briony Tallis in Atonement.

Atonement is an excellent movie about the love story between a gardener and a wealthy young lady who are torn apart by the Second World War and a terrible lie told by her younger sister. I get why some people don't like it that much but I personally think it's a very compelling moving with a beautifully written screenplay and an unforgettable score. The love story between Robbie and Cecilia never quite becomes as legendary as it wants to be because Knightey is a bit lacking in certain parts of her performance, but she still shares a strong and sweet chemistry with James McAvoy, who actually gives a very haunting performance. Romola Garai delivers a fine enough turn as 18-year-old Briony, even if I don't think her work truly feels like a natural progression from Ronan's 13-year-old Briony. Vanessa Redgrave fares much better in that regard and is rather memorable in her single scene.

The character of Briony is the core of the entire movie and Saoirse Ronan is extremely important as on her performance lay the basis of the whole movie. She's given a tricky task and if her performance had failed the whole movie would have as well: thankfully Ronan is an extremely gifted actress and makes Briony a scene-stealing, intriguing character that often steals the spotlight from the doomed lovers. Saoirse Ronan does a great job in portraying Briony's manner and behavior: Briony is a often an acid child who wants everything to be done the way she wants and says and Ronan nails the phisicality of the role - she moves in a rigid, stiff manner and often adopts a glacial stare that perfectly suggest Briony's personality. Briony is the kind of young girl who wants to appear much older and wiser than she actually is and Ronan perfectly portrays her as a child trying to play like an adult: she manages to show Briony's immaturity by portraying so well her attempts to look mature. 

It's a character that could have been obnoxious in many ways but Ronan manages to prevent that by showing that Briony's feelings and even if her actions are unlikeable and in one instance lead to tragic consequences Ronan does a brilliant job in portraying her vulnerabily and loneliness and making the viewer sympathize with her a little bit. Scenes like the ones in which she tries to stage the play she has written with her cousins, who couldn't be more uninterested, are amazing because by one hand Ronan portrays excellently Briony's impatient and annoying personality but she's also quite moving in showing the desperation under her behavior and her search for attention. Mostly, Ronan does a terrific job in realizing Briony's relationship with both her sister and Robbie. In her scenes with Knightley, Ronan shows a more tender and warm side of Briony and she shows very well her love for her sister - while still portraying an underlying jealousy of her beauty and grace. Her scenes with James McAvoy are some of her best: when she is on screen with him, Ronan shows how Briony drops her falsely mature behavior and just is naturally the girl she is. Ronan is quite luminous in their scenes together as she portrays so wonderfully her happiness for being around him and beautifully shows how Briony convinces herself that Robbie likes her too. Briony would like to appears as something else but down there she's just a little girl with a crush, and Ronan realizes that brilliantly.

When Briony reads Robbie's letter to Cecilia, Ronan is just excellent in showing her jealousy and heartbreak and I love how realistically childish she is in the scene in which she reveals that to her cousin. And then there is the scene in which she sees Robbie and Cecilia having sex in the library which is brilliantly portrayed by Ronan - I just love how trembling her voice sounds when she simply says "Cecilia?" and in that small moment she manages to be genuinely heartbreaking. But her best moment might be the scene in which Briony is questioned by the police after Lola has been raped and she accuses Robbie despite having absolutely no proof of that. It's a fantastic scene because Ronan makes you see the wheels turning into Briony's head and across her face and her stare you can read the jealousy, pain, confusion and, above all, anger before she finally says "Yes. I saw him. I saw him with my own eyes".

In the end, this is a brilliant performance from Saoirse Ronan: her work is key to the success of the movie as everything that happens after she leaves still relies incredibly on her portrayal. Ronan completely fulfills her difficult task by making Briony a compelling and complex character that she isn't afraid to make unlikeable while still portraying the fragility at its work. It's simply a great turn from an excellent actress.

4.5/5