Atonement
Movie Quote Quiz

Leon Tallis: What do you say, Cee? Does the hot weather make you behave badly? Good heavens, you're blushing.
Cecilia Tallis: Just hot in here, that's all.

Tommy Nettle: Never trust a sailor on dry land.

Fiona Maguire: It says in the newspaper the army are making "strategic withdrawals."
Briony - 18 years old: Yes, I saw that. It's a euphemism for "retreat."

Cecilia Tallis: My brother and I found the two of them down by the lake.
Police Inspector: You didn't see anyone else?
Cecilia Tallis: I wouldn't necessarily believe everything Briony tells you. She's rather fanciful.

Robbie Turner: ...if all we have rests in a few moments in a library three and a half years ago, then I don't know... I don't.
Cecilia Tallis: Robbie... look at me. Look at me. Come back. Come back to me.

Tommy Nettle: Cheerio, pal.

Leon Tallis: Guess who we met on the way in.
Cecilia Tallis: Robbie.
Leon Tallis: Told him to join us tonight.
Cecilia Tallis: Oh, Leon, you didn't.

Briony - 18 years old: I am very, very sorry for the terrible distress that I have caused you. I am very, very sorry.

Factual error: Near the beginning of the film before James McAvoy heads up to the house for the evening meal, he is seen looking up through a skylight when a Lancaster bomber slowly flies overhead. At the time it was was supposed to be 1935. The Lancaster bomber did not fly until the beginning of 1941. Can't be an Avro Manchester either, they only had two engines and first flew in 1939.

More mistakes in Atonement

Trivia: In the DVD commentary, Director Joe Wright reveals a lucky fluke that got caught on camera during the scene just before Robbie (James McAvoy) discovers the school girls massacre. At the point where he removes his helmet, the weather was cloudy. As he looks up the sky, the sun started shining, and then got cloudy again the moment he put his head down.

More trivia for Atonement

Question: The scene with Briony and the French soldier made absolutely no sense to me. They seem to go back and forth from knowing each other well, to having just met. What exactly am I missing?

Answer: Briony was just told by her superior to hold the French soldier's hand because he was dying. The French soldier was delirious and most likely confused her with another English girl whom he knew in the past. Since he was dying, Briony decided to play along and pretended that she was that girl. While this exchange is happening, though, Briony experiences something else as well. She sees the soldier as being like Robbie which is why I think she has such a strong reaction to him. When she tells the soldier "I love you" it is like her speaking to Robbie.

More questions & answers from Atonement
More movie quotes

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.