Does 'Atonement' have 'The English Patient's' recipe for success?

Is "Atonement" really the new "The English Patient?"

Let me count the ways.

"Atonement" received seven Golden Globe nods this morning: best drama, best actress, best actor, best supporting actress, best original score, best director and best screenplay.

Ten years ago, "Patient" got seven Globe nods: best drama, best actress, best actor, best supporting actress, best original score, best screenplay and best director.

Let's continue. "Atonement" was adapted from Ian McEwan's Booker Prize-winning novel. "Patient" was adapted from Michael Ondaatje's Booker Prize-winning  novel. Correction: (Thanks to intrepid readers CJ and NH)  "The novel "Atonement" did not win the Booker Prize.  It was shortlisted and was a finalist, but did not win. McEwan won the prize for another book "Amsterdam."

Both movies are sweeping WWII-era epics about secrets, passion, war, haunting memories and tragically doomed lovers. And in both films, the main female characters, Katherine Clifton (played by Kristin Scott Thomas) and Cecilia Tallis (played by Keira Knightley), were not the central women in the novels.

According to "Atonement" screenwriter Christopher Hampton, the plain younger sister, Briony (played at different ages by supporting actress in a drama Globe nominee Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai and Vanessa Redgrave), was the central character in the book, and the snooty but beautiful Cecilia had to be fleshed out for the movie.

In Ondaatje's novel, the lead female character was a plain nurse named Hana (Juliette Binoche) who was relegated to a supporting character in the film, while the snooty but beautiful Katherine took center stage.

Although Scott Thomas and Binoche didn't win acting Globes, "Patient" took Globes for best motion picture drama and best original score. And it went on to sweep the '97 Oscars with nine wins out of 12 nominations.

Will history repeat itself?

Photo credits: James McAvoy is nominated for best actor for his turn in "Atonement," a film strikingly similar to "The English Patient."
Courtesy of Focus Features

Comments

[NH]

Atonement didn't win the Booker prize; it was shortlisted for it.

[CJ]

The novel "Atonement" did not win the Booker Prize. It was a finalist, but it didn't win. McEwan won for another book "Amsterdam."

[LH Windsor]

Flimsy comparisons to indicate a great adaptation! Sorry but Hollywood has promised so much hype and delivered little recently, do not hold your breath!

[Peer Debruge]

You forgot the cameo by English Patient director Anthony Minghella as the interviewer in the Vanessa Redgrave scene.

Although I prefer Atonement on just about every level.