'Atonement': The past made new

IF the '30s costumes in "Atonement" look a little too good to be true to the period, Jacqueline Durran has done her job well. A far cry from a stuffy period drama, "Atonement," based on Ian McEwan's novel, opens on a singularly sweltering summer day in 1935.

By Elizabeth Snead, Special to The Times

December 12, 2007