Few films have arrived in our city this year with greater advanced praise than "Atonement", all of which I am pleased to say is richly deserved. Part "Bad Seed" and part "Pride and Prejudice", you are not likely to see a more powerful drama on the screen this year.

Briefly stated, the story centers around the family of the wondrous Keira Knightley, a traditional upper-crust British clan frequently depicted in Jane Austen's novels. James McAvoy is the son of a family servant who falls passionately in love with Ms. Knightley.

Their scenes together are as progressively sensuous as they are erotically charged. Of particular note is a fountain scene where Ms. Knightley partially disrobes as she dives into the water to retrieve part of a broken vase. As she emerges from the water, standing soaking wet in transparent Victorian underclothing clinging to her lithe form, the look between her and McAvoy generates heat not seen since the Chernobyl Nuclear Meltdown.

In addition, the scene where they spontaneously make love in the library of her home while she is pinned in her evening gown to a row of books, her legs dangling in the air as she is held in McAvoy's embrace, is one of the great love scenes in recent years. It defines young love in its purest and most passionate form, and I dare say that you are not likely to forget it. My God what a romantic moment!

Both of the above-referred two scenes are central to the movie, as they both are inadvertently observed by Knightley's twelve-year-old sister, played spectacularly by newcomer Saoirse Ronan. Finding herself attracted to McAvoy but unable to deal with her own adolescent emotions, Ronan makes a reckless accusation against McAvoy that poisons the young lovers in a heartbreakingly dramatic fashion not equaled since "Romeo and Juliet."

Ms. Ronan's scandalously false claims tragically thrust McAvoy and Knightley into different dimensions where they are cursed to be beyond each other's reach. Not only is Ms. Ronan simply tremendous portraying a young girl whose stirring sexuality is beyond her ability to comprehend, but she miraculously evokes sympathy for a character that is the villain of this powerful drama.

The movie itself is only slightly marred by the middle portion which finds McAvoy serving in the British Army in Northern France during the Second World War. Probably owning to the fact that the beginning and ending thirds of this movie are so powerfully overwhelming, this portion of the film seems flat and over extended. Nonetheless, in that it portrays McAvoy's desperation to survive the evacuation at Dunkirk in 1940 to try and reunite with his lost love who awaits him, it is necessary to the film's conclusion, as it dictates McAvoy's fate.

McAvoy continues to demonstrate remarkable growth as an actor. In each of his major performances, from "The Last King of Scotland" to "Becoming Jane" to "Atonement", he has continued to widen his range and exhibit an emotional depth that could very well gain him Oscar recognition this year.

As for Ms. Knightley, name any other actress, particularly such a young one, who consistently shows such grace, wit and fire. While everyone recognizes her for her performances as Elizabeth Swan in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy and that of Elizabeth Bennet in "Pride & Prejudice", I encourage you to rent "King Arthur" (2004) where she plays Guinevere, the Warrior Princess. Simply put, this young woman has an authenticity matched by few others.

Romance is never more intense on the screen than when lovers are forced by circumstances beyond their control to stay apart. Bogart had to let Ingrid go in "Casablanca"; Kirk Douglas died on the cross in "Spartacus" as he strained to catch a last glimpse of his wife (Jean Simmons) disappear with their son over the horizon; the pregnant Karen Allen kissed Jeff Bridges' extraterrestrial goodbye as he returned to his planet in "Starman"; and Gwyneth Paltrow was forced to leave for the New World with an unloved husband leaving Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) in her wake.

In "Atonement", having made love but once, Knightley and McAvoy are doomed by fate beyond their control to get close enough to smell each other's breath but no closer. While McAvoy weeps as Knightley implores him to "come back to me", this movie breaks your heart while it stirs your soul.