Start of "Atonement"

In the beginning 20 minutes of the film we see that the genders are shown as typical stereotypes for the time of the film (1935). The women are shown running around and putting on make-up inside their huge house whilst we see the male doing work outside on the garden. We also see a male servant who was given instructions by the woman. This may seem incorrect as at this time males were seen to have the authority.

There seems to be a theme within the film as there are a lot of scenes that envolve water which makes the audience wander whether the plot may be based around this.