biggest financial hit of Knightley's career. The third instalment in the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, was released in May, the following year. A. O Scott termed her performance "a vision of imperial British pluckiness, with an intriguing dash of romantic recklessness that surfaces toward the end". Knightley's continued association with period dramas yielded varying results, as seen with two of her 2007 releases, François Girard's Silk, and Joe Wright's Atonement, the feature film adaptations of the novels by Alessandro Baricco and Ian McEwan respectively. The former project failed at the box office, while the latter became a critical and commercial success. Knightley played Cecilia Tallis, the elder of the two Tallis sisters, who struggles with a wartime romance with her love interest, played by James McAvoy. She admitted that the pacing on the smaller, more intimate film was an adjustment compared to the Pirates franchise. In preparing for the film, Knightley studied the novel as well as the "naturalism" of the performance as seen in films from the 1930s and 1940s, such as In Which We Serve (1942) and Brief Encounter (1945). She admired the multi-layered and "fascinating" nature of her character's behaviour. Knightley's performance won the Empire Award for Best Actress, and earned her nominations for the BAFTA and the Golden Globes awards, also in the leading actress categories. The critic Richard Roeper, who thought the lead duo were "superb" in their respective roles, was puzzled by their failure to receive Academy Award nominations. The green dress worn by Knightley during the film's climactic scene garnered substantive press attention, and was subsequently regarded as one of the greatest costumes in film history. 2008–2013: Independent films and stage work Knightley appeared alongside Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy, and Matthew Rhys in John Maybury's 2008 wartime drama The Edge of Love. The film had her play the role of Vera Phillips, a childhood friend of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and his wife Caitlin Macnamara. Knightley wrote the script with her mother, Sharman Macdonald, with Macnamara in mind. After Knightley signed on, her character's role was increased with the film focusing on her romance with a British soldier. Knightley connected to Vera's quietness, and described her as "tragic and beautiful". She based her performance on Marlene Dietrich, and was to mime to her prerecorded voice, before being told by Maybury to sing live. Knightley initially felt embarrassed to do