Season of the Witch (2011)

14th-century knights transport a suspected witch to a monastery, where monks deduce her powers could be the source of the Black Plague.

Director:

Dominic Sena

Writer:

Bragi F. Schut

Stars:

Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman, Stephen Campbell Moore

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nicolas Cage	...	Behmen von Bleibruck
Ron Perlman	...	Felson
Stephen Campbell Moore	...	Debelzaq
Stephen Graham	...	Hagamar
Ulrich Thomsen	...	Johann Eckhart
Claire Foy	...	The Girl
Robert Sheehan	...	Kay von Wollenbarth
Christopher Lee	...	Cardinal D'Ambroise
Rebekah Kennedy	...	Peasant Turk Girl
Andrew Hefler	...	Jail Bailiff
Fernanda Dorogi	...	Old Woman (Givaudon)
Kevin Rees	...	Dying Monk
Matt Devere	...	Sergeant in Arms
Róbert Bánlaki	...	Livery Boy
Barna Illyés	...	Cardinal's Priest

Storyline

A 14th century Crusader returns to a homeland devastated by the Black Plague. A beleaguered church, deeming sorcery the culprit of the plague, commands the two knights to transport an accused witch to a remote abbey, where monks will perform a ritual in hopes of ending the pestilence. A priest, a grieving knight, a disgraced itinerant and a headstrong youth who can only dream of becoming a knight join a mission troubled by mythically hostile wilderness and fierce contention over the fate of the girl. When the embattled party arrives at the abbey, a horrific discovery jeopardises the knight's pledge to ensure the girl fair treatment, and pits them against an inexplicably powerful and destructive force.

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Plot Keywords:

knight | plague | witch | 14th century | monk | 

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Taglines:

Not all souls can be saved.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, violence and disturbing content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [fr] Official site [jp]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 January 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cacería de brujas

Filming Locations:

Burg Kreuzenstein, Leobendorf, Lower Austria, Austria

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£559,769 (UK) (7 January 2011)

Gross:

$24,823,283 (USA) (18 March 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Atlas Entertainment, Relativity Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Test screenings reportedly not impressed Lionsgate executives and the studio decided to push back the originally planned March 2010 release date. The movie underwent reshoots in September 2010 in Shreveport, Louisiana.

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Goofs

The Crusades were the 11th, 12th and 13th century religious military campaigns; so a bit before the 1330's dates at the start of the movie. For example, the Siege of Tripoli lasted from 1102 until July 12, 1109. Similarly, the Battle of Artah was fought in 1105. But - the plague referred to in the movie is probably the one in the Early Modern period (1340-1400) where Europe experienced the worst human disaster in its history when the Black Death (also known as the bubonic plague) hit was later. So I guess some artistic freedom was used to place two Crusaders in a time of Plague and Witch-hunting (the witch trials were also in the Early Modern period in a period between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries).

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Quotes

[first lines]
Peasant Girl: No! No... please! I beg you. I beg you. I'm not a witch.

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Connections

Featured in Great Movie Mistakes III: Not in 3D (2011)

User Reviews

Daft but bearable action fantasy nonsense

Plopping out in early January, time honoured dumping ground of inferior product and draped in mediocre to poor reviews, Season of the Witch had quite a lot stacked against it. But for all this it ended up being one of the better films I've taken in on a whim, albeit far from any kind of classic or even especially good. Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman play disillusioned crusaders against witchcraft who get caught trying to escape their service and are recruited for a particularly tricky witch escorting mission. So we get an arduous mission through harsh medieval lands, trekking interspersed with action and capped with a nice blazing finale, and it should be a blast, should be a lot more entertaining than it is, but owing to lack of budget or balls (or some combination of both), it ends up being rather forgettable. The first noticeable problem is studied downplaying from Cage and Perlman, they have some measure of chemistry and a small smattering of good lines, but there's no fire. Both have potential for greatness, and both have a facility for the fantastical but for some reason neither of them chew too much scenery or puff with much in the way of rage so the film constantly feels like its missing its opportunities as well. The ethereal Claire Foy suffers similarly as the witch, she has a sweetly otherworldly way to her and lights up the screen, so its a shame she doesn't have more to do. As for Christopher Lee, well he's barely in it and just about anybody else would have been a worthy substitute. These problems aside Season of the Witch manages to be quite good fun for enough of the time that I overall enjoyed the experience. Its well enough shot to conjure an effectively macabre and misty mood at times, while Dominic Sena handles his directing duties with fair adeptitude, making for some exciting and sporadically stylish action. The pacing is a bit off but never truly dull and one or two low key spooks (the highlight being a rather neat opening) keep things interesting in between the few action set pieces, while the ending is very daft and rather good fun. If only it gelled together better, if only it realised whether it wanted to be a rousing medieval fantasy or a creepy horror and got a better handle on its tone, heck if only it wasn't aimed at a younger audience with its PG13 certificate so it could get away with a few actual shocks. Bah, it could have been a lot worse, 5/10 from me.