The Awakening (I) (2011)

In 1921, England is overwhelmed by the loss and grief of World War I. Hoax exposer Florence Cathcart visits a boarding school to explain sightings of a child ghost. Everything she believes unravels as the 'missing' begin to show themselves.

Director:

Nick Murphy

Writers:

Stephen Volk (screenplay), Nick Murphy (screenplay)

Stars:

Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton

4 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rebecca Hall	...	Florence Cathcart
Dominic West	...	Robert Mallory
Imelda Staunton	...	Maud Hill
Lucy Cohu	...	Constance Strickland
John Shrapnel	...	Reverend Hugh Purslow
Diana Kent	...	Harriet Cathcart
Richard Durden	...	Alexander Cathcart
Alfie Field	...	Victor Parry
Tilly Vosburgh	...	Vera Flood
Ian Hanmore	...	Albert Flood
Cal Macaninch	...	Freddie Strickland
Isaac Hempstead Wright	...	Tom Hill
Anastasia Hille	...	Dorothy Vandermeer
Andrew Havill	...	George Vandermeer
Joseph Mawle	...	Edward Judd

Storyline

In 1921, in London, the arrogant and skeptical Florence Cathcart is famous for exposing hoaxes and helping the police to arrest con artists. The stranger Robert Mallory tells her that the headmaster of a boarding school in Rookford had invited her to travel to Cumbria to investigate a ghost that is frightening the pupils to death. He also tells that many years ago there was a murder in the estate and recently pupil Walter Portman had died. The reluctant Florence finally accepts to go to Cumbria. On arrival, she is welcomed by governess Maud and the boy Thomas Hill. Soon Florence discovers what had happened to Walter and then the students, teachers and staff are released on vacation, and Florence remains alone with Robert, Maud and Tom in the school. Florence is ready to leave the boarding school when strange things happen, leaving Florence scared.

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Plot Keywords:

school | boarding school | ghost | boy | england | 

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Taglines:

All the children are gone... except one.

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence and sexuality/nudity

Details

Official Sites:

BBC [uk] Official site

Country:

UK

Language:

English French

Release Date:

11 November 2011 (UK)

Also Known As:

Buđenje

Filming Locations:

Berwickshire, Scotland, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

StudioCanal, BBC Films, Creative Scotland

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

(at around 20 mins) When Miss Cathcart is investigating the classroom where many of the ghost sightings occurred, for a brief moment on the chalkboard behind her there is a quotation that says: "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old." This is a line from the poem "For the Fallen" by British poet Laurence Binyon. Published in 1914, it was meant as an ode to the British soldiers dying in the First World War. This hints, among other things, at connections to the boys who were shown earlier in the film in the school photos, many of whom presumably died during the War.

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Goofs

When Florence went into the hidden compartment and found the stuffed rabbit, the rabbit played a recorded song. At this point in history, toys only contained small music boxes, which played chiming music. The closest thing was the "Lioretgraph Jumeau" which sang a maximum of 35 words using a small phonograph. More advanced singing toys didn't make their appearance until the late 1930's and early 40's.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Vera Flood: [answering the door] Miss Simpson? Are you prepared?
Florence Cathcart: [yes] I brought this.
[shows envelope]

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Connections

Referenced in Bad Movie Beatdown: Review of 2011 (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Oh Coccinelle"
Written by Nick Murphy
Performed by Nick Murphy

User Reviews

A Time for Ghosts

In 1921, in London, the arrogant and skeptical Florence Cathcart (Rebecca Hall) is a famous for exposing hoax, helping the police to arrest con artists. The stranger Robert Mallory (Dominic West) tells her that the headmaster of the boarding school in Rookford had invited her to travel to Cumbrio to investigate a ghost that is frightening to death the pupils. He also tells that many years ago there was a murder in the real estate and recently the pupil Walter Portman had died. The reluctant Florence finally accepts to go to Cumbrio.

On the arrival, she is welcomed by the governess Maud (Imelda Staunton) and the boy Thomas Hill. Sooner Florence discovers what had happened to Walter and then the students, teachers and staff are released on vacation, and Florence remains alone with Robert, Maud and Tom in the school. Florence is ready to leave the boarding school and strange things happen. Florence comments with Robert and he tells that there is only three persons in the boarding school, leaving Florence scared.

"The Awakening" is a ghost story that begins with the information that between 1914 and 1919, the war and the influenza claimed more than one million lives in Britain. The storyline is very similar to the 1995 "Haunted", with a woman that exposes hoax and swindlers traveling to her home town to investigate a ghost that is haunting the students of a boarding school. Nevertheless the supernatural story is engaging and has many plot points with new revelations. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Despertar" ("The Awakening")