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

Featured in Projector: The Awakening (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Finlandia Hymn - Be Still My Soul"
Written by Jean Sibelius, Katharina A. von Schlegel
Performed by Michael Csányi-Wills, Jeff Moore, Andrew Skeet

User Reviews

Gorgeous cinematography, muddled plot.

I love old-fashioned ghost stories, both in literature and in moving picture. It's a harder genre than people give credit to, especially because it's age. Since it has been done to death, almost every possibility and approach seems to have been covered. However, there are movies that have taken the this tired formula and made splendid films - The Orphanage is a good example of a ghost story done right. The Awakening started off right. The acting was good, the mood was efficiently set and the cinematography gorgeous to look at. I was many times at absolute awe at the beautiful images and camera shots that the movie boosted. However, the central thing in a movie is it's plot, and that's where things get shaky. The plot wasn't that great to begin with and as it progressed became less interesting, managing nonetheless to sustain my interest throughout until the end, which was by far the film's greatest weakness. The ending "twist" came too late and was done with too much haste, which hurt it's already shaky believability. I think the ending despite being far-fetched could still work if done more competently and with more preparation. It's still an enjoyable movie, but the beautiful and eerie imagery would be much better served by a better plot. All in all, a solid 5 for the film, 10 for the cinematography. This cinematographer deserves to be well known, assuming he isn't already.