\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n Warning! The following discussion contains spoilers for those who have not seen the film yet…<\/p>\n On Wednesday 19th<\/sup> February we watched and discussed The Awakening<\/i>. I did not want to say too much about the film in my opening remarks and so most of the group present were experiencing the film for the first time and without much previous knowledge. This was an important component for our discussion after the film as quite a lot of time was spent discussing the film\u2019s ending and its twist (or twists). We agreed that the film remained ambiguous about whether Florence is alive or not at the end. We mentioned that, logically, it is probably likely that she survived (the manner in which she interacts with other characters and is about to leave the house points to this) but it is interesting that the film still works to evoke the question of her mortality and does not complete resolve the ambiguity. Costume and performance are important parts to this uncertainty. Florence\u2019s costume has changed and so this suggests she has survived. However we The group commented how, in many ways, The Awakening<\/i> is a conventional story of a haunted house where the spirits interact with the living in order to resolve unfinished business. The music contributes considerably in establishing this uneasy mood and the film contains some good, unexpected scares. A comparison was made between The Awakening<\/i> and Turn of the Screw<\/i> and the relationship between the ghost story in cinema and that in literature. But that is not to say that the film does not contain some very striking moments which we agreed worked especially well. We talked about how the uncanny is evoked by the film, especially in the scene where Florence keeps returning to the same room depicting her mother\u2019s death, despite her attempts to run away. The rabbit toy is also particularly uncanny and signals a rare instance of the use of vivid colour in the film. We discussed how it is possible to extend the Freudian reading of the film further, as the dollhouse functions as another double: it is the double of the house but also metaphorically represents Florence\u2019s mind (it is her \u2018mind palace\u2019). Florence\u2019s interaction with the dollhouse \u2013 which moves from confusion to trepidation and fear \u2013 parallels our protagonist\u2019s \n In this respect the film can be interpreted We also discussed the film\u2019s setting and agreed that the post-WWI era is particularly suited to this type of horror story. We said how the film thus taps into a British cultural memory in addition to performing as a conventional ghostly tale. It was commented that The Awakening<\/i> also correlates to the wider tradition of British horror which emphasises the paganism and spiritualism of the countryside against the supposed rational and sceptical urban city. Additionally, the manor house setting in The Awakening<\/i> brings in the question of class, particularly through the character of Maud, and how the haunting of the house is caused \u2013 in part Many thanks to\u00a0Frances for choosing the film, introducing it and providing the above excellent summary of our discussion.<\/p>\n Do, as ever, log in to comment or email me on sp458@kent.ac.uk<\/a> to add your thoughts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Posted by Sarah Frances has very kindly provided the following summary of our discussion on The Awakening (2011): \u00a0 Warning! The following discussion contains spoilers for those who have not seen the film yet… On Wednesday 19th February we watched … Continue reading ![\"the](\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/melodramaresearchgroup\/files\/2014\/03\/the-awakening.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>noted how the white coat she wears could make Florence seem ghostly and this is an interpretation reinforced by the way her presence is ignored by the school\u2019s headmaster. In either case, we felt the possibility for different interpretations was a fitting ending to a ghost story where frequently our expectations are continually subverted.<\/p>\n<\/a>increasing understanding of the haunting. The dollhouse allows Florence to observe the whole house, at once, and yet she is still unable to \u2018see\u2019 the larger picture for the majority of the film. This radically changes of course when Florence remembers her traumatic childhood and the memories of those disturbing events are \u2018re-lived\u2019 before her eyes.<\/p>\n<\/a> as a representation of the psychoanalytical process, as a kind of \u2018talking cure\u2019. Florence\u2019s experience of the haunted house in the film functions to provide a series of shocks for the heroine so that she may remember the traumatic truth of her childhood. Tom\u2019s presence in the film represents a form of the return of the repressed. The rabbit toy also functions as an important marker and another double. The song which the toy sings remarks that all the children \u2018are gone except one\u2019. This creates another double because at first the viewer believes this to be the ghost child (revealed later to be Tom) but this \u2018child\u2019 is also Florence herself, as she survived her father\u2019s brutal attack. Only by remembering \u2013 or rediscovering \u2013 her true \u2018self\u2019 can Florence come to terms with this true identity. We discussed how it is interesting that this journey of self-discovery is framed by Florence\u2019s movement from spiritual sceptic to dedicated believer in ghosts. This somewhat undermines Florence\u2019s characterisation at the beginning of the film as an independent, successful author and career woman in the early 20th<\/sup> Century, and so the ultimate \u2018message\u2019 of the film is obtuse.<\/p>\n<\/a>\u2013 by the oppression of the aristocracy. We commented how this trait in horror extends beyond British films albeit in a slightly different guise: The Skeleton Key<\/i> is a good comparison point with the manor house now replaced by a plantation house.<\/p>\n