''The Dawning'' is a 1988 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

based on Jennifer Johnston's novel, '' The Old Jest'', which depicts the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

through the eyes of the

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

landlord class. It stars

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...

Hugh Grant Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as both a charming, and vulnerable romantic lead and has since transitioned into a dramatic character actor. Among his numerous a ...

Jean Simmons Jean Merilyn Simmons, (31 January 1929 – 22 January 2010) was a British actress and singer. One of J. Arthur Rank's "well-spoken young starlets", she appeared predominantly in films, beginning with those made in Great Britain during and afte ...

Trevor Howard Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith (29 September 1913 – 7 January 1988) was an English stage, film, and television actor. After varied work in the theatre, he achieved star status with his role in the film ''Brief Encounter'' (1945), followed by ''T ...

, and

Rebecca Pidgeon Rebecca Pidgeon (born October 10, 1965) is an American actress who has appeared on stage and in feature films, and a singer, songwriter and recording artist. She is married to American playwright David Mamet. Early life Pidgeon was born to Engl ...

, and was produced by Sarah Lawson, through her company

Lawson Productions Sarah Lawson (7 October 1955 – 8 November 2008) was an English film producer, radio producer and screenwriter. Career From 1982 to 1985, she was vice president of planning and development for DL Taffner Ltd, Los Angeles, and from 1995 to 1996 ...

Plot

The film opens with Angus Barrie (

), an

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...

member, walking through hills, and coming to rest on a beach, where there is a little hut. Meanwhile, Nancy Gulliver (

) having just left school, burns all her books in happiness. It is her birthday, and her aunt (

) has invited over Harry (

), with whom she’s desperately in love, to tea. However, during the course of the film, as a result of Harry’s behaviour with another girl and the way he treats Nancy, she realises that her love for Harry was nothing more than childish infatuation. One day, Nancy goes down to the beach, and notices that her hut has been slept in. She leaves a note requesting that it be left alone. Soon after, she is on the beach reading, when Barrie comes up to her. Over the course of the film, the two develop a relationship, despite her not really knowing and understanding his job: he is one of the first people that became part of a group named the

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

, and is on the run from the government. Nevertheless, she grows fond of Barrie, and dubs him "Cassius" ("because you have a lean and hungry look!") After Cassius asks her to pass on a message to a colleague, several Officers of the British Army are gunned down at a horse race show. Later that day, Captain Rankin (played by Adrian Dunbar) of the Black and Tans comes to see the Family, and asks if anyone knows where Cassius is. The officers' suspicion is aroused when Nancy's grandfather (played by

) says he saw her talking to a man on the beach. She denies any knowledge. When they leave, she runs to the hut on the beach where Cassius was staying to tell him to flee, only to find that he has already packed. As they walk out, a light shines on them: the Black and Tans have found him. He is gunned down, much to Nancy's distress. The film ends with Nancy back at home, considerably older and wiser than when the film started.

Cast

as Cassius a.k.a. Angus Barrie *

as Nancy Gulliver *

as Aunt Mary *

as Grandfather * Tara MacGowran as Maeve *

as Harry *Nicholas Fitzsimons as Slain Soldier *

Ronnie Masterson Ronnie Masterson (4 April 1926 – 10 February 2014) was an Irish actress. Masterson was born in Dublin. She trained at the Abbey Theatre and first appeared on stage there in 1944. At the Abbey, she met and then married actor Ray McAnally in 19 ...

as Bridie *

John Rogan John William "Bud" Rogan February 12 – September 11, 1905; some sources indicate 1867, 1868 and 1871 as his birth year) is recorded as the second-tallest person ever at , behind only Robert Wadlow. Biography John Rogan was born in Hende ...

as Mr. Carroll *

Joan O'Hara Joan O'Hara (10 October 1930 – 23 July 2007) was an Irish stage, film and television actress. She was one of Ireland's most popular actresses and was, at her death, recognisable to television viewers as Eunice Dunstan, a gossip in ''Fair Cit ...

as Maurya *

Charmian May Charmian Rosemary May (16 June 1937 – 24 October 2002) was an English character actress best known for her television and film roles. She appeared in the sitcoms '' The Good Life'' and ''Keeping Up Appearances'', and the film ''Bridget Jon ...

as Celia Brabazon *

Ann Way Ann Way (14 November 1915 – 13 March 1993) was an English film and television character actress. Born in Wiveliscombe, Somerset, she began her career in repertory in Birmingham in the 1950s moving from there to the Dundee Rep. Her petite build ...

as George Brabazon *

Mark O'Regan Sir Mark Andrew O'Regan (born 1953) is a New Zealand lawyer and jurist. He was the President of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand until his elevation to the Supreme Court of New Zealand in 2014. Biography Educated at St. Patrick's College, S ...

as Joe Mulhare *

Brendan Laird Brendan may refer to: People * Saint Brendan the Navigator (c. 484 – c. 577) was an Irish monastic saint. * Saint Brendan of Birr (died 573), Abbot of Birr in Co. Offaly, contemporaneous with the above * Brendan (given name), a masculine given na ...

as Tommy Roche *

Adrian Dunbar Adrian Dunbar (born 1 August 1958) is a Northern Irish actor, director and singer, known for his television and his theatre work. Dunbar co-wrote and starred in the 1991 film ''Hear My Song'', nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the BAF ...

as Capt. Rankin *

Geoffrey Greenhill Geoffrey, Geoffroy, Geoff, etc., may refer to: People * Geoffrey (name), including a list of people with the name * Geoffroy (surname), including a list of people with the name * Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1095–c. 1155), clergyman and one of the ...

as Cpl. Tweedie

Production

''The Dawning'' was filmed in Ireland in the mid-1980s, largely on location in Ireland.The beach scenes were filmed extensively at Goat Island, a small cove on the Irish coast, close to the county boundary between Cork and Waterford. Some "Big House" exteriors were shot at Woodbine Hill in the same district. Incidentally, it was

's first feature film, and

's final film; he died shortly after production ended, and the film was dedicated to him. (Howard had made an earlier IRA film in 1946, the classic ''

I See a Dark Stranger ''I See a Dark Stranger'' – released as ''The Adventuress'' in the United States – is a 1946 British World War II spy film with touches of light comedy, by the team of Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat, and starring Deborah Kerr and ...

''.) It was also

' first feature film for nearly ten years. Despite having contributed largely to the production,

Bernard MacLaverty Bernard MacLaverty (born 14 September 1942) is an Irish fiction writer and novelist. His novels include '' Cal'' and ''Grace Notes''. He has written five books of short stories. Biography ''MacLaverty'' was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, a ...

was uncredited as a screenwriter. The film was shown at the AFI/Los Angeles International Film Festival (New British Cinema - BritFest 2), the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

(for market purposes), and at the

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Internat ...

(in competition, where it was successful, winning two prizes). Actors

and

reunited five years later in the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-nominated film ''

The Remains of the Day ''The Remains of the Day'' is a 1989 novel by the Nobel Prize-winning British author Kazuo Ishiguro. The protagonist, Stevens, is a butler with a long record of service at Darlington Hall, a stately home near Oxford, England. In 1956, he take ...

''.

Critical reception

''The Dawning'' was received largely positively by the critics, with a five star review from

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

, describing the film as "solidly crafted ... its main strength lies in the performances" and mentioning that

had given a "remarkable debut".

China Daily ''China Daily'' () is an English-language daily newspaper owned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party. Overview ''China Daily'' has the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper in China. T ...

noted that Hopkins had played his character "wonderfully".DVD reviews
/ref>

Awards and nominations

(1988) **won Jury Prize ''

Robert Knights Robert Knights (born 1942 in England) is a British film and television director, perhaps best known for his film '' The Dawning'', about the Irish War of Independence. He has been nominated for three BAFTA TV Awards and he won the Montréal W ...

''IMDb - Awards and Nominations
/ref>
**won Prize of the Ecumenical Jury - Special Mention - ''

'' *Austin Texas International Film Festival (1988) **Won best picture award

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dawning, The Irish republicanism Irish War of Independence films Films about the Irish Republican Army 1980s historical drama films Films based on Irish novels British historical drama films English-language Irish films 1980s English-language films Films directed by Robert Knights