City of Ember

For the novel on which the film is based, see The City of Ember.

The City of Ember
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Gil Kenan
Written by	Caroline Thompson Jeanne DuPrau (Novel)
Produced by	Tom Hanks Gary Goetzman Steven Shareshian
Starring	Saoirse Ronan Harry Treadaway Bill Murray Mackenzie Crook
Cinematography	Xavier Pérez Grobet
Edited by	Adam P. Scott Zach Staenberg
Music by	Andrew Lockington
Production companies	Walden Media Playtone
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	October 10, 2008 (2008-10-10)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$55 million
Box office	$17,869,048

City of Ember is a 2008 science fiction-fantasy film based on the 2003 novel by Jeanne DuPrau. It was directed by Gil Kenan from a screenplay by Caroline Thompson, and stars Saoirse Ronan, Harry Treadaway, Bill Murray, Mackenzie Crook, Martin Landau, and Tim Robbins.

Plot

In an underground palace, a group of Construction workers of the City of Ember place secret instructions and a plexiglass rectangle with an icon engraved on it in a strong, thick metal box. As the heavy thrum of bombardments is heard overhead, the officials debate how long to set the time-delayed digital lock on the box. They agree that 200 years should be a reasonable margin of safety to stay underground. The box is thrust into the hands of the Mayor of the underground complex. Each mayor, in turn, passes the box onto his or her successor. When the box has 47 more years left on the time-lock, the mayor holding the box dies suddenly. It seems the significance of the box had not been explained to anyone, because the box is just put at the back of a junk-filled closet. The box, with its crucial secret instructions, sits amidst refuse for the next 47 years, gathering dust. When it finally reaches year 0, the time lock clicks open, but this event goes unnoticed.

For generations, the people of the City of Ember have lived in a huge underground complex built as a refuge for humanity. It is built into a vast cavern that is so high that it is filled with regular-sized buildings. Far above the tops of the buildings are banks of floodlights which light the city during the day and provide light for the greenhouses. The lights are powered by a massive generator. Now Ember is falling into darkness as the generator fails. "Blackouts" are occurring with increasing frequency and they last longer every time. Despite growing concern for the future of their beloved City, Ember's students find themselves confronting the next step in their lives. A rite of passage for all graduates, it is Assignment Day, the day on which the Mayor himself will stand before the graduating students as they choose, by lottery, how they will spend their lives working for their society.

Lina, praying with all her might to be a messenger, is devastated to be assigned to the Pipeworks, the vast network of pipes underneath the City. Her classmate, Doon Harrow, who wants more than nothing else to work in the Generator, panics when he pulls the messenger assignment. Doon offers to swap assignments with Lina. She is thrilled and grateful and eagerly changes jobs. Thus, an unlikely friendship is born. Lina finds herself zipping all over Ember, delivering important messages to even more important people, including the mayor himself. At home she cares for her aging and forgetful grandmother, and her baby sister Poppy.

When an old metal box is discovered in their closet, Lina's grandmother is overjoyed. Completely sure that the contents of the box are of the utmost importance, she is completely bereft of any memory as to why. Lina discovers some cryptic papers inside. Unable to piece the papers together, but sure that they are important, Lina resolves to decipher their meaning and enlists Doon's help. As blackouts in the City become more frequent, Lina and Doon realize that the information inside that box could lead to the salvation of their City and their fellow citizens. Now racing against the clock, the two follow the clues, cleverly maneuvering around corrupt politicians and unsavory characters.

The pair realize the document is a set of instructions on how to escape the city, and they look for the hidden exit. They discover that the Mayor has been hoarding canned food in a secret room. When they report the theft, the two are declared traitors. Now on the run from the Mayor's police, the pair put the escape plan into action. They get Poppy, and follow the instructions. They combine the plexiglass rectangle with a second one stolen from the mayor, to form a key. As they are escaping, the mayor flees to his secret room filled with food, he runs into Looper who was supposed to go in with him but the mayor shoves him down and locks the door with Looper banging at the door yelling for the mayor to let him in. Inside the secret room the Mayor hears some clattering and turns on a light, revealing a giant mole to be only a few feet away form the mayor, the mayor lets out a scream before being eaten alive by the giant mole. Meanwhile,by activating various switches and levers and the plexiglass key, the friends are able to initiate the escape sequence that the Builders had planned. Boats automatically launch, and the three escape down an underground river. When the boat stops, they get out and go through the same bunker that was shown at the beginning of the film. The blast doors are now twisted and rusted with age and the concrete is crumbling. The three see and feel the real, natural air and sky for the first time. At first, they are sad that there is no light, but they do not realize that it is nighttime. In the morning, as the sun rises, they gaze in amazement at the glowing disc and blue sky. They then tie a message of their discovery to a rock and drop it back down to the city, and by chance it is found by Doon's father.

Cast

• Saoirse Ronan as Lina Mayfleet, descendant of the 7th Mayor of Ember
• Harry Treadaway as Doon Harrow
• Bill Murray as Mayor Cole
• Toby Jones as Barton Snode, assistant to Mayor Cole
• Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Clary
• Martin Landau as Sul, technician in the Pipeworks and mentor to Doon
• Tim Robbins as Loris 'Barrow' Harrow, Doon's father
• Liz Smith as Granny Mayfleet
• Amy and Catherine Quinn as Poppy Mayfleet, younger sister of Lina Mayfleet
• Mary Kay Place as Mrs. Murdo
• Mackenzie Crook as Looper, keeper of the store rooms
• Lucinda Dryzek as Lizzie Bisco, a classmate of Lina and Doon

Comparison with the book

The film, while mostly faithful to the book, contained several differences and omissions. One of the notable new scenes was one featuring a giant mole. Another added scene shows Doon finding a large, injured moth which he heals with a shoelace. Other additions include a subplot involving Lina and Doon's fathers trying to escape Ember. The character of Doon's mentor, Sul, was created for the movie. The ending was changed. In the book, Mrs. Murdo picked up the message attached to the stone, but in the movie, it was altered into Doon's father.

In the book, Lina and Doon are both twelve when they receive their jobs, but in the movie Doon is noticeably older. Lina's house is not covered in yarn in the book, as it is in the movie, and she uses colored pencils for her drawings, not crayons. In the book, messengers wear a red jacket, but in the movie they wear red cloaks. In the book, after they escape from Ember, Lina and Doon find a book that belonged to one of the first citizens of Ember. Lina brings food while they escape. They are scared of the matches then get excited because it is the "portable light" and struggle to figure out how to use it correctly to light a candle.

Downplayed scenes included Lina's drawing of the city, Granny's death, and the instructions to escape Ember. Omissions included a scene in which Lina discovers that the store supplies colored pencils, and the following scene where Lina loses her sister on the street during a blackout.

Production

In October 2004, Playtone partners Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman paid in the mid-six figures to purchase the film rights to Jeanne DuPrau's 2003 novel The City of Ember. They entered negotiations with Caroline Thompson to adapt the novel and Gil Kenan to direct the film. The deal includes an option on the sequel novel The People of Sparks.

Filming was scheduled to begin in early summer of 2007 and to wrap up in October of the same year, a 16-week shooting process. A former paint hall in the shipyard of Harland and Wolff in Belfast's Titanic Quarter was converted into the post-apocalyptic city.

Marketing

Walden Media hired Lucas Cruikshank to promote the movie in his internet series "Fred". The video was released October 4, 2008 with an edited version of clips from the film, including "Fred's" face superimposed on the faces of characters from the trailer.

Reception

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews from critics. According to the consensus from review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film "is visually arresting, and boasts a superb cast, but is sadly lacking in both action and adventure." Of the 114 reviewers listed, 51% of the critics gave positive reviews.

Metacritic scored the film as 57/100 rating falling under the category of "mixed or average reviews", based on 27 reviews.

Box office

City of Ember was a box-office failure. On its opening weekend, the film opened poorly at #11 at the box office with $3,129,473. As of August 9, 2009, the film has grossed $7,873,007 domestically and $9,869,041 internationally totaling $17,869,048 worldwide, well below its $55 million budget.

Awards and honors

Saoirse Ronan was nominated for a 2009 Irish Film and Television Award as "Best Actress in a Lead Role in a Film", and art director Jon Billington and production designer Martin Laing were nominated for Satellite Awards in 2008 for their design of the film, as was Ruth Myers for her costume design.

Home media

The DVD was released on January 20, 2009. The Blu-ray Disc was released on June 16, 2009. The DVD was released in a DVD-18 format with the widescreen version of the film on one side, and the full screen version on the other.iT IS also a cool movie

External links

• Official website
• City of Ember at IMDb
• City of Ember at AllMovie
• City of Ember at Box Office Mojo
• City of Ember at Rotten Tomatoes
• City of Ember at the TCM Movie Database