• A short film by Rolf Lindblom
    EXCITATIO

Excitatio
(Awakening)

Synopsis

Excitatio (Awakening)

To provide a life-style his wife and son deserve, Jake takes on a lot of pressure at his job as a real-estate agent. But can he handle it all? As things start to pile up he seeks guidance from a psychiatrist. Per his doctors orders Jake takes a few days at one of his listings, a remote summerhouse, to work on his self-suggestion. All goes well until Jake senses something disturbing. Something within him or something else? He decides to ignore the piles of work staring at him from his make up desk and continues with the exercise. During his self-suggestion Jake has disturbing visions and is not sure what to do. The visions intrigue him and with his doctor encouraging him to take control over his thoughts Jake dives deeper. The only problem is that neither the doctor or Jake has any idea what is lurking in the depths of a well-intentioned mind.
Awakening (Excitatio) is a prequel to web series END UNSUNG. Check out END UNSUNG episodes HERE!


Director

Rolf Lindblom

Rolf Lindblom is a self-taught filmmaker with thoughts not only on filmmaking, but on life as a creative person, being a lifelong learner, and living day-to-day as a person who is obsessed with cinema.


Stills

Stills

Contact

Excitatio Sound Design & Mix

TIMO SILVAST
WWW.IMPULSETRACK.FI



Film Festivals




REVIEW BY SHORTPOLE LONDON IFF

Jake, a real estate agent, works hard to provide for his wife and son, despite a seemingly rather distant relationship to them. Stressed and overwhelmed by the huge stack of work he receives one day, he decides to drive to a cabin in the woods, thus hoping to get out of his office routine for a couple of days, relax his mind and get some work done. He tries some meditation and self- suggestion techniques prescribed by his psychiatrist, but his attempts leads to envisioning a series of disturbing events. This raises questions about the origin of these visions: do they come from his own subconscious, as a result of his doctor advising him to take control, or are they originating from a more sinister, outside force that prays on his strained psyche?

Rolf Lindblom hits a number of highs with ‘Awakening’. The cinematography is fantastic, contrasting beautiful and serene sequences of nature with the dark and disturbing imagery which Jake envisions during his sessions. The music utilized throughout the film is likewise superb, fitting the unfolding events like a glove and combining to create an eerie atmosphere, with tension accumulating all the way through to the very last scenes and the open finale of the film, with a runtime of just under 10 minutes. The soundtrack is expertly dosed, and when it is absent, it is replaced with nature ambient sounds, to great success. Likewise, the director makes use of some very good filming and editing techniques in the trance sections, which become genuinely frightening.

The manner in which dialogues are handled are an interesting proposition. Jake texts with his wife and doctor respectively are the only form of communication we witness. He does hold conversations, first with his boss, then on the phone with his wife, but we do not hear these, as the voice is obscured, first by music and secondly by ambient effects. Moreover, in both instances, the camera ‘spies’ on Jake having these conversations through windows. As a result, viewers find very little of his personality to cling to, which is a superb trick that makes one question Jake’s train of thought and intentions even more, especially after the climax point of the story is reached.

With solid visuals, great use of sound and music, and an engaging, methodically developed idea behind the film, ‘Awakening’ is a major success, and viewers are left with a sense of unease that might stay with them for quite a while after having watched the movie

AWAKENING IS A PREQUEL TO OUR OUR NEW WEB SERIES - END UNSUNG

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