Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle

"Why did they make them so big? Why didn't they just give the money to the poor?" The question about cathedrals was asked by a student to Mr. Harvey during a school field trip to Salisbury Cathedral. "That's a good question," he replied. "Partly to inspire them - to get them to look up with awe." I'm not sure that cathedrals have that impact on everyone, but this movie certainly had that impact on me. It was awesome!

It didn't start out that way. For a while it seemed to be little more than a depiction of - well - a school field trip to Salisbury Cathedral. If you've ever been on a high school field trip to anywhere this is basically it. You have a group of largely disinterested kids just happy to be out of school for a day, the bus driver who's driven crazy by them and some teachers trying desperately to keep it all under control. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt was my initial reaction. I figured that in the end this was going to be a typical story of a teacher managing to inspire a group of disinterested students. YAWN! But it turns out to be so much more! Timothy Spall was brilliant as Mr. Harvey - a sombre, unsmiling teacher with a strange fascination for cathedrals. Over the course of the movie, his story slowly comes out and becomes the focal point of the story. We also get introduced to some of the troubled students - most notably Helen, also brilliantly played by Nathalie Press, who's into self-mutilation.

This isn't a religious movie, but it includes some powerful reflections on religious themes. When Harvey's colleague Jonathon (played by Ben Miles) says "I don't care what anyone believes as long as they don't try to force it on anyone else" Harvey replies, "that isn't tolerance - it's indifference!" - which is, in fact (in my opinion) what often passes for religious tolerance in our society. There are scenes of reconciliation between various characters, and the final scene of the movie was brilliant. As Harvey climbs back on the bus, director Susanna White has the camera slowly pan upwards, so that the final shot is simply of the sky - hearkening back to Harvey's comment that the purpose of the cathedral is to get people to look up in awe. The cathedral accomplishes its goal. We look up into the universe in awe, seeking something greater than ourselves, however we choose to define it. This is a very powerful and very inspiring movie. 9/10

Amazing acting, music. A simple and clear plot but it drew me in and kept me captivated all the way through. I don't know why it was so fantastic but it simply was. So many of the characters were so real. It moved me and made me think I would like to watch more like this.

The idea of a school trip as a forum for such an amazing plot was a genius idea and so many of the people were like people were like those encountered every day by teachers in the classroom.

The film tackles issues of religion, prejudice,drugs friendship, memories, difficult experiences and simple the diversity of life itself.

I wanted to like this more than I did. Timothy Spall is one of my favorite actors.

The story is pretty straight forward as it was in the tagline.

I kept waiting for Mr. Harvey to unburden himself.

Not completely surprised by the way that it played out but and once again I enjoyed Mr. Spall's work.

I think for me the students were too precocious and played out poorly as well as the development of conflict, which bottomed out early on. I would like very much to find the final script because I felt like it was put together with a weak middle.

Whether I am right or not remains to be seen but it became a bit too melodramatic for me and I cannot in good faith recommend it.

I've certainly watched much worse as of late but this had potential to be much better than it was.

Lucky me to have been flipping channels and to find this great movie as it was just starting, and even luckier to view it on a commercial free television network. This perfectly directed and acted film locked me in with the cast, where I felt like I was actually there and a part of the tour. The cast was totally believable as people of every day life you may have met or seen before. I normally watch movies a bit too critically and often see the cast as actors, but not this one.

While being a five year old movie as I viewed it, it's content and issues still stand up well in 2010.

I was totally inspired by the outcome. I whole heartedly recommend it. For me, it helped rearrange many years of preconditioned thinking, and has now given me more to think about.

There needs to be more powerfully written and produced films like this one.

if you have a chance of seeing this film do see it. it's quite shocking in parts and really makes you think about so many important issues but it's not didactic. in my opinion it's a piece of art... beautifully filmed, fine music of many styles, the typically impressive level of acting that one has come to expect from BBC Drama. Nathalie Press (billed as 'Natalie' Press) is convincing in her role as depressed teenager exploited by a male classmate. Celia Imrie has that beautifully reassuring quality that gives the sometimes unnerving action stability and the viewer comfort in the knowledge that someone out there is actually 'normal', but the real star as always is Timothy Spall - surely one of the greatest actors of our time!