St Trinians (film)

Plot

Annabelle Fritton (Talulah Riley), an uptight daddy’s girl, unwillingly transfers to St Trinian’s from the distinguished Cheltenham Ladies’ College at her father’s (Rupert Everett) request. Annabelle is clearly different and doesn’t fit in, telling her father, Carnaby Fritton, that the school is "like Hogwarts for pikeys". She is taken around the school by Kelly Jones (Gemma Arterton), the head girl, who introduces her to the various cliques within the school.

On her first night at St Trinian’s, Annabelle is pranked by the girls, resulting in a video of her running around the school naked being broadcast live on the internet. She calls her father to pick her up, but he pretends to have bad phone reception so he can stay at a bar. Annabelle is drafted to the hockey team when she hits her phone with her hockey stick, smashing a statue. The girls of St Trinian’s are involved in business with Flash Harry (Russell Brand), who pays them to make cheap vodka. Flash is shown to be romantically interested in Kelly, who initially turns him down.

The Cheltenham Ladies’ College hockey team arrive at St Trinian’s, along with Education Minister Geoffrey Thwaites (Colin Firth). Thwaites is shown to have romantic history with the headmistress of St Trinian’s, Camilla Fritton (Rupert Everett). Annabelle is forced to face her former bullies, including captain Verity Thwaites (Lucy Punch). The hockey match is violent, ending in Kelly shooting a winning goal for St Trinians, which is followed by a brawl between the two schools. As the match is being played, Geoffrey Thwaites inspects the school, finding the illegal vodka-making business and the chatline being run by the Posh Totty clique.

The following morning, a banker arrives at the school and serves Camilla with a foreclosure notice, as the school owes the bank in excess of £500,000 and has ignored six previous final demands. A subsequent meeting between Camilla and Carnaby is watched by the girls using hidden cameras, in which Carnaby confesses his distaste towards his daughter. Annabelle is clearly upset, despite Camilla defending her. Carnaby encourages Camilla to turn the school into a boutique hotel, telling her that "when this school closes down, you'll have lost everything. More importantly, so will I."

Kelly and Flash work with the students to devise a plan to save the school. They must get into the final of School Challenge, a TV quiz show held in the National Gallery in London, as a cover for stealing Vermeer’s “Girl With a Pearl Earring”. Chelsea, Peaches and Chloe (the Posh Totty clique) are chosen as the School Challenge Team. By cheating in every round, they make it to the grand final. As the final is being filmed, Kelly, Taylor and Andrea manage to steal the painting, with help from the Geeks, as well as Annabelle and Camilla.

Camilla paints an exact copy of the painting and has Flash, posing as a German art dealer, sell it to Carnaby in a black market deal. The school then receives a further £50,000 reward for returning the real painting to the National Gallery. The loans are able to be repaid and the school is saved.

Cast

The members of Girls Aloud (Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh, Sarah Harding, Nadine Coyle and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini) all make cameo appearances as the members of St Trinian's school band, and cameos in the film itself. Zöe Salmon also makes a cameo appearance as an emo girl, while Nathaniel Parker, the director's real life brother, makes a short appearance as the Chairman of the National Gallery. Newscaster Jeremy Thompson also briefly appears, as himself.

Music

The film’s score was composed by Charlie Mole. The soundtrack also contains “Theme to St. Trinian's” performed by Girls Aloud, “Trouble” performed by Cast of St Trinian's, “Oh My God” performed by Mark Ronson featuring Lily Allen, “Love Is in the Air” performed by Rupert Everett and Colin Firth, “Don't Give Up” performed by Noisettes, “Nine2Five” performed by The Ordinary Boys vs. Lady Sovereign, “If I Can't Dance” performed by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, “Teenage Kicks” performed by Remi Nicole, “Sanctuary” performed by Gabriella Cilmi, “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing” performed by The Four Aces, “3 Spoons of Suga” performed by Sugababes, “On My Way to Satisfaction” performed by Girls Aloud and “The St Trinian's School Song” performed by Cast of St Trinian's.

Filming locations

Release

St Trinian's premiered in London on 10 December 2007, and was theatrically released on 21 December 2007 by Entertainment Film Distributors.

Box office

St Trinian's grossed £12,042,854 in the United Kingdom, surpassing its £7 million production budget. As of 18 July 2010, the film had grossed a worldwide total of $29,066,483. It was the fifth highest-grossing film during the Christmas season of 2007, behind Enchanted, I Am Legend, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, and The Golden Compass. It ranks in the top grossing independent British films of the past decade.

Critical reception

St Trinian's received mixed reviews. Empire wrote that the film "fuse[s] an understanding of what made the originals great with a modern feel – the writers have fulfilled their end of the bargain, even tweaking some of the weaker points of the original story."

The Observer wrote that it "is raucous, leering, crude and, to my mind, largely misjudged, with Rupert Everett playing Miss Fritton as a coquettish transvestite with the manners of a Mayfair madam. The attempts to shock us fail, though Cheltenham Ladies College may well be affronted to hear one of its teachers say 'between you and I'. But the preview was packed with girls aged from seven to 14 who found it hilarious, and especially enjoyed Russell Brand."

Derek Malcolm, in The Evening Standard, wrote: "Structurally, the new movie is a mess, and it doesn't look too convincing either, with cinematography that uses all sorts of old-fashioned dodges to raise a laugh", and "when you look at it again, the old film was not only superior but rather more radical. This St Trinian's looks as if it is aiming at the lowest common denominator, and finding it too often." On the film-critics aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, St Trinian's holds a 31% positive rating, with the consensus "Both naughtier and campier than Ronald Searle's original postwar series, this St. Trinian's leans on high jinks instead of performances or witty dialogue."

Home media

St Trinian's was released on DVD on 14 April 2008 by Entertainment in Video.

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack was released on 10 December 2007, via Universal Music Group. The album featured two original songs by British pop group Girls Aloud, including the single, "Theme to St. Trinian's". A music video for the song was released to promote the film and soundtrack.

The film's cast also recorded the theme, as well as a cover of Shampoo's "Trouble". A music video of the cast performing "Trouble" was also released. Rupert Everett and Colin Firth, who star in the film, recorded the John Paul Young song "Love Is in the Air". A number of popular singles or current album tracks by artists, such as Mark Ronson, Lily Allen, Noisettes, Gabriella Cilmi, and Sugababes, were included on the soundtrack.

Sequels

It was announced at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival that the sequel, The Legend of Fritton's Gold, also directed by Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson, would be released in 2009. Filming began on 6 July 2009, and on 7 July 2009, it was announced that David Tennant, Sarah Harding and Montserrat Lombard had all signed on to appear in the sequel.

In December 2009, it was announced that there will be a St Trinian's 3: Battle of the Sexes. However, as of September 2017, no cast or release date has been confirmed for the third instalment. It has been assumed the film is cancelled.