Get Out More...................................................Film Review

THE ORPHANAGE (General Release)

24-03-2008

Fancy a psychological chiller from the maker of the wonderful Pan's Labyrinth? Then you've come to the right place reckons Paula Elenor.

Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth & Hell Boy) was the executive producer for this chilling ghost story. Although different in tone and atmosphere to Pan’s Labyrinth, it has the cleverness and humane sensibility one has come to expect from anything associated with the gifted del Toro.

The Orphanage is not a film for the faint-hearted. It has all the classic ingredients of the psychological horror genre: a large, dilapidated, creaking old house – once an orphanage – now concealing secrets; a new family who move in make it their home bringing with them their own neuroses; the lonely, sickly child who starts playing games with imaginary friends ; and, of course, the blurring of the boundaries between the past and the present.

This is familiar territory you think, and it is reminiscent of “Turn of the Screw” and “The Others”.

But first time director, Juan Antonia Bayona, has pulled off something extraordinary: he has breathed new life into the tired old formula, working with and beyond the audience’s expectations to produce a very moving and sympathetic portrayal of parenthood and loss.

The new family in the orphanage epitomises modern, educated, liberal Spanish society.

The father is a young doctor and talented musician; the mother, Laura, once an orphan in the old house, hopes to provide a sheltered humane refuge for children with special needs. Theirs is a modern marriage based on friendship and equality each sharing the emotional responsibilities of parenting.

Suddenly, their beloved seven year old child, Simon, goes missing – both parents use every resource open to them to track down the boy they are convinced is still alive.

I am not sure whether the director had the McCann tragedy in mind when making the film – the film was released last year – but it sure came to my mind as I watched. The film from this point on takes its emotional and intellectual charge from Laura’s relentless and harrowing search for her missing child.

The character of Laura is central to the film and its premise, and Belen Rueda is totally convincing as the assertive, emotionally-centred mother at the start of the film who is forced to question her assumptions about rationality and personal responsibility on her quest for her lost child.

If you are a fan of the horror genre, and expect emotional manipulation, you will not be disappointed. I jumped and called out in the cinema at least four times at moments of shock, and I wasn’t the only one. These were not cheap tricks either – each shock had after-shocks – we were horrified for a good reason.

If you like your horror with a bit of philosophising about the nature of humanity and truth – rational or spiritual etc – you won’t be disappointed either. Plenty of oppositions for us to ponder on through the characters of the psychologist and the spiritualist – the latter played by Geraldine Chaplin.

Overall, this is a very moving and interesting film. As I have already said, not for the faint-hearted, but it is worth seeing if you are not feeling too fragile!

(Check out the movie website with trailer here)

Have you seen The Orphanage? Any other current movies you’d like to recommend? Leave a comment on The Stirrer forum.