The Orphanage
Friday, 21 Mar 2008 16:07
Juan Antonio Bayona frightens the bejeesus out of audiences with The Orphanage.
Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, out March 21st, starring Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Príncep, running time 100 minutes.
In a nutshell...
Chillingly enchanting Spanish horror
What's it all about?
Returning to convert the orphanage she grew up at into a home for her family Laura (Belen Rueda) and her husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo) are troubled by their adopted son Simon's fascination with imaginary friends.
As events progress the couple are harassed by an old social worker trespassing on their grounds whilst pseudo-supernatural events begin to create an eerie tension about their home and Simon's fantastical games become increasingly more intrusive.
Within the gothic and expansive walls of the old orphanage the potential of ghostly influences soon begins to disrupt Laura and her family's tranquil plans.
Who's in it?
Bringing plenty of experience and awards from her time in Spanish-language cinema (including a number of accolades for her Orphanage performance) Belen Rueda is yet to gain familiarity with an English-speaking audience.
Similar can be said of Fernando Cayo whilst the youngster Roger Príncep is a promising newcomer.
The film is presented by Guillermo del Toro (of Pan's Labyrinth notoriety and director of Hellboy and Blade 2), yet it's the name of Juan Antonio Bayona that should be remembered for the future. The young director has previously shown promise with his shorter films yet The Orphanage is a sign of his maturing into the longer medium.
As an example...
Simon: They're outside. Listen
Laura: Simon, go to sleep.
Simon: Weren't you scared when you were little?
Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars?
Although failing to reach the final shortlist The Orphanage was Spain's candidate in the best foreign language film category at this year's Oscars; it's also already won a host of best film awards across Spanish-language and other smaller festivals.
What others say
"Even if The Orphanage steadfastly refuses to deviate from formula, it is still a consummate piece of filmmaking. Beautifully shot with a captivating central performance" –Channel 4
"A good old-fashioned horror in the best possible way, this is a beautifully told, terrifying ghost story that lingers with you long after the shivers have stopped." -Empire
So is it any good?
The Orphanage recognises the conventions of the gothic-horror genre well and plays with these effectively – twisting the circumstances slightly when it's necessary for the plot.
The story is built well over the film's first half yet to a certain extent becomes locked in delivering on a subtext it establishes relating to unseen light and the Peter Pan/Lost Boys story. This does not altogether pay off and the introduction of a medium named Aurora flogs the symbolism of light a little too far, whilst reference to Jung's theory of the subconscious seems to an extent unnecessary. The film would do better in places if it did not rely on delivering such intertextual references as its story is engaging enough.
However, ultimately The Orphanage does everything it promises. Despite a slight loss of narrative towards the last half-hour, an over-sentimentalised conclusion, and a number of dropped stitches at points where the tone is lost, what results is an intriguing work.
There are moments towards the end where the conclusion is a little spoon-fed and this is a pity as the story foreshadows its finale enough to make such things redundant.
Still, there are frequent enough jumps and points of tension and the film's beautiful and fine cinematography makes it visually enchanting from start to finish.
7/10
Mat Strowbridge
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