The Orphanage (DVD)

...Carlos, they decide to buy the now disused orphanage and start up a school for disadvantaged children. All seems to be going well, until an old lady, claiming to be a social worker, turns up, asking questions about Simon. And Simon's behaviour becomes strange; he has a group of imaginary friends who seem to have a great deal of power over him. At an opening party, Simon suddenly goes missing, and is never found. Laura finds it hard to accept this ...
...find her son, or at the very least, his body? Or is she heading for disappointment and madness?

I really like Spanish language films; Pedro Almodovar is my favourite director. Guillermo del Toro has been all over the press since Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy, and as he produced this film, I thought it was worth a watch. I haven't seen Pan's Labyrinth or Hellboy yet, but The Orphanage is much more my cup of tea as a film. It is often ... more

As a child, Laura spent some time in an orphanage, and has some happy memories of that time. When she adopts a little boy, Simon, with her husband Carlos, they decide to buy the now disused orphanage and start up a school for disadvantaged children. All seems to be going well, until an old lady, claiming to be a social worker, turns up, asking questions about Simon. And Simon's behaviour becomes strange; he has a group of imaginary friends who seem to have a great deal of power over him. At an opening party, Simon suddenly goes missing, and is never found. Laura finds it hard to accept this and turns to psychics to help find out what happened, believing that Simon's imaginary friends have something to do with his disappearance. Will they help her to find her son, or at the very least, his body? Or is she heading for disappointment and madness?

I really like Spanish language films; Pedro Almodovar is my favourite director. Guillermo del Toro has been all over the press since Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy, and as he produced this film, I thought it was worth a watch. I haven't seen Pan's Labyrinth or Hellboy yet, but The Orphanage is much more my cup of tea as a film. It is often classed as a horror, and there are a few moments that do make it fit into that genre, but on the whole, I would say it is a tale of the supernatural, and a very creepy one at that.

Spanish actress Belen Rueda plays Laura, and I think that she was very effective in the role. Her panic and fear as she discovers that her son is missing is palpable, and her deterioration into depression is incredibly convincing. There is no perfect make-up and hair here; right from the start, she looks tired and worn, and I thought this was perfect for the role. After some of the polished performances that Hollywood that I've seen recently, this was a real breath of fresh air. She does seem to lose her way a bit towards the end of the film, but I think this was more to do with the storyline than anything that the actress did wrong.

Fernando Cayo plays Laura's husband, Carlos. His role is really peripheral; he has a fair amount of screen time towards the beginning of the film, but he never really grabbed my attention. This is perhaps because he is over-shadowed by Rueda; whatever the reason, I can't remember what he looks like now and I doubt I would recognise him if I saw him in a different role tomorrow. Simon is played by Roger Princep, who definitely has the cute factor, all curly dark hair and eyes. His performance was actually very good; I initially thought he was going to be annoying, but he managed to adapt it into a slightly creepy performance - certainly his behaviour set my teeth on edge.

I think the best thing about this film is the atmosphere. The build-up of suspense starts right at the beginning. This is partially to do with the orphanage and all its little nooks and crannies; however, director Juan Antonio Bayona did a great job of sweeping shots of the empty dormitory in particular. I only really jumped once - and that involved a car accident - but I don't frighten easily, and anyway, prefer a long, slow build-up of suspense as opposed to the occasional frightening moment. There is little in the way of gore in the film, but what there is is very effective; we get a flash of the remains of a car accident and it is not pretty. I'm not surprised to see that the rating is 15 - there really isn't anything graphic to give children nightmares.

I found the story intriguing enough, at least to begin with. I quite like the odd ghost story, and that is very much what this appears to be. To be honest, I didn't have much in the way of expectations as far as the story was concerned, but I must admit I was surprised with the twist that the film took towards the end. It didn't entirely ruin the film for me, but it did leave me feeling a bit flat, and turned what could have been a really good film into something that is fairly average. And after such a promising start too!

The film is beautifully made. I loved the shots of the house and the lighthouse by the sea. And there were definitely some clever camera angles that added to the creepiness of the atmosphere. Personally though, I would have preferred a bit more attention to the story and a bit less attention to the production side - ultimately I think that would have made this a better film. This is, however, apparently Bayona's directorial debut on the international scene, so perhaps I am being overly harsh.

The film is, obviously, in Spanish. I understand very little, but the subtitles are clear, easy to read and very naturally translated, so don't be put off by the fact that it is not in English.

There are a number of extras; the most interesting of which is a 'making of' feature - at 10 minutes, it was short enough for the layperson to understand, without too much in the way of dull technical speak. Then there are a selection of deleted scenes, and two interviews - one with producer Guillermo del Toro and director Juan Antonio Bayona, the other a question and answer session with Bayona. The deleted scenes are pretty much a waste of time; the interviews are worth a brief glance.

I really wanted to like this film more than I did. It has so much going for it, but then disappoints with the ending. I don't mind being left with questions, and this did leave a few - the problem was I didn't care enough to think about them very hard, which is the sign of an unsatisfying film for me. I still want to see Pan's Labyrinth, and I will look out for Juan Antonio Bayona's next film, but I doubt I'll go to the effort of watching this film again. If you like the supernatural and being scared, you should probably see this at some point, but wait until the price has come down; currently the DVD is retailing on play.com for £9.99 and I think that is way too much. Just about recommended.

Classification: 15

Running time: 105 minutes 

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