The Orphanage (2007) Review
Poster
The Orphanage
Release Year: 2007
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes
Viewer’s Rating: 9/10
“You hear but you do not listen. Do not see to believe, believe to see.”
On October 11, 2007, Mexican producer Guillermo del Toro (director and producer of Pan’s Labyrinth) and Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona released a frightening yet a moving film that became a winner of 7 Goya Awards (Spanish equivalent to the American Academy Awards) – including Best New Director and Best Original Screenplay. It had also become a nominee of 14 Goya Awards in addition to being nominee of Best Foreign Language Film in the Academy Awards.
The Orphanage is about a woman named Laura (Belen Rueda, nominee of Best Actress) who moves into a house with her husband Carlos and their adopted son Simon (Roger Princep, nominee of Best Breakthrough Actor). The house is a former orphanage where Laura was raised and she and Carlos plan to reopen the house as an orphanage for handicapped children. On the opening day, after an argument between Laura and Simon, Laura is attacked by a mysterious masked boy and Simon vanishes without a trace. During the months of search for her son, Laura begins to feel presence of Simon’s five “imaginary” friends and strange supernatural-like events begin occurring within the house. Desperate, Laura investigates the past events of what happened at the orphanage, in attempt to connect them with her son’s disappearance.
From the opening sequence of the movie, there is an eerie aura that this film sets upon the audience. Perhaps it is the music composed by Fernando Velazquez (nominee of Best Original Score) or the sounds of the old house creaking and unseen children laughing and also screaming in pain (this film won an award for Best Sound Mixing). Even the audio alone can scare the audience. Visually, the setting is also creepy. The house is hauntingly beautiful yet the audience knows that trouble will brew and bring devastation upon the family that moves in there. There is also a dark cave near the beach, where Simon meets a new friend. His adoptive parents think that this friend is imaginary, but the audience knows that this is not the case, as there are footprints in the cave that clearly do not belong to Simon. And soon afterwards, Simon makes more “imaginary” friends and these friends reveal to him that he is adopted and another truth that creates a strain between him and his adoptive parents.
Don’t expect much blood and gore from this film since there isn’t much of it – except for one disturbing scene. What really makes this film so scary is the continuous tension-rising elements the film gives with the use of the camera’s zooming in effect and the mounting volume of the music. The audience also feels anxious whenever the shot of the rusty and creaky roundabout spins against the breeze as this usually means that something unfortunate is about to occur. There are a few surprising jumpy moments but some of them can still send chills to the audience even without the aid of music and booming sound effects. What terrified me the most was how one of Simon’s “imaginary” friends’ names is Alicia (my name) and the name of the medium who helps Laura investigate her adopted son’s disappearance is Aurora (my nickname).
Again yet not so surprisingly, the rights to produce an English-language remake was bought by New Line Cinema in 2007. For Pete’s sakes, can’t people just read subtitles or at least hire talented voice-actors to make dubbings? Dear American film industries, please get some original ideas for once!
The Orphanage is a touching drama mixed with horrific supernatural features. Usually these two genres aren’t compatible but this film makes these two compatible. You can feel the mother’s love and desperation to find her missing child but you can also feel her terror as she unravels the mystery in the house. There is a shocking and sad twist-revelation near the end yet the conclusion of the film is very heartwarming and will leave you smiling or even make your eyes well up with tears. The Orphanage and [•Rec] (see my first review) are the best 2007 horror movies I’ve seen this year. *claps* Great job, Spain. Great job.
Greets! Really amazing. Big ups!