The Orphanage
by Juan Antonio Bayona
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Mabel Rivera, Montserrat Carulla, Roger PríncepDirector: Juan Antonio Bayona
Brand: NEW Line Home Video
Cinematographer: Oscar Faura
Composer: Fernando Velázquez
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-04-22
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Model: 1000038293
Studio: New Line Home Video
Product features:
- Academy-Award nominated filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro (director of Pan's Labyrinth) presents The Orphanage, a chilling ghost story about a woman who discovers dark and horrific secrets hidden within her cherished childhood home and her desperate attempt to rescue her family from the nightmare into which she unwittingly led them.Running Time: 105 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rati
Movie Reviews of The Orphanage
Movie Review: Children of the Damned
Summary: 5 Stars
Despite what you may have heard from critics, I've found 2007 to be a disappointing year. I have been unable to find one film that truly touched me. Every year I like to make a "top ten" list on amazon of my favorite films of the year. This year I can't do it. I cannot think of ten films that touched me on a personal and profound level. For all the talk this year about films such as "Juno" and "No Country for Old Men", both which I found to be a little over-rated, nothing spoke to me. No film involved me from beginning to end. That is until I saw this film.
Juan Antonio Bayona's "The Orphanage" is a magical nightmare. What appears to be taking us on a journey to hell actually becomes a sentimental, poignant, creepy, psychological, suspenseful, horror masterpiece. It is the best film of the year! And to think, this is the feature lenght debut film of Bayona's. He doesn't have many short films to his credit, he has even directed a music video, but, if he continues to make films of this quality, we have a new talent on our hands and I will eagerly await each and every single one of his films.
"The Orphanage" stars Belen Rueda as Laura. Laura grew up in a orphanage and has decided to move back to the orphanage to live and start her own orphanage along with her husband, Carlos (Fernando Cayo) and their adopted son, Simon (Roger Princep). Laura wants to give back. She knows the struggles these children go through. It is the least she can do for them.
Sadly Laura's good intentions don't work out. Her son talks of imaginary friends who like to play treasure hunt games and walk around with sack masks. They also tell the boy secrets which his parents do not think he is old enough to understand. One day Simon's child care worker shows up, Benigna (Montserrat Carulla) inquiring about they boy. And this is where our journey really starts to begin.
To say more about the plot would be a fool's mistake. I'd ruin it for you. The film works best when you just know the basics of the plot. What I would like to discuss though is the way Bayona sets up the film. It is a wounderous blend of horror, shock and drama and psychological suspense. The film never goes for an easy scare. The film plays with our mind. Just when we think some cliche cinematic scare is going to happen it doesn't. It is the unknown which scares us. The "what if" factor. What if that was me, what would I do? Once we put ourselves into the character's shoes we are hooked.
The film was produced by Guillermo de Toro who gave us one of last year's masterpieces "Pan's Labyrinth". There are some similarities between the two films. The messages are just about the same but I won't go into details for fear of spoiling the film.
The performances across the board are effective. Everyone is believeable in their character adding a certain human dimension which fleshes them out. The most effective performance though is given by Rueda as the mother. We go on this journey with her every step of the way. We feel her pain and share her delight at every turn. And I haven't been able to say that about many other characters I've seen in films this year.
Unfortunately critics haven't been hyping the film the way they have others, a shame. I hope audiences will seek the film out on their own. That is why much is being made of the fact de Toro produced it, hoping audiences will associate it with "Pan's Labyrinth" and go see it. The film has gotten a few award nominations including the Chicago Film Critics award for "Best Foreign Film" and it almost swept the Barcelona Film Awards taking "Best Picture". It is even Spain's official Oscar entry for next year's show.
Will my review inspire others to see the film? I doubt it. But if enough people tell their friends about it the film could pick up a lot of word of mouth. The audience I saw this film with seemed very pleased with it. We all jumped out of our seats at the right moments and got choked up at the sentimental moments. The entire audience was engaged, a few people were shouting at the screen. This should be a real audience pleaser. And that's why I think it's the year's best film!
Bottom-line: The best film of 2007! No film has come as close to touching me on a personal level. Juan Antonio Bayona has made a magical nightmare. A sentimental, poignant, creepy, psychological, suspenseful, horror masterpiece.
Summary of The Orphanage
ORPHANAGE - DVD MovieIt's only his first film, but Spain?s Juan Antonio Bayona has already figured out the secret to a successful supernatural thriller: emphasize character over special effects. Like Walter Salles's Dark Water and Alejandro Amenábar's The Others, The Orphanage pivots on a pretty woman and an unusual child. When her old orphanage goes on the market, Laura (Belén Rueda, Amenábar's The Sea Inside) and Carlos (Fernando Cayo) settle in with their son, Simón (Roger Príncep). Once acclimated to the remote seaside surroundings, they plan to re-open it as a home for special-needs children. Meanwhile, their seven-year-old doesn't know he's adopted or that he has a life-threatening illness. He does, however, have a lot of imaginary playmates. When Simón disappears without a trace, his parents contact the police, but to no avail. Because Laura has been hearing odd noises and having strange visions, they proceed to consult a medium. Aurora (Geraldine Chaplin, speaking perfect Spanish) is convinced they aren't alone. Carlos has his doubts, but Laura makes like a detective and revisits her childhood--through photographs, home movies, and exploration of the spooky stone manor--to determine who or what abducted her son. Produced and presented by Guillermo Del Toro, The Orphanage is less fanciful than his works, though it does bear a vague resemblance to the ghostly Devil's Backbone. There are a few gory make-up effects, but Bayona mostly preys on our fear of the unknown to craft a first-rate fright fest. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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