The Orphanage - A Haunting Masterpiece...

Wow! This film is amazing! You need to watch it! But, wait. Before you go off to order it, have a quick read of my review to see why it is such an amazing movie...

After recently watching Pan's Labyrinth and loving it, I decided to see more of producer-director Guillermo Del Toro's films. After a recommendation from a good friend of mine, I bought The Orphanage (El Orfanato) on DVD and watched it shortly after it arrived. After finishing watching it, I went online and ordered another three of Del Toro's movies.

I have a favourite producer-director at last! I'm not sure I've ever had one before, except maybe Steven Spielberg in the 1980s. Guillermo Del Toro's films really seem to speak to me. I love their fantasy quality, the surreal fairytale feel to them and the way life and death, reality and make-believe don't always have the definitive edges you expect them to.

The Orphanage is more realistic than Pan's Labyrinth and has no mythical monsters in it, but again, it captivates, charms and compels. I felt I was completely enveloped by the story and felt annoyed when my husband came home from work to break the atmosphere!

The story begins with scenes from an orphanage and children playing in the grounds of the big house. It then forwards to the present day and we meet Laura (Belen Rueda) who used to be an orphan in this very house, but is now an adult, happily married to Carlos (Fernando Cayo) and mother to a young boy, Simon (Roger Princep). It is Laura's dream to re-open the house for a small group of disabled children.

Simon is an unusual little boy who enjoys spending time playing with his imaginary friends. When he goes missing one day, Laura begins to wonder if these imaginary friends are somehow involved in his disappearance...

Hopefully this has whetted your appetite, but hasn't given away too much. It is essentially a ghost story, I suppose, but has elements of several genres in there, including drama and thriller. I wouldn't class it as a horror movie, as it is more spooky and chilling than horrific and frightening. There is very little gore, just one slightly gruesome scene, but it is the kind of film that wraps itself around you and seeps into your mind.

I found the boy with the sack mask quite a disturbing sight, but I dislike scarecrows and find them rather scary and I think that is what it reminded me of. But this is one of those clever films that create a mood, a tension, with beautiful cinematography - misty corridors, shadowy figures, a glimpse of something in the corner, a silent and invisible threat. I do wish more modern films would realise this and not think two hours of guts being dragged across the screen makes a scary movie! (Stand up, 2010's The Wolfman!)

Most of the action takes place in the house itself, which gives a claustrophobic feel to it all. The house is situated near to the sea and caves, which are both beautiful and threatening and these locations are well used too.

The acting is wonderful throughout with not a bad performance in sight. Belen Rueda is completely convincing and as a mother myself, I could really understand the pain she was going through. Restrained and never over the top, she portrayed the stress and worry beautifully, with grief and time etching lines into her face until it seems unable to ever smile again.

Roger Princep was nine years old when he played Simon and again, his portrayal is perfect. He retains an innocence and vulnerability of a child his age, while somehow adding that extra layer, which makes us watching it really question the existence of his imaginary friends. He also achieves that difficult balance child actors face by being cute, but not sickly sweet.

Another performance worthy of note is American actress Geraldine Chaplin, who plays Aurora, the medium Laura calls in, to see if she can shed any light on the whereabouts of the missing Simon. This is one of the tensest sequences in The Orphanage and Chaplin is both unnerving and reassuring as Aurora.

The film is beautiful. It is visually a treat, but also draws you in with the intriguing story and excellent acting. It is painfully sad at times and incredibly moving, but the adjective I would choose to use for the film as a whole is 'haunting'. I have a feeling this will stay in my mind for a long time.

The ending was really well done too. This genre of movies can so easily be ruined by an ending that seems too idealistic or twee, but The Orphanage hits just the right note. In a similar way to Pan's Labyrinth, it is open to interpretation, but I was satisfied with the way it ended.

As I haven't yet mentioned it, this is a Spanish film with English subtitles and I know that can put some people off, but don't let it. It only took a few minutes before I was so into the story, I hardly noticed I was reading subtitles. It certainly didn't detract from the experience at all.

I can't wait to watch more of Del Toro's films. He's a genius.
The Orphanage is outstanding. Watch it. Remember it.