The OrphanageWednesday, 4th June 2008THE ORPHANAGE
Just over a year ago the Curzon Cinema screened Pan’s Labyrinth to great acclaim: that film triumphantly displayed the imaginative skills of its writer/director Guillermo del Toro and is now regarded world-wide as a modern classic of cinema. One consequence is that del Toro’s name is now being used to promote another subtitled Spanish language film The Orphanage which plays at the Curzon Cinema next Wednesday. This new film was not directed by del Toro but he is one of its producers.
In many cases it would be rather misleading to advertise a film by stressing the name of a man who is neither its writer nor its director, but in this instance it is wholly justified. The Orphanage is a first feature by J.A. Bayona and del Toro went out of his way to enable Bayona to get his film made because he recognised his potential: to regard del Toro as Bayona’s mentor would hardly be an exaggeration and The Orphanage displays a visual distinction and a sinister sense of atmosphere that will recommend it to all who applauded Pan’s Labyrinth.
However, it should also be stressed that there is less brutality here than in the earlier picture, for this is no horror film but a ghost story in the tradition of The Innocents (the film version of The Turn of the Screw) and of The Others which featured Nicole Kidman. This time the story concerns a woman who returns to an orphanage which had been her home as a child. She has plans to turn it into a place for children with special needs, but she is soon distracted by the behaviour of her own adopted son a boy aged seven. This child, Simón, claims to have found friends there who would appear to be imaginary and he subsequently disappears. Could these ‘friends’ be the spirits of dead children and what has actually happened to Simón? Bayona makes of all this a gripping tale, one that takes you into its own world and he’s helped by the wonderful performance of lead actress Belén Rueda. It’s hardly surprising that this Spanish film has found such favour with British audiences enticed by its enveloping sense of mystery and unease.
From Eastbourne Herald 29 May
