Review of The Orphanage

The Orphanage Was Outstanding

*Forewarning: this review contains movie spoilers* From the director of Pan’s Labyrinth comes another moving and haunting tale of supernatural powers and youthful imagination. Not only was this film disturbing and frightening in certain scenes, it portrayed the real-life horror of missing and losing a child. Guillermo del Toro seems to have a fascination with placing the innocent lives of children in painful and traumatic adult experiences: Ofelia in Pan’s Labyrinth suffered the coldness and pain of her mother, her mother’s death through childbirth, the tyrannical rein of her step-father and eventually her own death from his gun). He has come to be a film leader and a sort of spokesperson for the beauty and beliefs of his Spanish heritage and culture which are clearly visible in his work. In The Orphanage, the leading male character is the adopted son who was born affected with HIV and dies a terrible and early death from a fall while playing a “hide-and-seek” game in the basement. The son disappears during a house party after an argument with his mother who was fantastically played by Belen Rueda. Simon stays missing for 9 months. The most morbid twist of his death is the fact that Laura his mother could have saved him; the sound of banging she previously heard while searching for him through the house was him trying to reach her through the walls. In a very moving ending you would have never guessed it turns out his death was an accident and not an paranormal abduction; he was always there. Del Toro did a breathtaking job of creating a sense of suspense and evoking strong emotions through his film. The opening scene in the beginning where Laura was playing a child’s game similar to Marco Polo with her friends at the orphanage foreshadowed the climatic shot before she found Simon. Nothing to me was more frightening; you knew the ghosts were coming closer to her each time she counted to three and turned around. Not surprisingly, Del Toro leaves the ending strictly up to your personal interpretation. Whether you believe that the faith in the supernatural and paranormal prevailed or that it was only logic and superstition that led to two untimely deaths, you walk away with a piece of sympathy and closure. This film gave strength to its fictional characters as well as the audience who may or may not have been able to relate. It artistically portrays the most undeniable aspects of life: the unbreakable bond between child and parent, faith in the unknown and unseen, the question of life after death, the suffering and loneliness that comes with loss, and of course, the innocence and purity of our childhood.

Posted on 01/29/08 by: Penny Kim 10:04 PM