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Harvey Karten's Reviews

Review: The Orphanage

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#1 of 1 Posted 9/27/07 9:52 PM

From harveykarten Posts 798 Last Feb-7
To All [Msg # 22662.1 ]

THE ORPHANAGE (El Orphanato)

Reviewed for CompuServe by Harvey S. Karten
Picturehouse
Grade: B
Directed by:    Juan Antonio Bayona
Written By: Sergio G. Sanchez
Cast:   Belen Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Princep, Montserrat Carulla, Andrew Gertrudix, Edgar
Vivar, Geraldine Chaplin
Screened at: Review 1, NYC, 9/27/07
Opens: December 28, 2007

Juan Antonio Bayona's film is a ghost story, but unlike teen versions of the genre, this one has a lot of
class. Filmed in the Spanish city of Llanes in the lightly-touristed province of Asturias, "The Orphanage"
features the usual suspects: surprise ending, though one which the close listener will find telegraphed an
hour into the story; spooky caves, the better to have characters disappear while their guardians shout
and cry "Where are you?"; doors that open slowly and with creaks, making sure that the audience
savors the twisting of the handles, then the surprise of the loud thump shut; and ghosts, which of course
only some people can see, looking with condescension on their elders who are too mature to have any
imagination. (Think of the superiority complex that young Cole Sear exudes in M. Night Shyamalan's
"The Sixth Sense," when he sees dead people while not even an adult with a doctor's degree has a
clue!)

The picture centers on middle-aged Laura (Belen Rueda), whom we see first at the age of seven playing
a game of "uno, dos, tres" while romping around the ground of an orphanage with her happy friends.
Laura is adopted to her regret, apparently, and can't get the orphanage out of her mind–so much so that
she is determined to return with her husband, Carlos (Fernando Cayo) and fill the place with a half-
dozen sick and disabled children. Her favorite is her own adopted son, Simon (Roger Princep), who
knows nothing of his own serious illness or even the fact of his adoption. When he disappears while
chasing his imaginary friend Tomas (well, he's not really imaginary, but what do adults know?), his mom
is frantic, calls in a medium, Aurora, (Geraldine Chaplin) and a police scientist, Pilar (Mabel Ribera), but
is disgusted when a social worker appears challenging Laura's provisions for Simon.

Though Belen Rueda is a fine actress who can hold the picture together for its entire one hundred
minutes, the chills would not be half as frightening were it not for Fernando Valezquez's scary,
sometimes bombastic, music. Oscar Faura's lenses contrast the bright, sunny outdoors with the somber
area of the children's beds. Despite the cliches, which are really hard to transcend in a campfire-style
ghost tale, there's much to admire in Sergio G. Sanchez's script, which focuses both realistically and
metaphorically on the pain of great loss.

"El Orfanato" was chosen to play at the 2007 New York Film Festival.

Rated R.    100 minutes   © 2007 by Harvey Karten Member: NY Film Critics Online

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Harvey Karten's Reviews

Review: The Orphanage

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