The Orphanage/ El Orfanato

The Orphanage is definitely one of the best Spanish films I’ve watched. And the funny thing, I’m actually not much of a fan of the horror genre. But in my eyes, The Orphanage is art. It mixes horror with heart.

The story revolves around a former orphanage. Laura, together with her husband, Carlos, and her adopted son, Simon, moves in to that orphanage where she was brought up. Laura, together with her husband, decides to re-open the orphanage to six new orphans around the location. Simon, who is HIV positive, then claims that he has invisible friends, but Laura thinks it is just his wild imagination. At the opening party, Simon asks Laura to see the house of his “friend”, Tomas. Laura refuses, and Simon is upset. Simon disappears during the party, and Laura comes to the deduction that his ghost friends have taken him away. Laura then makes a police report, and also consults a parapsychologist. Drama continues…

This is the first time the director, Juan Antonio Bayona, is directing a full feature film. And I must say, it’s a pretty impressive debut. Bayona has chosen to shoot the film in an eerie way, and has chosen to let our imaginations take over.
The film starts off with a simple scene of kids playing in a garden. We then see a caretaker picking up a phone, and her walking out to the garden to call out a girl Laura, as a family has decided to adopt her. We then hear the soundtrack getting creepier and creepier, and as Laura shouts, “ I got you”, it turns to a black screen. It is a fantastic way to start the film, giving the audience a little discomfort. Simple yet effective.
The opening credit sequence was brilliantly designed, having old wallpapers ripped off by orphans’ hands. And along with the soundtrack, it establishes the mood and theme of the whole film. I’m not sure if it’s just me, but the credits gave me the creeps. The soundtrack of The Orphanage is outstanding, giving discomfort to the whole film. There is this particular scene when Laura finds an old woman at her house with a digging spade in the middle of the night. With the use of high pitch music, it made the scene much more scarier. It reminds me of the famous Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho scene.

The film maintains its tension throughout the film, with shots of creepy empty hallways, with the aid of its soundtrack. Bayona has chosen to let our minds do the imagination rather than to show it to us. There is this scene in the cave where Simon is talking to someone, and is shining his torchlight against the rocks. We see nothing at the rocks, but, we know, there is something out there. All the empty hallways, the metal sounds in the house, we know the ghosts are out there, but we don’t see them.

Unlike most B grade horror films, which have weak plots and thrive on cheap scares, The Orphanage is an old-fashioned horror film with heart. It accumulates tension from the first minute to the end of the film, with burst of tension at some parts. We can feel the sorrow of the film, the story about a mom doing everything she can to find her adopted son. One of the reasons why she is doing that is because of the fact that she was an orphan herself. I love the twist of the story, and it just makes the viewers shudder with sympathy for the mother. Belén Rueda’s (Laura) acting was so convincing that it made me feel for her. Laura relentless pursuit to find her son touched me.

I’d say the best scene of the whole film was a long take for about a minute. Laura is playing a game with the ghosts, where she says,” one, two, three, touch on the wall”, and when she turns around, the ghosts around her approaching must freeze. We see the young Laura playing that in the first sequence too. This long take is held in a dark room, and every time Laura turns, we see ghosts of orphans closing in on Laura. In our mind, we are wondering when the ghosts will finally reach her. This scene is fantastic, and is definitely the scene to look out for.

The Orphanage is a genuine horror film, disturbing, powerful, yet has its soft and tender moments. It’s one of the few complete horror films out there, and it’s definitely worth watching. At least twice.

- Foong Yan Qiu