| THE ORPHANAGE (2007) : J.A.Bayona : 7/10 |
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 Let us now praise a famous woman: Geraldine Chaplin, to be precise. Famous since birth, but often oddly undervalued - perhaps because of the way she's been active in several different countries over the decades, including long spells in Spain (she was Carlos Saura's partner for many years). Hollywood's loss has been Spain's gain, however: as The Orphanage reminds us, this is simply too strong and unique a screen presence (those eyes! those cheekbones!) to be overlooked or taken for granted. Chaplin has only a relatively small supporting role in this spooky chiller - one which combines elements of, to name only the most obvious antecedents, The Haunting and The Others - but it was enough to get her nominated for a Goya award (Spain's equivalent to the Oscars). As hyper-sensitive medium Aurora she provides a welcome injection of classy energy just when the picture needs it, setting us up for what turns into a genuinely startling and unexpectedly moving final act - one which treads a tricky line between supernatural and psychological 'explanations'. To go into the hows and whys of the climax would, of course, be grossly unfair - indeed, as with most films of this type, it's best to enter The Orphanage knowing as little about it as possible. Audiences of what used to be called a "nervous disposition" should, however, take warning. Even the sternest and most battle-hardened of moviegoers will find themselves jumping out of their seat on two, perhaps three (possibly four occasions) - though in terms of explicit gory nastiness, there's really only the one, brief moment that might cause milky stomachs to flip. A hint to the timid: when the doctor tries mouth-to-mouth rescuscitation, look away for a minute. Said medic is Carlos (Fernando Cayo), husband of protagonist Laura (Belén Rueda) - they're a thirtysomething couple whose young son Simon (Roger Príncep) is (a) adopted and (b) HIV-positive, facts which the little lad's parents are (understandably) keen to shield him from until he's a little older. Laura herself was an adoptee: as we see in the film's brief, ominous prologue, she lived in a coastal orphanage in the remote Asturias province until she was roughly Simon's age (six?). Three decades on, Laura and Carlos purchase the rambling mansion, with the aim of making it into a home for special-needs children. It isn't long after moving in, however, that Laura becomes troubled by nocturnal noises, strange visitors - and imaginative, precocious Simon's talk of the new "friends" he's met in and around the house. But who are these "friends" - and what do they want? Skeptical viewers will have a field day picking apart The Orphanage's implausibilities, contrivances, coincidences and unanswered questions - such as, most prosaically, what do Carlos and Laura do for money? How do they afford to buy such a vast pile - and continue to live in it, month after month, without any cash coming in? But most won't have time to dwell on such issues - they'll be too absorbed in what is, by any standards, a slickly-constructed page-turner of a thriller that, as well as those brilliantly-choreographed "BOO!" moments, presents a series of intriguing, interlocking mysteries. In retrospect, there are various loose and dead ends in Sergio G. Sánchez's screenplay - the kind of thing that drives audiences back to the cinema for a second viewing (perhaps explaining the picture's record-breaking success in its native land). But whatever flaws the movie possesses - on several occasions director Bayona's polished stylishness becomes excessively conspicuous and distracting - are easily outweighed by the power of those final-act developments (which, without going into detail, owe a certain debt to a certain high-profile hit by The Orphanage's producer, Guillermo Del Toro.) Fingers crossed that the already-discussed Hollywood remake - which will hopefully play down the tale's surprising (and surely inadvertent) similarities to 2005's British-shot clunker The Dark - retains the ambiguities and poetically poignant delicacy of Bayona and Sánchez's remarkable penultimate sequence. And let's hope the American studio has the grace and sense to again cast the expertly-bilingual Chaplin as Aurora - indeed, give her a little more to do, and that ludicrously-overdue first Oscar nomination might finally come her way. Neil Young 3/4.Apr.08 -------------------------------------------------------------------- El Orfanato Spain (/Mex) 106m (BBFC timing) director : J.A. Bayona (debut feature) full name : Juan Antonio Bayona editor : Elena Ruiz (Moscow Zero.) seen 2.Apr.08 Nottingham (Broadway : £6.20)
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