The Orphanage

[poliphilo]

I like my supernatural fiction subtle- in the English tradition of the two Jameses -Henry and M.R.- and weirdly enough it's the Spanish who are telling those kind of stories these days. You'd think- traditional enemies- Drake, Hawkins, the Armada and all that- we'd have little in common, but when it comes to ghosts we're in tune- we like or fear the same things. Maybe it's something to do with being peoples of the Atlantic seaboard (I don't know, I'm clutching at straws here). Del Toro (he's Mexican but films in Spain) is the main man, but there are others. and the Orphanage- which del Toro produced- is firmly in the tradition. It's got the creaky old house, the spooky kids, the suddenly slamming doors- and tightens the Anglo-Iberian connection by riffing off Peter Pan. Also it's not dumb. As a bonne bouche it boasts a cameo from Geraldine Chaplin.  With her funny little monkey face and her daddy's big shiny eyes she's someone I'm always glad to see. 

Comments

[burkesworks.livejournal.com]

Good to see Geraldine's still around and working; anyone who was a regular for both Robert Altman and Alan Rudolph is doing something right.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

She's been in a lot of excellent movies.

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

Professors of genetics tell us that there is evidence that most of Western Britain and Ireland were populated by Celtic people from north-western Spain and southern France, presumably in boats; the Firbolg, the Tuatha De Dannan, the Picts, maybe? Our common storytelling roots go back a long way.

Is that Benicio Del Toro you are talking about? He was fabulous as the Mexican cop in Soderberg's "Traffic".

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

How interesting. So we and the Spanish are essentially the same people. That makes sense to me.

No not Benicio, Guillermo- the director of Pan's Labyrinth and The Devil's Backbone. Guillermo's the guy who was originally slated to make The Hobbit.

[petercampbell.livejournal.com]

The Orphanage was a terrific film - and with a refreshingly bleak ending. And I think I love The Devil's Backbone even more.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Is it bleak? I rather think it's what the lead character wanted- to be mother to all those lost children.

I agree about The Devil's Backbone. I think it's fabulous.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

I really like that film.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's excellent.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

This movie scared me so much (I was alone in the house) that I simply couldn't finish watching it.

The beginning was wonderfully creepy.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's a proper ghost story.

Maybe you should sit down with Kate and watch it through. I liked the ending. Petercampbell (see above) says it's bleak, but I found it heart-warming in a spooky sort of way.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

I will Netflix it. Thanks, Tony--I'd forgotten about The Orphanage.

You told us about The Devil's Backbone years ago, and it was very powerful.