Friday, May 16, 2008

The Orphanage (2007) ****1/2



The Orphanage (2007), directed by Juan Antonio Bayona and produced by Guillermo del Toro,is another amazing movie.

I am afraid this is the saddest thriller movie I have ever seen. A movie critic once said that critics usually hail tearjerkers since a power to touch one's heart usually make people wanna cry. When a tearjerker was not meant to be sentimental (especially when it was meant to scare you), it has great potential to achieve something extraordinary.

At the end of the movie a blind girl gently touched the mother's face while another boy cried out, "It's Laura. She is just getting older, just like Wendy." This moment immediately triggered my tears all over my face.

Since the producer is del Toro, I can't help associate "Pan's Labyrinth" with this film, and am glad to see the consistency of beauty mixed with melancholy in these two stories.

This is absolutely one of the best thriller films in the past decade!