Two films:The Orphanage and Let the Right One In at The Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, London
Two films: The Orphanage and Let the Right One In at The Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, London
Two films about abused youth, bizarre, empty canvasses filled with emotional blancmange, manipulative, bare and yet in some sense beguiling. The Orphanage (dir Juan Antonio Bayona, 2008) seems to me to be more of the usual politically correct tripe that Spain is capable of, mixing gore, sentiment, emotional manipulation, spurious anti-fascism and not a lot of blood in the manner of Guilermo Del Torros even though this film isn't quite up to his usual high standards (unsurprisingly he happens to be executive producer of The Orphanage). The orphanage is a place where unloved children are placed, usually to be abused (who wrote this script?) and some of those children turn up later thanks to a passing expert on the paranormal. The Paranormal, Catholic Spain viewed through a modern day agnostic filter and lugubrious long shots of the gloomy orphanage, tripe about kids murdered in the basement and a morbidity that's as Catholic as Spain is all make this a film I could hardly warm to, probably because it half believes in its own paranormal premise.
Nothing very shocking but the final curtain the only slight tremor of a shock. The narrative and characters held no surprises so little point recounting here. This is a film by a director yet to find his own voice. The second film Let the Right One in (dir Tomas Alfredson, 2009) is a film hung together with an albeit bizarre Gothic premise but with narrative inconsistencies and laugh out loud unintentional hilariousness. Young Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) is being bullied and yet he finds an unlikely friend in Eli (Lina Leandersson) who happens to be a 'good' vampire who goes about setting wrongs right. Eli's reclusive father (played by Per Ragner) is a slasher cum serial killer, draining the blood of his victims, eventually having his blood drained in turn by Eli after his arrest and hospitalisation. Eli then sets upon a woman, Virginia, draining her blood and fleeing. Virginia begins to turn, well, a bit pale, and visits the apartment of the eccentric Gostas. Its unclear why Eli decides to attack Virginia (except that women, by being housewives, mothers, girlfriends, also drain men's blood!!!) but she is attacked by Gosta's cats in a laugh out loud scene of unintentional hilariousness and is then seemingly set on fire by the sun, since a nurse accidentally draws the curtains (whoops!). Eli is seemingly androgynous yet an unlikely sexuality underpins her relationship with Oskar, since he takes pains to notice that her vagina is sewn or sealed up. The final scene is definitely naively hilarious and the whole film is engagingly naive, often touching yet also a bit pathetic in its silly and inconsistent misogyny and other lapses. Therefore a naive effort from a director who seems to have hit on something, yet this requires immense development too. The Riverside Studios is definitely a good place to watch films since the facilities are excellent, such as the bar/restaurant where its possible to eat great food and quite reasonably too. There are also temporary art exhibitions in the foyer and a pleasant ambience combining the heat and rush of London with the relaxing pleasures of the River Thames which can be viewed from the beer garden.
Paul Murphy, Riverside Studios, London
Two films about abused youth, bizarre, empty canvasses filled with emotional blancmange, manipulative, bare and yet in some sense beguiling. The Orphanage (dir Juan Antonio Bayona, 2008) seems to me to be more of the usual politically correct tripe that Spain is capable of, mixing gore, sentiment, emotional manipulation, spurious anti-fascism and not a lot of blood in the manner of Guilermo Del Torros even though this film isn't quite up to his usual high standards (unsurprisingly he happens to be executive producer of The Orphanage). The orphanage is a place where unloved children are placed, usually to be abused (who wrote this script?) and some of those children turn up later thanks to a passing expert on the paranormal. The Paranormal, Catholic Spain viewed through a modern day agnostic filter and lugubrious long shots of the gloomy orphanage, tripe about kids murdered in the basement and a morbidity that's as Catholic as Spain is all make this a film I could hardly warm to, probably because it half believes in its own paranormal premise.
Nothing very shocking but the final curtain the only slight tremor of a shock. The narrative and characters held no surprises so little point recounting here. This is a film by a director yet to find his own voice. The second film Let the Right One in (dir Tomas Alfredson, 2009) is a film hung together with an albeit bizarre Gothic premise but with narrative inconsistencies and laugh out loud unintentional hilariousness. Young Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) is being bullied and yet he finds an unlikely friend in Eli (Lina Leandersson) who happens to be a 'good' vampire who goes about setting wrongs right. Eli's reclusive father (played by Per Ragner) is a slasher cum serial killer, draining the blood of his victims, eventually having his blood drained in turn by Eli after his arrest and hospitalisation. Eli then sets upon a woman, Virginia, draining her blood and fleeing. Virginia begins to turn, well, a bit pale, and visits the apartment of the eccentric Gostas. Its unclear why Eli decides to attack Virginia (except that women, by being housewives, mothers, girlfriends, also drain men's blood!!!) but she is attacked by Gosta's cats in a laugh out loud scene of unintentional hilariousness and is then seemingly set on fire by the sun, since a nurse accidentally draws the curtains (whoops!). Eli is seemingly androgynous yet an unlikely sexuality underpins her relationship with Oskar, since he takes pains to notice that her vagina is sewn or sealed up. The final scene is definitely naively hilarious and the whole film is engagingly naive, often touching yet also a bit pathetic in its silly and inconsistent misogyny and other lapses. Therefore a naive effort from a director who seems to have hit on something, yet this requires immense development too. The Riverside Studios is definitely a good place to watch films since the facilities are excellent, such as the bar/restaurant where its possible to eat great food and quite reasonably too. There are also temporary art exhibitions in the foyer and a pleasant ambience combining the heat and rush of London with the relaxing pleasures of the River Thames which can be viewed from the beer garden.
Paul Murphy, Riverside Studios, London
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