The Orphanage

The Orphanage (El Orfanato) is a film by produced by Mexican director/producer Guillermo Del Toro. It was shown at the Cannes Film Festival and had a limited domestic release in 2007. Set in present-day Spain, the film is about a woman who returns to the orphanage where she spent her early childhood only to find that the events of the past still linger in the house.

Fast Facts

1. Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona
2. Produced by Guillermo del Toro, [[ Mar Targarona], Álvaro Agustín, Joaquín Padro
3. Written by Sergio G. Sánchez
4. Released: December 28, 2007 Limited US
5. Belén Rueda, Geraldine Chaplin, Fernando Cayo, Mabel Rivera, Roger Princep, Montserrat Carulla
6. Running Time 100 Mins

The Del Toro Method

Though The Orphanage is was not directed by Del Toro himself, it contains many of the themes found in his movies. Most obviously, the film is contains supernatural phenomena, an element in nearly all of his films. It also contains elements of unrest or trauma in the past, and how it affects the lives of the principal characters in their own time. It also explores themes of isolation, insanity, and sacrifice, themes that were prominent in Del Toro's film Pan's Labyrinth.

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