Fragile
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DVD Review
Ratings And Purchasing Information
Review
Movie:
Mercy Falls is an old children’s hospital set on the Isle of Wight, which is an island just off the south coast of England. The hospital is in the process of closing down with most of the patients being moved to a new development elsewhere else on the island. For eight children and a small skeleton staff this move has been delayed due to a train accident which means that all available beds in the new hospital have been taken.
Calista Flockhart plays the part of Amy, an American nurse who is getting back into nursing after taking time off after a child died in her care, The job she takes at Mercy Falls is to replace another nurse who left after some mysterious events where some of the children were sustaining broken bones in their sleep. Amy is soon introduced to all of the children and is soon drawn towards Maggie (Yasmin Murphy) who although has a reputation of making up stories is convinced that there is a “mechanical girl” called Charlotte who lives on the abandoned second floor, and is also convinced that Charlotte is the source of the attacks on the children.
Amy who works the night shift with a mostly absent on call doctor (Richard Roxburgh) and Matt (Daniel Ortiz) until the hospital move has been completed is eventually spooked into believing that the noises and odd events that seem to happen at night are more than just creaking pipes and floors and ends up thinking that Charlotte, the Mechanical Girl is not a make believe story created by Maggie.
The setting of a old hospital is not going to win any awards for originality for the setting of a ghost story, but, with that said, the location does create a spooky location for the telling of this particular story; this is helped by both Cinematographer Xavi Giménez using some interesting camera shots to add interest to some scenes that may otherwise have been bland and boring and Director Jaume Balagueró using the intrinsically, maze like location of a mostly deserted hospital very much to his advantage with the clinical but airy hospital rooms and corridors of the day time operation very much in contrast with the dark, shadow filled labyrinth that those very same rooms and corridors become at night I myself can remember on a few visits to old hospitals in my youth passing seemingly deserted corridors where no-one seems to venture, and it was all enough to get the imagination flowing then, so I felt that the location lent a good deal of atmosphere.
Cast wise there was no obvious weak links. Flockhart portrays the slightly nervous Amy well, giving us the right amount of emotion and trepidation that anyone would have stepping back into a job where another, similar job did not hold fond memories. She seems to be on a knife edge fearing that what happened in a previous role does not come back to haunt her here. Although this aspect of her character is not explored much further and really does not need to by part of the psyche of her character in order for the film to work, but its never really a distraction to the actual story being told. Roxburgh as Dr Richard Marcus oozes doctor like authority for most of the movie although towards the end I was asking myself “why are you there” when seeing him in a room whilst he was needed elsewhere. I am leaving that point purposefully vague as I do not want to give away any spoilers.
Most of the other adult supporting actors fill their roles with ease, being believable within each of their individual roles although Gemma Jones who plays the constantly aloof Mrs Folder has a stick your head in the sand mentality which frustrates, particularly in the last third of the movie. The kids I think do themselves credit, the main child with screen time being Yasmin Murphy who plays Maggie, does a very good job although can come across as a tad stiff on occasion. She seems to have more contact with the ghost than any of the other kids and her character always struck me as having a slightly possessed feel to it which heightened the tension when she was in the shot as you always feel that something is going to happen around her.
Balagueró has, much to my relief, opted for more of a suspense-like take to Fragile. Providing a few jumps and scares but using the locations and the suggestion of something that may happen to good effect in creating a spooky film. Movies such as Hostel which use excessive gore in order to scare or shock people I find are often lacking in decent storyline and use that gore to cover over a very lacking script. Of course as well as the directors and cinematographer skill in telling the story the musical score is equally as important. Roque Baños’ music, although sometimes a little over-the-top in the dramatic sense is mostly subtle and unobtrusive and finishes off what is an above average ghost story.
Another area that people are going to focus on, particularly in a film such as this, are the special effects. Whilst special effects do not make or break a movie they certainly need to be done well and be believable. If badly done they will spoil a film. Fragile does well here, a couple of the kids receive broken bones and the effects used to shown that certainly make you cringe although on one occasion I did think that the recipient of the broken limb would be screaming in much more agony then they were. Other effects such as the “ghost” of Charlotte is sufficiently gross as elicited a few “yucks” in my house from the people that were watching it, which being a horror/ghost story are all plus points for the movie.
Extras:
There is a short making off which interviews some of the actors and digs into the characters a little more. This runs at just under 7 minutes and isn’t particularly revealing and does cover much, if anything, that you have not been able to work put yourself from watching the film.
Overall:
Fragile is Spanish director Jaume Balagueró’s third feature film (the others being The Nameless (1999) and Darkness (2002) and he has come up with a nice, interesting story, filled with characters that you care about. It will not be the best movie of the genre that you are likely to see but has enough within it for me to recommend as a purchase.
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