A mystical horror movie of 2005, which very much resembles not even the films of old man Del Toro (Devil's Ridge), but the Japanese neo-kaidan. For examples, we will not go far, take (my favorite) “Dark Waters” Nakata.
Fragility is not an American but a Spanish horror. It sounds a little strange, but let’s compare it. There's a big building. Nakata had an apartment building, Balagero had a children's hospital.
What is there, what is here, the heroine comes to this place. What is there, what is here - there is necessarily an abandoned part of the building, where (like) no one should be and there for a long time no one looked. Yes, and we immediately understand that the dog is buried there, a-hee-hee.
What Nakata has, what Balagero has – the plot revolves around an unhappy little girl. Naturally, most of the time, the characters do not want to believe in mysticism (unlike the heroes of children, whom no one really listens to), and in the second half they necessarily run into it.
It turned out to be watchable, but still secondary. We've all seen this before. The only difference is that Balagero has a small plot twist under the curtain, which shifts the focus from one character to another.
Personally, I (after “Report” and “Hell House”) find it hard to believe that “Fragile” was directed by Balagero. There was drive and energy in those horror movies. With "Fragility," it's quite the opposite. Slow storytelling. The actors play well. There are a few creepy moments. For once.
6 out of 10
There are passing films, but there are just a specific failure. I will put this film in the last category.
From the very first shots, a person accustomed to some small-scale everyday logic, and then there are questions: why do people in the frame behave so inadequately? The matter is in some constant nuances: the heroine, when she meets a new team, dramatically turns away from the speakers, without answering questions (without explaining the reasons). That night sister, making a round, begins to go to some inappropriate languid whisper and suddenly frightened sick children, making scary eyes out of nothing. The chief doctor hangs meaningfully in the frame, as if she was overcome by a sudden Alzheimer. And so frame by frame: everything is false, some overplay, and simply put – idiotic.
Heroes behave so illogically that I thought it was a special trick. Like in Lynch movies. Or in the end, it turns out that everything that happens is a metaphor, or, to the extreme, a hallucination of a hero in a coma. But no – all this cretinism is really happening, and we are encouraged to believe that adults behave like this.
And then there's fear: he's not here. Maybe if the team tried to make something that looked like reality, I'd get it. But nothing but a mixture of irritation and laughter, these attempts did not cause me.
Separate Mercy to the director for the final scenes, on which you want to wave your hand and just turn off: the hospital building is destroyed, the ceiling collapses on the heads of the heroes, but they, having gathered around them sick children (!) scream and anxiously stare into gaping multiplying cracks and flying on them plates. Perhaps a special effect about the building was imposed only later, not especially including the brain how it will look on the output, but this is such a total facap that translates the film into the category of parodies.
The actors act as if they want to take revenge on the director. The script is so secondary and simple that it fits on one page. Special effects from the sale "3 at price 1".
That rare moment when you really regret your time.
I saw this movie for the first time about a year ago. I don’t remember my emotions from this viewing, I only remember that it strongly hooked me. I loved the story and was shocked by the ending. It was brilliant.
Today, choosing the film for viewing, for some reason I decided to look at it again, however, with sadness on my soul because I already know the whole point that I will not be surprised.
But it wasn't.
I definitely got a dose of adrenaline and fear again. I enjoyed the story again. But I don't remember crying like that from the ending the previous time. God. This theme is with the dead who "stay with a number of things they like." Every time I remember that ending, that scene, those words... I literally got into this movie. The ending did its job. I don’t think she saved the movie. Nope. She only, I have the audacity to say, elevated him and imprinted on the soul a bright trace.
"Fragility" gives me that fragile hope that some people always stay close. I have everything.
10 out of 10
The classic picture of evil, vengeful ghosts - not a step to the side, everything is predictable and not at all scary. All these creaking, flashing lights and total disbelief in one’s neighbor are the main impotently frightening moments. Sound boo can only distract from boredom, but the distrust that accompanied the entire viewing, just infuriated, cinematic atavism. It’s hard to digest this, especially knowing what this director is capable of.
I will note the story itself, here it is not without horror, such a cold-blooded murderous ending, in the name of a bright feeling, shaking. But most importantly, it is not without a healthy intrigue, which will be preserved almost to the very end.
The film can be recommended for viewing, but only for ardent fans of ghost tapes or people who are able to watch the same thing with interest, and so the picture, of course, is from the category of a strong middle peasant, who lacks the courage to be different, but is sorry.
I wish someone a pleasant viewing!
Still, the Spaniards love horror movies, love mysticism. Pictures of this genre with enviable regularity are published outside their country, although Spain does not occupy a leading place in the world of cinema. Everything is connected with the style and aesthetics of such films, like the Japanese, they make horror films with their own handwriting, which has obvious differences with the American method of filming. But what can not be taken away - such films are close to the category "B" and in addition to fans of the genre, few people show attention to the works of the Spaniards-horrors. Spaniards do not like to shoot pictures about young people who fall into the clutches of a maniac killer or face various demons or ghosts who kill in packs left and right. They saturate the atmosphere with danger, suspense, irresistible fear that something terrible is about to happen, but the flow of blood, severed heads and limbs in the picture is not inseparable, the palm of primacy among the Spaniards keeps the atmosphere. The most noticeable similarity with the Americans is the finale, when they try to impress the viewer with the unimaginability, the solution of the mystery. Often everything looks like a template farce, but, alas, this is the trend.
Spanish director Jaume Balaguero is a notable filmmaker in the field of horror films. Before he made Fragile, two of his previous works ("Unnamed" and "Darkness," starring Anna Paquin, Lena Olin and Giancarlo Giannini) were also horror films. To the expression of horror, as it turns out in Wes Craven, Jaume Balaguero is a bit far away, but frankly unsuccessful his paintings can not be called, especially since the viewer is very skeptical about such a genre as horror, give him something new, adrenaline and fear should boil, and it is difficult to do even in the light of technical progress and the dominance of computer graphics, the viewer quickly reads the intensity of the film, if there is something natural in it. Jaume Balaguero tries to balance on a very thin line, almost invisible, illusory between mysticism and realism. The subsequent work of the director “Report” is still the crown of his creations, but before that there was “Fragility”.
After “Darkness”, where quite famous actors starred, in “Fragile” did not hesitate to play Calista Flockhart (the current wife of Harrison Ford himself), Chichard Roxburgh, known for the role of Count Dracula in “Van Helsing”, and Elena Anaya – a sex symbol of Spanish cinema of recent years. I must say that Calista Flockhart, who played the main role, did not fit the image of a horror film. Clearly lacked tension and consuming horror, she diligently played the doctor-detective, which soon turned into an immobilized figure with a foggy look, the heroine was not enough, she did not squeeze the maximum - and this is all one of the obvious disadvantages of the picture "Fragility". But even without undue turmoil, Roxburgh and Anaya looked much more convincing, as if they were actually immersed in the atmosphere of terrible events and future deaths at the hands of an unknown creature from the world of the dead. More expression, more fear in Anaya and more heroism in Roxburgh make these actors more visible than Calista Flockhart. In addition, there is an interesting point that either Roxburgh or Anaya suspect something terrible, but Jaume Balaguero and Jordi Galseran, who wrote the plot, prepared an unbanal denouement.
From the film "Fragility" blows also frightening claustrophobia: all the action takes place inside the orphanage, where the children are treated. A strange, very unpleasant building with colorless rooms and the smell of hospital drugs - all this already leads to restless viewing, under the skin you realize that there is something hidden there that will soon show everyone the "Kuzky mother." Traveling through the corridors of the hospital along with a ragged pace and close shooting, you are an involuntary witness, a thin shadow of the events taking place, but you yourself perfectly understand that you do not want to be there at all, you want to escape from these suffocating smells and night knocks, from frightened children and a state of wild cold. Yes, something, and in the atmosphere of “Fragile” do not refuse.
For fans of the genre of the mystical horror film, the film can be confidently suitable for viewing, if you do not require some tricks and innovations. The director of the film Jaume Balaguero successfully creates an atmosphere for the genre, gradually winds up the plot, gives a somewhat unexpected ending. As for European cinema with a small budget – quite good quality.
Jaume Balaguero and Jordi Galceran: another variation on the theme of "Royal Hospital" and "Shelter"
This film is interesting only by the names of its creators. Jaume Balaguero is an experienced and popular Catalan director who specializes in psychological intensity, thickening of colors and sharp endings. The obvious talent is unfortunately compensated for by the lack of decent stories. Alas, but so far this director in the background does not have its own analogues of Rosemary's Baby or Omen. And Jordi Galseran, who worked on the script of “Fragile” is a famous Catalan playwright. His play “Grenholm Method” was successfully held around the world, and the film was made on it very worthy.
These two geniuses made another variation on the theme of "Royal Hospital" and "Shelter". Here everything will be in the strict traditions of the new genre - the appearance of a woman in a children's hospital, stories and hints of the existence of ghosts, the secrets of the past - violence against children, illumination and heartbreaking denouement. Predictability is one hundred percent. Balaguero masterfully thickens colors, Jordi delays boring intellectual conversations, actresses show permanent excitement, and Richard Roxburgh unexpectedly shows a very romantic notes (and why not a British technologist and poetry in Spain?). At the same time, there is nothing attractive behind the pragmatic clarity, except for another boring and drawn-out entertainment under popcorn and a local soft drink. Another statement that Balaguero has not yet put his real hit, and Galseran can only trump the genius “Grenholm Method”.
This is in all respects an average film, and the score can be balanced depending on stylistic preferences.
4 out of 10
I discovered this film quite by accident, and again, it was the poster that pushed me to watch it. In real life, I’m afraid of hospitals. Bloody body in a wheelchair, with metal clamps that reminded me of the Jigsaw test mechanisms, on the hands and feet... And after the annotation, the soul generally demanded something akin to the story of Silenthill Alessa. But!
Let’s put together what I got in the end:
Atmosphere. It was decent. Not to goosebumps of course, but still heated interest in what is happening, and I did not fall asleep from boredom. A gloomy hospital in itself, and even an abandoned floor, which turned out to be a little hello from Silent Hill. It was on +1 and I liked it.
But the main component of the horror - an evil otherworldly thing - almost destroyed the whole mood. I will close my eyes to what I got into the monsters of the wrong person, but the hospital nightmare looked, to put it mildly, pathetic. Looking at this sadly stretched face, I wanted to either laugh or cry with laughter, but it did not inspire fear for this -1, sorry.
Actors and their play. And that was already sad. I can’t say that they played very badly, but they did not convey the necessary emotions, alas.
Calista Flockhart - as if the main character - was none. Well, I didn't feel the empathy for such films, at least kill! And she did not really feel the emotions that were required in the story. -1, what else to say.
With Richard Roxburgh, things were a little better. At least I believed him, I was imbued with sympathy for his character and even regretted when the subject of his love interest - Flockhart's heroine - died.
Those who were pleased were Yasmin Murphy and Colin McFarlane. The first charmed with a look and huge eyes, the second conquered with a beautiful game and a colorful, well-opened character. They deserved +2.
Plot. He was intriguing at first. A terrible ghost terrorizes poor sick children, and a nurse comes to get to the truth and find out who really is '. Yes, there were a couple of inconsistencies in the bundle, but I almost did not pay attention to them, just thought it all out on my own, so for a rather interesting story +1.
The intrigue resolved in an unexpected way for me and a little disappointed, in terms of the fact that I tuned in to another. But the idea of the main beech itself is original and partially pleased. I won’t spoil it, just put +1 for an unusual move.
And finally, +1 for a good name. The real 'mechanical girl' otherwise you can not call fragile, that's for sure.
Message. I'm a little lost here. There seems to be no standard morality 'Don't go into a suspicious basement' there is something else, but I can't put it into words. Maybe the meaning lies in the last sentence of the film ' They didn't die or live here, they just stay with what they liked most'? Does it make sense that even after death, people stay close to their loved ones, try to protect something that was dear or avenge some loss? In any case, +1 for what made you think, and the traditional subjective +1 for the final scene - it was beautiful.
And in the end we have quite an average horror with an unsuccessful monster and no heroine, but, nevertheless, with a great plot, which I put.
7 out of 10
I will also note that I would gladly watch the film more than once, if not for the miracle of Judo, which in the end turned out to be the most evil - I do not want to watch it a second time, and the first one cannot be called pleasant. I am ready to quote ' as it were' the main character, only in a sad questioning tone: why did I see her?!
This film I decided to watch on the recommendations for the film Darkness, by the way, one of the darkest films I have ever seen. Darkness, which is an absolute plus, is terrible precisely by mysticism, not by bloody scenes. As for this film - a pretty good European mystical thriller. In this picture there is everything that can interest fans of the genre - its atmosphere and mysterious history, the old building (a la castle), where all the events unfold, also a little lyrics, actors, some idea and the main idea.
The title of the film can also be seen as a metaphor. Fragileness is not only in hard tissues, fragility in attachments in this and another world.
I highly recommend it!
1. Prologue. Why do you need this purely serial reception? Tribute to X-files? Cheap somehow turns out, as if the director is afraid to lose the viewer from the first seconds of the film. 2. A tie. Why would a new nurse be hired at a closing hospital? It would be more logical to second someone from another hospital. And the heroine of the film is a masochist? Does she like it when she gets laid off? 3. Administrative chaos. Are all hospitals so overcrowded that there is absolutely no room for even a handful of children, and it is absolutely necessary to leave them in an emergency building with the infamous curse, on an island difficult to transport? There is room for hundreds of patients, but not for these children. 4. Chekhov dialogues. The characters don't hear each other. At all. They don’t interact – they just say what the viewer should know and portray emotions. No contact, no dialogue. Or is it a translation? I doubt it. 5. An abandoned floor. First of all, it's a hospital. There are sick people and sometimes they die. No one would leave an entire floor because someone died badly. Second, welcome to Silent Hill, dear viewer. Web, dust, abandoned things... The filmmakers are not familiar with the word “conservation”. In fact, before closing the institution, from there usually take out all the equipment up to the furniture — ghosts there, or left beds, for greater comfort? Tableware on tables, patients' belongings, medical instruments - even dried-up drips! It is good that the skeletons of walled-up patients and nurses do not lie on the floor. 6. Monster. How can you mistake this for a little girl? This can be mistaken for Ozzy Osbourne with false breasts. And why is it blue and swollen? Before throwing herself into the elevator shaft, did she drown in her tears? And very interestingly, did the screenwriter test himself for the possibility of wearing orthopedic devices removed from a little girl? They are individually adjusted, if anything. 7. Who are all these people? Two fortune-teller ladies giving advice to the main character - they are in general, where? What is their status, why do they all turn to them, why the hell do they know so much about everything? State prophetesses of the city? Well, of course, they are in every English town, how I forgot. And what are the secrets in the past of the main character? Which the filmmakers prefer to forget in the end. What tragic actions and decisions a nurse may have in the past, she is not a surgeon after all. There are Chekhov dialogues, but Chekhov's guns do not shoot, there is a disorder. The result of "cans, bottles, rusty tweezers ..." Waiter, take this away... 3 out of 10 Original
My monotonous summer days, I decided to somehow dilute, but watching this film was not much fun or something to think about. After watching the film, I completely refused to write a review, why waste time, but in the morning I realized that 3 negative reviews are not the case for this film, so, unfortunately, I join the ranks of unsatisfied viewers.
First, I will mention the few advantages of the film, which translates as “Fragile Brink”, but still condemn “Fragile”. Let’s start from the beginning, the title of the film fully corresponds to the situation, the “mechanical girl” was very fragile, but as it turned out, everything did not entirely depend on her, but this is rather a minus and I will say this later.
The pluses are the same as the plot, but we will discuss the performance below, after all, I like old hospitals, in which a certain spirit lives. But here comes the worst, I'm afraid that the pluses are over. Of course, the story pleased this girl, pleased in the sense that everything was clear, what happened to her and her revenge would be justified, but.
All children, like animals, are very sensitive to various paranormal and mystical phenomena, and here Maggie felt it. The description says that when the nurse started working in the hospital, everyone was scared and so on, but only the orphan was concerned. And then the question begs, does it mean that children with a crippled soul can see this mechanical girl?
I can’t keep my opinion of the main character, there was a lot of incomprehensible things with her, but I was staring at her nose throughout the film, but it’s more aesthetic antipathy. During the film, she swallowed pills, tormented by emotional experiences, but why? for what? it is unclear. And in emotional terms, I could give more, but that was enough for me, because the problem was not particularly in her.
At the very beginning of the film, it was announced that there were few hospitals, there were not enough places for patients, and this hospital was deliberately being demolished. The second floor is closed under a completely strange pretext, there are a dozen children, two nurses, and 3 adults in the hospital.
The indifference of everyone to everything was striking, the boy, inexplicably broke his leg, one of the employees fell out of the window and everyone was deeply indifferent to what and how.
But the biggest downside was the worst thing I can't describe, because I'm going to be the spoiler. This is not even a minus, but a disappointment in the course of the plot.
In general, if you are bored and do not know what to see, if you are a horror lover, then this film is clearly not worthy of your attention.
When I saw this picture, I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, the film has a lot of flaws that catch my eye, but on the other hand, something struck me alive, making me think.
Judging only by the plot, the film does not bring anything new, as the theme of ghosts in an abandoned hospital is not new. Especially since some points in general, frankly, are not logical. Well, for example, the fact that the action takes place in the UK, and there children are treated with great care and scrupulousness, and in such dilapidated hospitals certainly children are not treated. And it's even more unclear why the children weren't evacuated as soon as strange things started happening.
But there is something that I really liked about the story. This is the idea that the director tried to convey to the audience. The idea that all of us after death go to another world, but sometimes the soul of a person holds something, and in this very other world does not let go. This, in fact, is the main idea of the film, which is why the children watched the film, about the princess, which revived the love of the prince. Well, I will not throw spoilers, I will only say that love will play a not unimportant role in the life of the main character.
Speaking of the main character. This is a nurse who in the past could not save one of the patients (apparently a child), and experiencing remorse in this regard, which develops into some complexes, because of which she has to treat nerves. When she encounters problems in a new place, she again begins to blame herself for all the troubles occurring in the hospital. And only at the end... What happens in the end, you will see. For the role of Amy very nicely picked up the beautiful Calista Flockhart, who perfectly coped with the task, and showed true emotions. I also liked the young actors, especially the little Yasmin Murphy.
Although, to be honest, after watching I had a feeling of understatement. It feels like the plot has been cut a bit, and we don’t see a clear ending. In addition, the ghost itself is almost not shown to us, which does not allow us to be properly frightened. Although sometimes the film is quite atmospheric, especially in moments when we show an abandoned floor.
In general, the film was not bad at all, and even thought-provoking. Although it does not scare him properly, it lacks acute moments.
8 minutes in the hospital you know what a quiet town.
The influence is obvious: the second floor of the local hospital is inspired by Silent Hill just as much as everything else is incompetent.
Starting with the second half, this ' nothing-so horror' falls apart completely. It seems that the man at the helm was simply not allowed to do everything as he wanted, and unnaturally, as if forced to pull out of the storage of tasteless scene with two grandmothers-wizards (hello, Lynch), designed to turn the channel of the film in the direction of the valley of the supernatural, but familiar and understandable action on ' (hats and staff they do not get, well, a little healthy lover of horror at this moment lacks anger) destroys the last hope.
Back in the beginning, when the classic 'I know what you did' the call, everything seemed to fall into place. Suppressed memories, feelings of guilt and another sample ' subconscious' horror awaited us ahead. But no, we have ' unexpected twists ' you see. Just can not imagine that a person in his right mind refused, albeit worn-out, but quite tolerably brought trouble with a guilt complex in favor of fluorescent lamps falling on the floor, crumbling walls and poor action with a happy end.
This is a plot twist: from tolerable predictability to unbearable mediocrity.
We do not need much, everything has long been removed and written. We want only a frightening hospital, a playful subconscious and a terrible creature (the latter is all right, if we could do without cruel specifics, the producers tried, obviously). Thanks to PG-16, we lost the pain and rot. One could gracefully bypass a mechanical girl with the camera's attention, but no. Close-up plans ruin everything, but fear is zero.
In general, any horror that abandons mystery in favor of specifics, obviously dooms itself to failure. And this failure is not commercial, from commercial failure just protected his caring uncles with purses, forcing unfortunate blacks to fly out the window for no reason, and the main characters come alive from love kisses.
Speaking of plot twist. There is another one, apparently from the original plan, not yet disfigured by story flights. This is of course very subjective, but in the very idea of fracture-obsessed nanny there is something properly nurtured and very ' tasty'.
There is nothing to draw a line here: we watch from 60:00 to 68:00. You can think of the rest yourself. I bet it will be even better.
The film, in general, is just one time, like many other films of the twentieth century. The general atmosphere is frightening - the idea is not bad. But a couple (or maybe not a couple, yes, not a couple) of things are left undisclosed, like I still don't understand what happened in Amy's past? Why did she care so much about the children she saw for the first time? Why was she taking pills all the time, that's normal? Or about the same beginning, it was said that all the hospitals were overcrowded, I was ready to see a hospital teeming with children, and then ... I was amazed and left my question - there is no answer. Although, the subject of Charlotte I didn’t get through until then, until they talked about it in the film – it is, of course, a plus. But I don't call it a horror movie. I don't think there's much mysticism here, except for Charlotte. The elevator theme was also good, but it was one for the whole movie.
The only thing that frightened me about the film was the sea of blood and broken bones (open and closed), and I’m very sensitive about it. Phantom pain accompanied most of the film. And I was not particularly pleased with the makeup 'mechanical girl'. What's the scarecrow? Cheap and angry, for laughs. It was possible to work, make a little more pleasant, or now I am afraid that she will dream and I will fall asleep forever from cardiac arrest.
The film with a stretch can be called even heavy - I watched the end, creaking my heart, I really loved this Yasmin Murphy, who played Maggie. But still somehow everything is crumpled compared to the beginning, as if the creators ran out of imagination.
6 out of 10
I think. The beginning will appeal to impressionable people, and the film itself will be appreciated by those who are not often associated with mystical films.
