Orphans (1998)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

With his third film as director Neds seeing release just recently, the previous two films of Peter Mullan were given a back-to-back television showing. I managed to catch his first, Orphans, having never before heard anything of it.Meeting to mourn the loss of their mother, four Glaswegian siblings gather in a pub. When an inconsiderate group laugh at the lugubrious singing of the eldest, one of his brothers retorts physically and is stabbed. The remaining brother vows to avenge this whilst the handicapped sister finds herself stuck in a darkened alley, her wheelchair broken.Orphans begins with a solemn scene, the four siblings gathered around their mother's coffin. Some gentle humour is created through the siblings' confusion at their elder's request that they place some hair in the coffin. This introduces us to the film's primary structure: scenes of genuine heartfelt drama lined with a subtle comedy to balance the mood. As things progress, we begin to see in increase in this comic factor, the film's clever blending of its contrasting elements creating a wonderful dichotomy. The true beauty of the film, however, is in its juxtaposition of its constituent elements. Many are the scenes which Mullan allows to play out, drawing us in with a barrage of riotous laughter, before effortlessly turning this on its head with a disarming simplicity and forcing us to comprehend the dramatic implications of the events unfolding before us. In a simple moment, we go from laughing at something to considering its grim seriousness. It is a stunning effect, one often attempted but rarely realised so fantastically as here. Mullan ends his scenes by inviting us to reconsider what we have just seen; we find ourselves looking at events with a melancholy when just moments ago they had us reduced to breathless laughter. He allows us to indulge ourselves in the fantastic comedy his writing engenders before showing us that these scenarios are in fact tremendously dark and dramatic. We may chuckle at Michael's determination to pass off his stab wound as an industrial accident, but we quickly reevaluate the true humour of this when we realise that he is slowly dying, his lightening pallor eventually quite frightening. This is just one example of the many such twists Mullan throws at us, showing himself to be as dramatically dark as he is ingeniously funny.A truly fantastic combination of drama and comedy, done in a subversive way which forces us to reevaluate what we thought of a scene just seconds before, Orphans is a fantastic exploration of the closeness of drama and comedy. Splendidly supported by fantastic, hilarious, and realistically authentic Glaswegian performances, this film has certainly proclaimed Peter Mullan as a masterful director.

What a movie Orphans really is, an under-stated classic movie set in the mean streets of Glasgow. Where Trainspotting deals with dark subject matter as drug use and violence, Orphans is a light hearted, dark, touching and funny film which Glasgow people can relate to better than anybody else - that's not to say anybody else won't enjoy it, great movies come from all over the globe (examples - Chopper (Australia), City of God (Brazil),Run Lola Run(Germany) ) so it doesn't matter where movies come from you just tune in,watch and admire great film-making! Peter Mullan writes and directs Orphans the way he did because he's seen it all and there's nothing better than bringing life experiences to the screen with so much pride and to me it was a real pleasure to see Glasgow shown in it's true colours. Every one of the actors gives there all to there parts and there is some wild scenarios but all very believable and very fresh. Mullan went on to win the Palme'Dor for the Magdalene Sisters after this and we need more directors like him to give us challenging films. Orphans is great fun and although very touching in parts, it is very funny and a good laugh. Bravo Mr. Mullan!! P.s - If you get the DVD check out the amazing short film included, It's called The Close, a dark little horror short and it's filmed in Black and white and cost 500 pounds to make ( so Peter told me when i met him!) - money very well spent!

Unfortunately, i didn't watch the movie "Trainspotting", so i missed Mullan's acting in that film. I knew that "Orphans" is the first directorial debut of Mullan.The entire film has been brilliantly directed.The story of the movie in short: four brother and sister gather at a stormy night for their mother's funeral.As they gather, their love, hate, grief, for each other are expressed individually in that brilliant drama.The entire cast and music are nice. actually, i like Stevenson's acting as "Sheila". She is brilliant.Congratulation Mullan to direct such a brilliant drama!I would like to rate this movie : 8 out of 10.

I like British films so much that I don't care who the author is, I just watch them because I enjoy their atmosphere and style. But this film was a mere disappointment. If "Orphans" was meant to be grotesque, the result is poor; if it meant to move the audience to tears (but I don't suppose this was its aim) the result is poor, too. The characters portrayed here are uninteresting: I don't see why so much attention should be focused on these four brothers living their mediocre lives, and doing their best to complicate matters the very night before their mother's funeral. Authors like Mike Leigh and Ken Loach have already showed us how to make common people's lives appealing on the screen. I guess Mullan should carefully examine his masters' works before directing another film.