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Frágiles (2005)

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42 comments in total

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29 out of 34 people found the following comment useful :-
When I thought movies wouldn't scare me anymore... came this., 26 January 2006

Author: EvaSalvi from Spain

What could I say about "Fragile"? Well... it was a rainy evening in my town (totally true, not to give effects), and instead of going to the town party I decided to go to the cinema. I had a good idea because I've always admired Balagueró (Los Sin Nombre... great), and I love horror films too, but, like I've said, I had seen three horror movies before and none of them really frightened me. So I got to the cinema and waited for it to start. The atmosphere is very good, it seems they worked a lot to make it, but not only the atmosphere was right like in other films, the story is convincing too, not just "killing-screaming-the end". It starts about a nurse who goes to work in a hospital in an English island. The hospital is about to be closed and the few children who are still there are supposed to be out of there soon. But it's not as easy as it seems, strange things happen in that hospital, one of the girls see somebody who lived and died there, and that "somebody" hurts the kids, by breaking their bones most of the times. The real interest is in what is behind that story, who is that somebody, and why he or she behaves like that. The acting is correct, Elena Anaya, Richard Roxburgh (finally a good role for him!), Calista Flockhart and the kids work efficiently. And most... I'd never been so frightened for a long time. I think that good stories are that which scare me. The same happened with "The Changeling" (somehow similar, somehow different). But worth seeing both of them. I recommend it.

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27 out of 40 people found the following comment useful :-
Scary and sensitive, 19 December 2005

Author: sandrittafer from Spain

"Fragile" is one of the most scary movies I've ever seen and one of the most beautiful and sensitive. I saw it in Venice and I can tell you that people were really impressed at the end. Some people were even crying, specially women. I confess I was one of them. Calista's performance is deep and strong. The same with Richard Roxbough, Elena Anaya and specially the little girl who plays "Maggie". She is incredibly good. Really special. It's definitely the best movie of Jaume Balagueró. Even better than "THE NAMELESS". A very sensitive approach to the ghost genre in the best classical tradition. Serious and emotional horror stuff.

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23 out of 35 people found the following comment useful :-
Like my worst nightmare came true, 19 February 2006

Author: blackdogone from Hungary

I like horror movies. "Fragile" is like nowadays "japanese-horror" movies, but with a bit of European soul added. Everything's set to get you some goosebumps. An old children's hospital that is about to being closed, moody soundtrack, great set decorations and props and makeup, and sound effects that make you jump out of your skin sometimes. The movie hit a bullseye for me. Hospitals and abandoned places scare the hell out of me so watching this movie was like my worst nightmare came true. It was definitively scarier than The Ring. If you get the creep from hospitals, abandoned places and stuff like that, I do recommend this movie.

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10 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
help, 25 June 2006
Author: Branimir Bogoevski from Bulgaria

The reviews coming out of Venice were not kind. Indeed some reviews on this site in the message boards were not kind.....OK we are not talking about Oscar material but this film is scary in a non-gory, blood-on-walls, way and is entertaining. If cinema should be fun and a time to suspend belief then this film is OK. If you want challenging subject matter or top drawer acting look elsewhere....if you want to be scared and entertained then go for it. Flockhart is fine, the kids are good, Roxborugh is good, Anaya is good.....just don't expect too much. The sound and cinematography are very good and Jaume Balagueró holds it all together well enough....the story ticks along and builds to the final showdown and you begin to feel some empathy and understanding of the characters but we never dwell long enough on any one character....and we don't really care how or why they are in the hospital all we want to know is well they ever leave? PS:Please I Want to know the name of the soundtrack in the end(or Where i can download It) it's very good and i can't find it anywhere pls help me:]

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19 out of 31 people found the following comment useful :-
A scary, suspenseful yet whimsical story....., 15 October 2005

Author: madtavyboy from Spain

The reviews coming out of Venice were not kind. Indeed some reviews on this site in the message boards were not kind.....OK we are not talking about Oscar material but this film is scary in a non-gory, blood-on-walls, way and is entertaining. If cinema should be fun and a time to suspend belief then this film is OK. If you want challenging subject matter or top drawer acting look elsewhere....if you want to be scared and entertained then go for it. Flockhart is fine, the kids are good, Roxborugh is good, Anaya is good.....just don't expect too much. The sound and cinematography are very good and Jaume Balagueró holds it all together well enough....the story ticks along and builds to the final showdown and you begin to feel some empathy and understanding of the characters but we never dwell long enough on any one character....and we don't really care how or why they are in the hospital all we want to know is well they ever leave?

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11 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Ally McBooooo?, 19 February 2006

Author: rambrandt1234 from United States

There is acting life (albeit horrific) after Ally McBeal! No kidding, I didn't know she could act. But Calista Flockhart can with fluid aplomb as demonstrated by this horror gem. Similar to "The Skeleton Key" in its plot and feel, this hospital horror boo-donit moves quickly into the murky depths of the strange goings-on at a children's hospital that is soon to be closed. When the new night nurse, Amy, played by Flockhart, arrives to take the place of the last (fleeing) night nurse, the creepy nature of the recent 'accidents' of the children and their subsequent fearful behavior give her pangs of heart-felt anguish at their suffering. Her protective instincts (heightened by a job related trauma she herself recently experienced) kick into high gear, and she begins stalking the underlying cause of these events, although the rest of the staff buttress the mystery with listless denial, or is their passivity a part of a larger, more sinister cover-up? The haunting music, sound and visual effects transparently blend together in a well spun intensity that doesn't require the more overtly obvious shock-factor 'bumps in the night' and miscues holding other less dramatically driven, cheap-thrills horror movies together. Hey, we all know its not real, but so is your money, and you won't be wasting it if you rent this movie!

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
A Love Kiss, 9 May 2008

Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

In Wight Island, Amy Nicholls (Calista Flockhart) arrives in the old Mercy Falls Children Hospital to work as night nurse as replacement of the former nurse Susan. The hospital is in a deactivation process, with the patients being transferred to Saint James Hospital; however, due to a train crash, the closing process has been postponed. Amy is introduced to eight children with lung cases by the nurse Helen Perez (Elena Anaya), and she feels a sort of attraction for the terminal girl Maggie (Yasmin Murphy). Maggie likes to play with some letter blocks to talk with the "mechanical girl" called Charlotte that would live upstairs, in an abandoned floor. Amy asks about Charlotte to her coworkers and they explain that she is an urban legend and the Maggie is making up her existence. But sooner they find that the children can not be transferred to Saint James since there is something evil that wants to keep them near.

"Frágiles" has a good ghost story based on the existence of lost souls that would stay in the world of the living, close to what they love. The old women explain to Amy that "it is not where they died or lived; they simply stay near what they loved, and that is what keeps them here but nothing else." The viewer needs "to buy" this concept to enjoy and understand this scary and dramatic film, the same way for example in "The Grudge" ("the curse that is born from someone dying in a powerful rage") or "The Ring" ("the viewer will die seven days after watching a videotape"), just to mention two recent successful Asian movies. This movie is well directed, the cast has great performances, and there are frightening moments along the story. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Terror em Mercy Falls" ("Terror in Mercy Falls")

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Suspenseful and well-shot., 23 August 2006

Author: niko-kecek from Slovenia

I just saw this movie and I must admit that I was very pleasantly surprised. The plot is about a nurse (Flockhart), taking a job at a "soon to be moved" children's hospital. Little does she know of the rather strange and spooky events that have been happening there. If you like a movie that knows how to build an atmosphere, movies like The Shining or The Others, you cant do wrong buying a ticket for this one. For me, being a person who almost fell asleep during The Darkness the quality of this movie was even more of a surprise. The acting is a little over the top at times (Flockhart), but as a whole The Fragiles is a well acted, well directed, beautifully shot thriller, and that little girl has eyes that just make you go "aaaawww how sweet":). I give this one a 8.5/10

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6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Masterfully done!, 22 June 2006

Author: udar55 from Williamsburg, VA

I just finished watching Jaume (THE NAMELESS, DARKNESS) Balaguero's third film FRAGILE starring Calista Flockheart. It is no secret that I enjoy his work but I really think this is his best film. It is both incredibly scary and emotionally sensitive (something I haven't seen in a horror film since, uh, forever). Balaguero has an amazingly subtle style but he builds the suspense perfectly for the first half. The second half is nearly all chills and they really gave me goosebumps (something I haven't experienced in, uh, a while). He also throws in an excellent twist that would make M. Night envious. And he isn't afraid to take risks as a filmmaker (you'll understand what I mean by the end). Easily one of the best horror films I have seen this year

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Much better than Darkness, 27 May 2006

Author: james_corck3 from Spain

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Darkness (Balaguero's movie before this one) had a very basic plot. This is to shot 54673 frames (some for them in white) to the viewer so he or she can get scared.

Not succeed. Like in Matrix nobody accepted that (old) idea and then he decided to move to another ground. This is, the classic modern horror movie.

Fragile is a horror movie that moves the heart and gives cold sweat with very evoking images, rocking music and shocking scares. Calista Flockhart is even doing something with her performance, but the little girl and Richard Roxburgh really buy the movie. What could had been a stupid remake of another Japanese movie in the hands of the wrong director, it turned into a beautiful story about weakness and love.

Or just that my silly opinion.

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