Danielle’s blog

I finally watched The Orphanage and it was eerily similar to Rule of Rose.  The similarities were in the details of how the plot progressed and the main character Laura, has a few things in common with Jennifer.  Here are the commonalities that I noted:

First, there is a scarecrow in the yard of the orphanage; as soon as I saw it I thought of the “scarecrow knights” in the game.  It also caught my eye because it seemed so out of place.  While it’s unclear where exactly the orphanage is located (it’s fairly close to a city and a rocky beach; Spanish is the native language), it’s obviously not a farm or a field where a scarecrow would be needed.  It was a connection to Rule of Rose, but seems to have no other real purpose in the film; it’s not even discussed by any of the characters, only seen. 

Second, Laura’s son Simon, has “imaginary friends” (dead orphans) who won’t ever grow up.  Jennifer’s “friends” also are trapped in the orphanage (in a sense; Wendy in the good ending is trapped by the gate while Jennifer can leave).  Even though Jennifer has obviously aged since the massacre, the Red Crayon Aristocrats are still the age they were when they died.

Third, the orphans have “treasures”, things that are important to them.  Their “game” is to take yours and you have follow clues to find it.  Laura is forced to play their game.  This is strangely similar to game play in Rule of Rose; throughout the game, each of the chapters involves Jennifer finding something valuable to one of the Aristocrats.  Jennifer is forced to play and eventually she is up, with Brown as her “treasure”.  Another interesting point is that one of the clues is a rose that leads Laura to a rose bush outside the orphanage.  A connection to the game (aside from the title) was that there was a rose garden outside both orphanages.

Fourth, Laura’s son is treated like Brown, initially.  During the first treasure hunt, Laura follows Simon around the house; he knows what each clue means and takes her to the next one.  This relationship is analogous to that of Jennifer and Brown.  Also, Simon eventually disappears and Laura must find him, just as Jennifer had to find Brown.

Fifth, a boy named Thomas wears a burlap sack over his face (to hide a deformity).  This is similar to the paper bags the Aristocrats wear on their heads when Jennifer first encounters them.  There is also a party in the movie where animal masks are worn by children.  In Rule of Rose, the Aristocrat’s bag masks are made to represent different animals (ex. rat). 

The name Thomas is shared by an orphan in Rule of Rose as well.  There is also an orphan named Victor in both the movie and game.

Sixth, a child (possibly Simon) wearing the burlap mask knocks Laura down and locks her in a bathroom.  Throughout the game, Jennifer is locked in rooms by children wearing bags over their faces.

Seventh, Laura finds film canisters (during her treasure hunt) that contain movies of the orphans; she also finds a photograph taken of them all in front of the orphanage.  Jennifer finds a photograph taken of everyone on the day of her arrival; she also finds film canisters throughout the game that you may watch during the OUAT chapter.

Eigth, Laura eventually ends up wearing a grey dress with a large white collar, very similar to Jennifer’s dress.

Ninth, the dead orphans were friends of Laura’s who’d been murdered by a woman who had lost a child in death (Victor); Laura had grown up with them and was adopted before they were killed.  Jennifer is tormented throughout the game by orphans she had lived with; they had been murdered by a man(Gregory) whose son (Joshua) had died.  In both cases, Jennifer and Laura were the only survivors (for different reasons, however; we never do know why Jennifer is spared in the “Stray Dog Massacre) when the other orphans were murdered by an adult who had lost their child.

Tenth, the film shows that the dead orphans made contact (mostly) just to be remembered.  The same is true in Rule of Rose; Jennifer spends the game “remembering”, only succeeding (getting the “good” ending) when she regains her memories of her dead friends.

These are the similarities that I noticed.  If anyone sees any others, please post about them, explaining the connections.  I think this film was made after Rule of Rose was released.  It’s hard for me to believe that The Orphanage was not influenced by the game.  I think there are too many similarities between the two for it to be merely coincidence.

This was a great movie.  It was listed as a thriller and definitely lived up to the label.  The ending was a big surprise; unfortunately after the initial viewing the movie loses most of its appeal because the ending is known.  It’s definitely worth watching, though.