Review of Paperhouse (1988) by Dan S — 10 Jun 2008

Bernard Rose's masterpiece, "Paperhouse", has always been an extremely special film to me at least. It has been one of my all-time favorite films ever since I first saw it a long time ago (between 4 and 6 I believe).

It's a film that I have revisited countless times and as I grow older and become wiser I seem to enjoy it even more. Sadly, it has never received the attention that I feel it deserves and has never gotten a DVD release in the United States.

Thank goodness I still have my laserdisc version of it. The story is about a young girl named Anna (played by Charlotte Burke in an extremely convincing performance) who draws a picture of house with a boy in window.

She soon become very ill and when she falls asleep, the house and the boy are present. The boy's name is Marc (a very convincing performance by Elliott Spiers) and he has lost the ability to walk.

This is as much of plot as I'm going to explain because "Paperhouse" is such a beautiful and mesmerizing experience. I love the way that the film wisely never attempts to give us an explanation for its story.

Director Bernard Rose fills screen with beautiful surrealistic images and music that give it an operatic feel. It's kind of like a Ingmar Bergman film, all of the images and visuals are metaphors or symbols.

The film's most frightening scene is one of the dream sequences in which a figure that resembles Anna's father (Ben Cross) threatens the two children with a hammer while the ground opens up outside.

The ending of "Paperhouse" has been loved by some and criticized by others. Personally, I find it to be a perfect ending. Instead of giving us a conventional plot resolution, it ends on a bittersweet note that is surprising, unexpected, and spiritual.

"Paperhouse" may be hard to find, but it is definitely worth seeking out.