Gamespotting – El Orfanato

“Uno, dos, tres, toca la pared!”

These words, part of a child’s game, open the scene in the Spanish film The Orphanage (El Orfanato), a subtle, well-wrought horror film produced by cinema master Guillermo del Toro.

The film is well spooky – there were a couple of instances where I shrieked (apparently making it that much scarier for the friend I was watching with). The plot (which you can read about, spoiler-free, here) focuses on a woman who returns to the orphanage where she grew up, and the mysterious and disturbing events which permeate the household after her son makes an imaginary friend.

The game she and the other orphans play is known as “Un, dos, tres, chocolate inglés“. One child faces a tree (or a wall), and counts (in the film they say, “Un, dos, tres, toca la pared”) while the other children creep forward, freezing when the counter turns to face them again. This is similar to the American game “Red light/Green light.” There are also variations in the UK (“What’s the time, Mr. Wolf?“) and Japan (“Darumasan ga koronda“).

The game appears a few times in the film, a way to show both the clarity and inscrutability of their innocence, which serves as both a source of joy, and of terror. Similarly, a scavenger hunt played by mother and son is great fun for the child, naive of its implications, while the mother grows increasingly frightened as she becomes aware of what it could mean.

In trying to research this part of El Orfanato I found a few references to the childrens’ game, but many were related to the film, making me wonder if its box office success in Spain helped generate a renewed interest in the game. (According to Wikipedia, it took in $8.3 million over four days, giving it the biggest opening of the year and becoming the second highest-grossing debut ever for a local movie.)

But for my sanity’s sake, I hope that’s not the case. Considering how spooky the film is, I would be really freaked out should I ever come across packs of children playing this thing.

Games as engagement tools

I’m keeping these together until the games themselves pick up, but here’s the latest news from District 9, Imagine the Possibilities (Fringe) and Seek the Six (The Prisoner).

District 9
George writes entries at http://www.mnuspreadslies.com/, “the most widely read independent internet site written by an alien.” He writes about alien rights and MNU’s corporate monopoly and all-reaching influence over the alien district. Luckily, he also provides an English translator for his posts.

Seek the Six
Not too much activity game-wise, but it’s definitely building buzz already. Completing the puzzle on seekthesix assigns you a Village number and asks for your email address before linking you to a production blog.

As a fan of the original The Prisoner, I was wary when I heard that they were remaking it, though the first series is surreal and dated, so I think a modern version could be really awesome. The fact that they’re producing a six-part miniseries instead of trying to push it as a full television show gives me a lot of hope. I think there’s a lot of interesting potential for a supplemental game as well, but as the filming for the series is set to begin on August 11, I think we’ll probably have to wait a while before anything starts to appear.

Games and play, on film

Writing about my experiences with casual gameplay has been a fruitful experience. It’s made me consider the amount of time I spend on games, the way I interact with them, and the reasons I am drawn to certain genres. Simultaneously, it’s also made me a lot more aware of other peoples’ habits, approaches and attitudes toward games. And as I’m both an avid Netflix user and am never one to pass up a potentially meaty blog post topic, I decided that I will make a note every time a game appears in a film or television series I’m watching, in what context it’s used, and its purpose. Behold! A new category is born: gamespotting

Off the top of my head, I can think of plenty of examples where games are used by characters to pass the time, but are quickly discarded when the “serious” work arises – no matter how game-like those pursuits might be:

• Card games are rampant in films today, especially high-stakes gambling, and show roguish qualities in a character, but are used in a cautionary manner (Bond films, 21, Penelope).
• Chess (and Go) games usually take place in smoky professors’ studies or in public parks, and are a great way to show a character’s cleverness and aptitude for math and pattern recognition (as in one brilliant episode from the first season of The Wire).
• Scrabble is a useful tool to explain an anagrammed sentence without too much hassle to the audience (Sneakers, Rosemary’s Baby).
• Crossword puzzles can be a mark of either intelligence or idiocy, depending on how well the character fills in the answers, and if they use a pen or a pencil.
• Games themselves are also used as cautionary tales, when the game blurs the line between itself and reality (WarGames, The Game, Jumanji)

Of course, I’ll also include full reviews of game-specific films, be they documentaries (Wordplay, Assembly Not Required, Second Skin) or films based on games (Super Mario Bros., Silent Hill, Resident Evil).

I’m really looking forward to this exercise. Know of any good films that deal with games or gaming, or have you spotted a game being used casually in media somewhere? Let me know!