Frágiles (2005)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Jaume Balagueró

Writers:

Jaume Balagueró (writer)
Jordi Galcerán (writer)

Release Date:

14 October 2005 (Spain)

Genre:

Thriller | Horror

Plot:

At her new job in a rundown children's hospital, a nurse (Flockhart) desperately tries to keep her patients safe from a plague of random, mysterious attacks.

Plot Keywords:

Hospital | Nurse | Orphan | Brittle Bones | Nurse Patient Relationship

Awards:

7 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Calista Flockhart	...	Amy Nicholls
Richard Roxburgh	...	Robert Marcus
Elena Anaya	...	Helen Perez
Gemma Jones	...	Mrs. Folder
Yasmin Murphy	...	Maggie
Colin McFarlane	...	Roy
Michael Pennington	...	Marcus
Daniel Ortiz	...	Matt
Susie Trayling	...	Susan
Lloyd F. Booth Shankley	...	Simon
Michael Gatward	...	David
Scarlet Carey	...	Emma
Cameron Antrobus	...	Jimmy
Olivia Bjork	...	Linda
Fergus Riordan	...	Richard
Arthur Rogers	...	Nicholas
Karmeta Cervera	...	Charlotte
Freda Dowie	...	Old Woman #1
Matyelok Gibbs	...	Old Woman #2 (as Matyelock Gibbs)
Jeremy Williams	...	Worker #1
Ewan Watson	...	Worker #2
Stuart McLauchlan	...	Worker #3
Lavinia Bertram	...	Susan's Mother
Max Batista	...	Adam
Geoffrey Beevers	...	Father Tom
Ivana Baquero	...	Mandy
Richard Felix	...	Paramedic #1
Ben Temple	...	Paramedic #2
Montse Triola	...	Paramedic #3
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Emy Beische
Manel Ceder	...	Transporter
Patrick Mölleken	...	Adam (voice)
Steve Pick	...	Policeman (uncredited)

Directed by
Jaume Balagueró

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jaume Balagueró		writer
Jordi Galcerán		writer

Produced by
Carola Ash	....	associate producer
Patricia Carr	....	line producer: UK
Carlos Fernández	....	executive producer
Julio Fernández	....	executive producer
Julio Fernández	....	producer
Teresa Gefaell	....	line producer
Joan Ginard	....	producer
Albert Martinez Martin	....	co-producer
Antonia Nava	....	co-executive producer
Carla Pérez de Albéniz	....	line producer

Original Music by
Roque Baños

Cinematography by
Xavi Giménez

Film Editing by
Jaume Martí

Casting by
Wendy Brazington

Art Direction by
Alain Bainée
Iñigo Navarro

Costume Design by
Patricia Monné

Makeup Department
Alma Casal	....	makeup department head
Nelly Guimaras	....	special makeup effects artist
Raquel Guirro	....	special makeup effects crew
David Martí	....	special makeup supervisor

Production Management
Jesús L. Pérez Villar	....	post-production manager
Gregorio Solis	....	production manager
Josh Yudkin	....	location unit manager: UK

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Carlos Fidel	....	second assistant director
Ferran Rial	....	third assistant director
Anna Rua	....	second assistant director
Fernando Sánchez-Izquierdo	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Joanna Barrs	....	set decorator: UK
David Bonneville	....	art department dailies
Paula Bosch	....	art department dailies
Steve Carter	....	art director: UK
Gareth Cousins	....	art department assistant: UK
Gareth Cousins	....	assistant art director: UK
M.A. Faura	....	art department coordinator
M.A. Faura	....	property master
Gemma Fauria	....	assistant art director
Jun Matsuura	....	storyboard artist
Nuria Muni	....	assistant property master
Antoine Robin	....	construction manager: UK
Terry Wood	....	prop master: UK

Sound Department
Biel Cabré	....	sound editor
Manuel Carrión	....	foley artist
Manu G. Escudero	....	sound
Nick Foley	....	adr recordist
Dani Fontrodona	....	sound recordist
Urko Garay	....	boom operator
Albert Manera	....	sound designer
Marc Orts	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ken Ralston	....	sound (as Kenny Ralston)
Xavier López Souto	....	sound editor (as Xavier Souto)
Ted Swanscott	....	adr mixer
José Vinader	....	sound

Special Effects by
Arturo Balceiro	....	special effects makeup
Xavi Bastida	....	special effects makeup
Mark Haddenham	....	special effects senior technician
Pau Loewe	....	special effects crew
Ian Lowe	....	senior special effects technician
Carlos Martín	....	special effects technician
José M. Meneses	....	special effects technician: DDT
Pedro Moreno	....	special effects technician
Pablo Perona Navarro	....	special effects makeup: DDT SFX Crew
Juan Serrano	....	special effects technician: DDT SFX
Aleix Torrecillas	....	special makeup effects DDT crew

Visual Effects by
Nike Alonso	....	visual effects producer
Francesco Campobasso	....	CG artist
Aníbal del Busto	....	digital compositor
Marcos Fajardo	....	software engineer
Sergio Garcia Abad	....	computer graphics supervisor
Pablo Hernández-Meléndez	....	senior cgi artist
Alexander Kvasnicka	....	CG artist
Enrique Martí	....	software engineer
Laura Maynadé	....	digital intermediate coordinator
Magoga Piñas	....	CG artist
Ramón Ramos	....	digital compositor
Thorsten Rienth	....	digital compositor
Rubén Sanz	....	visual effects producer
Rafa Solorzano	....	visual effects supervisor
Carlos Trijueque	....	digital compositor
Miguel González Viñé	....	senior cgi artist
El Khadir Palomo Yusef	....	CG artist

Camera and Electrical Department
Mark Barry-Jackson	....	pilot: camera helicopter
Albert Carreras	....	camera operator
Francesc Carreras	....	first assistant camera
Beatriz Delgado	....	video operator
Óscar Faura	....	director of photography: second unit
Gonzalez Leonardo Javier	....	key grip
Roger Martínez	....	first assistant camera
Diego Moyano	....	electrician
Andreu Rebés	....	director of photography: second unit
José Luis Rodríguez	....	gaffer

Editorial Department
Quique Cañadas	....	color timer
Guillermo De La Cal	....	first assistant editor
Larry Rodriguez	....	post-production executive

Music Department
Isobel Griffiths	....	orchestra contractor

Transportation Department
Ben Dillon	....	picture car supervisor
Barrie Williams	....	transportation captain: UK

Other crew
Yasmina Adebibe	....	production assistant: UK
Nick Astaire	....	finance executive
Glòria Blanes	....	script supervisor
James Chesterton	....	floor runner
Diane Chittell	....	production coordinator: UK
Joan Coll	....	production runner
Jonah Coombes	....	location manager: UK
John Eccleston	....	production accountant: UK
Robin Green	....	assistant accountant
Daniel Greenway	....	production runner: UK
Alberto Marini	....	story editor
Manuel Monzón Fueyo	....	development executive
Helena Moreno Núñez	....	development executive
Alessandra Moresco	....	production coordinator
Anna Oms	....	documentation
Martin Samper	....	making-of director
Elena Serra	....	development executive
Elisa Sirvent	....	production coordinator
Manuel Yebra	....	assistant to co-executive producer

Thanks
Macarena Gómez	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Castelao Producciones
• Future Films
• Just Films

Distributors

• A-Film Distribution (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Bauer Martinez Studios (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Filmax S.A. (2005) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Gelvars (2006) (Russia) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corporation (MGM) (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• P.F.A. Films (2006) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Shaw Organisation (2006) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Sky Films (2006) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD) (retail)
• Filmax Home Video (2006) (Spain) (DVD)
• Future Film (2007) (Finland) (DVD)
• Movie Bank (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD) (rental)
• Net5 (2008) (Netherlands) (TV) (first national airing)
• SBP (2009) (Argentina) (DVD)

Special Effects

• El Ranchito (visual effects)

Also Known As:

Fragile (International: English title)
Fragile: A Ghost Story (Philippines: English title) (poster title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of terror/violence, and some thematic elements.

Runtime:

93 min | Japan:102 min | Argentina:93 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

Spain

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:16 | Malaysia:18SG | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Hungary:16 | Netherlands:16 | USA:PG-13 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-15 | Argentina:13 (DVD rating) | Norway:15 (TV rating) | Germany:16 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Castelao Producciones

Goofs:

Factual errors: At the end of the movie, Robert takes unconscious Amy out of the hospital. The cardiac monitor shows absence of cardiac electrical activity, i.e. asystole. Asystole is a type of cardiac arrest classified as "non shockable rhythm" and its initial management exclude the use of defibrillation. They should have started cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) maneuvers instead. Furthermore, when an electrical shock is delivered, a typical waveform should have appeared in the monitor.

Movie Connections:

Features Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)

Pretty Damn Good

This film, I have to say, was quite impressive. Quite different as well. I thought it would've been a typical horror/thriller movie because of the setting of an "old children's hospital about to closed down", that already gives you a mental image of what you would expect this hospital to look like...dark, spooky, cold. But this film impressed me a lot.

It takes a lot to actually "freak me out" when watching a film as NO film has ever succeeded in scaring me, but this film is quite intense...it's especially good because the film is taking you somewhere, and then suddenly, there is a smart twist, which left me with my mouth wide open! There are also a few bits in the film that actually make you cringe! But I won't spoil that for you.

I'm not a big fan of Calista Flockhart, but I have to say, she was brilliant in this movie.

All in all, if you want to be spooked and want to watch a film with a decent twist in, I advise you to watch this.