Two recent DVD releases deserve the attention of any serious movie buff. They are both films that deal with darkness of the soul, but one is depressing while the other is highly entertaining. Let's start with THE ORPHANAGE, a follow-up to the brilliant PAN'S LABYRINTH from last year. This time the Spanish director is the producer, but his style and interests are evident everywhere from the riveting tracking shots through the old mansion where the action takes place to the lead actress's painfully empathetic performance as a mother seeking a lost child. Did I say this was entertaining? You bet! The film owes much of its impact to Hitchcock mysteries but particularly to films like THE INNOCENTS(with a beautifully etched performance by Deborah Kerr), an early 1960's version of Henry James' THE TURN OF THE SCREW. Both films explore the neuroses, desires, and maternal instincts of women on the edge.

The second film is IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH, another of the numerous Iraq-based films that has failed to find an audience in the U.S. The disconnect between what is happening in that god-forsaken country and how we live here is laid bare in this strong drama about a father attempting to discover the truth about his son's death on a military base. Tommy Lee Jones delivers one of his most searing and understated performances. He is ably supported by Susan Sarandon as his wife and a number of young actors, some of whom are Iraq veterans, as members of his son's squad. IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH questions not only why we are in Iraq but what this war has done to our young men and women physically, morally, and psychologically. When will we wake up as a nation? That's what this film wants to know!