This is one of the, if not, the best foreign language films I've ever seen. It's also one of my favorite movies of all time.
Plot: Ofelia is a young girl obsessed with fairy tales who moves to Spain after the Spanish Civil War. She moves with her mother to be with her new stepfather. Whilst moving in, she encounters an insect creature that she follows into a labyrinth. Later that night, the creature returns and transforms into a fairy. The fairy leads her to a labyrinth, where Ofelia meets a faun. The faun claims she's Princess Moanna, princess of the underworld. To prove she hasn't become mortal, the faun tells her she must complete three tasks before the full moon. But each task is deadlier and more dangerous than the other.
Review: This is a beautiful film.
Firstly, the makeup that's done with the creatures such as the faun and the Pale Man are extraordinarily done. The faun has a beauty in him that makes you unsure if you should trust him or not. Whenever he smiles, you're not sure if he's good or evil or if he's both.
The set design is phenomenal. The house, the forest and the labyrinth all have an eerie feeling to them that makes you wonder if you should trust it. All of these sets have a sense of uncertainty. It all comes down to trust.
Ofelia is fascinated by fairy tales, I like that there are many instances in the film that make us question if the fantasy world is real or if it's all in Ofelia's imagination. I like the unknown factor in this. Usually in fantasy world films, we know if a fantasy world is real or not. In this case, we might think we know, but we aren't 100% sure. We are given hints, but it all comes down to how you interpret the story.
The tasks themselves I love and the reason I do is because they reflect on Ofelia's character. She has to trust instincts and has to decide to for herself if whether or not she must go through with those instincts. With every task, she doesn't do what is expected of her. She acts like any other child, she disobeys and trusts her own gut. Granted, they don't always work in her favor, but these tasks show us what her thinking process is.
This movie takes place after the Spanish Civil War after Francisco Franco has come into power. Ofelia's stepfather believes in fascism strongly and has been assigned to root out any anti-fascist rebels. Even if you don't like the fantasy element of the film, you might enjoy the war elements of the film. What I like about the war aspect of the film is that it brings a sense of reality in a world of fantasy.
Trust is a huge theme in the film as you can see and Guillermo del Toro somehow managed to beautifully craft it in so many elements of the film. The sets, how the characters interact with each other and the worlds themselves. It's magnificent.
I also like the many instances in which the fantasy world and the human world interconnect in many aspects. We have the keys that are used in the human and fantasy world, we have the mandrake root healing the mother and so many others.
The movie is in Spanish and there are English subtitles. Some might be bothered that they have to read them, but I always put subtitles whenever I'm watching movies on DVD so I have no issue with it.
Guillermo del Toro is a fantastic writer and director and this movie shows it. A beautiful and violent fairy tale for grown ups. This is not a film for children by any means. It was rated R for a reason.
This is one my favorite movies of all time and will always remain in my top 5.
Rating: 5/5
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