| Overall Grade: |
A+ |
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| Story: |
A+ |
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| Acting: |
A+ |
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| Direction: |
A+ |
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| Visuals: |
A+ |
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Awe-inspiring: Spoilers A+++
by (movies profile)
Jul 14, 2008
489
of
532 people found this review helpful
It is important to see beyond the fairytale journey of Ofelia to truly understand what del Toro is trying to tell us in this movie. We concentrate strictly on the whimsy and horror of Ofelia's fantasy world at our peril for there is a deeper, richer message at the heart of this movie that centers the ethical choices of the Doctor, Ofelia and Mercedes at its heart. It may require a deeper historical understanding of the horrors of the Spanish Civil War and Franco's Spain, in which the "good guys" lost, and men like Vidal were the victors. Perhaps, a cursory understanding of Latin American/Spanish use of magical realism which informs such work as "Like Water for Chocolate" to "Don Quixote" is also necessary, but ultimately an understanding that we can only depend on ourselves for guidance and that blind obedience to an arbitrary authority figure leads to the destruction of our souls is the true message of this movie.
If one sees the entire movie as a parable within a fairytale, the story as a whole becomes more intelligible; for example, Ofelia and Mercedes are dual heroines in a parallel storyline, each are mirror images of the other, one in fantasy, the other in brutal reality. Too much focus on Ofelia, and the viewer will lose sight of the rich complexity of Mercedes' and the Doctor's journey. Who does the frog at the roots of the tree symbolize but the gross egotism and selfishness of the Franco/Vidal Spanish elite? What is the tree, but Spain itself, which has never forgotten the faceless, nameless partisans who gave their lives during the Civil War? Even in death, these lost heroes, like Ofelia, leave their traces in Spanish history and culture if one only knows where to look: hence the blossoming flower. Read the movie as more than just an adult fairytale; see it also as an adult parable on the reality of evil, and the hard truths that magic does not truly exist. The death of the Doctor (who is, himself, a helpful fairy to the partisans and Mercedes, thus, mirroring the death of Ofelia's fairies at the hand of the monstrous Pale Man) is magnificent and captures the movie's morality beautifully. In real life, there are few second chances, and things worth fighting for often come at great cost. Del Toro hints at these parallels; why does Vidal's slashed face resemble the Pale Man at the end of the movie. Doesn't Ofelia's domestic fairytale desire for a magical kingdom free from pain and suffering also mirror the desires of the Spanish partisans, in particular the orphaned Pedro and Mercedes? The fact that neither the partisans or Ofelia truly achieve their goal is heartbreaking, although Ofelia believes in her fantasy world til the end as do the partisans until they are finally destroyed by Franco's soldiers or forced to join their compatriots in Mexico and France This movie is a lovely, multilayered political and moral parable in the guise of a fairytale, which bears multiple views and I highly recommend it. |
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