El Laberinto del Fauno (2006)

My anticipation and the hype I read about this movie didn't diminish my experience at all. Two satisfied thumbs up!

This beautiful and graphic film transports the viewer into the woods of Spain during their civil war. A young girl caught in the crossfire is forced to find a way to survive. What makes this film so wonderful is that it brings you into her terror and her imagination so seamlessly. The urgency of the story augments with every scene and very little in the film draws you away from it.

The fantastical portions of the film are very well rendered. You won't find "Tinkerbell" faeries either. All the mystical characters are original and decidedly not cute. So marvellous they are as characters that you aren't able to decipher whether they are good or bad (well most of them). Our heroine's interaction with them makes the film that much more ominous.

The violence in the film is honest and genuinely brutal. It means not to gloss over this part of Spanish history and it brought to mind the horrific etchings of de la Goya.

I really don't want to say more so as not to give away the film. I haven't seen many films depict the subject matter more magnificently than this one.

Official Site | IMDB