"The world is a cruel place"

Rating: 9/10 (15 January 2008)

A good surprise! When I decided to watch this film I didn't know very well what to expect, since I had heard it was about the fantasy world created by a little girl; I generally don't appreciate and don't use to watch "enchanting stories", but as this one won so many awards it called my attention, and I decided to give it a chance. I didn't regret! It's not really an "enchanting story", but one related to the cruel world where we live! That's what I found more deep and interesting in this film: its message! We can live in a world full of war, hate, violence, that there's always a place to fantasy and innocence! The character OFELIA is the proof of that! She lives in a place full of death, violence and stupidity but she can create her own personal world of fantasy, where she truly belongs
I really did appreciate the plot of this movie, more than its special effects; while at the beginning I would bet it would be the opposite!
The plot is very well constructed and clearly separates this cruel world where OFELIA lives and the world created in her own mind. I guess there are no cross points between them, what makes this story real and more interesting in my point of view. The background scenario to the plot  the communist resistance after the Spanish civil war  is also very well created.
The production and the special effects are great as expected, and the acting is very good too, especially by the main characters. CAPITAN VIDAL (played by Sergio Lopez) included! He's the typical cruel and inflexible fascist, but the actor did a nice job.
I liked it more than I was expecting!