Good fantasy-realistic movie!

Rating: 8/10 (2 April 2007)

This movie is a good combination of fantastic and realistic events held at the same place!.
The story is about Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), a little girl that lives in Spain in the end of the Spanish civil war, and how she travels with her pregnant mother Carmen (Ariadna Gil) to a rural place where his stepfather, Captain Vidal of the Spanish Army (Sergi Lopez) has his military operations. Ofelia, in the middle of this cruel war lives also a fantasy tale, where she has to demonstrate to a fawn in a labyrinth that she's actually a princess. Trough some tests that she has to face, and with the cruel events of the civil war, you'll find a good story and movie, really touching.
In this film, with a really good script and direction, you will feel how close can be related the fantastic and the realistic events; with great photography, and really well obtained characters; Ivana Baquero does good, Ariadna Gil has also a great acting and Maribel Verdú as Mercedes, a housekeeper demonstrate why is a great actress, Doug Jones (as the fawn and the pale man) without having the Spanish as his natural language, is incredible and realistic under makeup!; but the one that really impressed me was Sergi Lopez, as one of the most sadistic, cold and evil characters that i have seen. The Pale Man also is a character worth to see, it's really impressive and scary!.
8/10 for a good film, that can show you a fantastic world that coexists with our common world.