"I've seen a fairy."

Rating: 8/10 (30 July 2018)

I don't see very many Mexican movies which I think are great.
Though I would never own Pan's Labyrinth, I do think this is a great one, deserving all the recognition that it got, and I'm very impressed, and even proud that the movie is Mexican.
The story is very simple, yet it embraces several different themes with class, and style.
It is, essentially, a children's story set in Spain during World War ll, and centering around Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), a lonely little girl who's mother is carrying the child of a fascist named Captain Vidal.
Vidal could care less about his new wife and stepdaughter, and focuses solely on the child whom, he is certain will be a boy.
Because it is a difficult pregnancy, the mother is forced to stay bedridden, and Ofelia is placed in the care of Mercedes (Maribel Verdu), a caring woman who quietly despises Vidal, and has been secretly plotting against him.
Then, one night, Ofelia follows a fairy into a labyrinth on her stepfather's estate.
There she meets a Fawn (Doug Jones) who tells her she is a Princess, the daughter of a great King in an underground land, and that she must pass three tests if she is to return to her Kingdom, and be reunited with her true family...
Ofelia agrees, but trouble looms on the horizon, as rebels that have gone against the Nazi regime, unite against Vidal, and the three tests (which seem to Ofelia to be simple) could ultimately destroy her.
This movie is enchanting, and strangely soothing.
It's a fairy tale with depth, told from several points of view, and which comes up for air every once in a while to reflect on tyranny of the Nazi regime. Ofelia's mother, who's probably going to die in childbirth. Mercedes, who would like nothing better than to see Vidal dead. And Vidal himself, who's determined that his legacy should live on through his son.
A really, really terrific movie.
A masterpiece, I dare say, by Guillermo del Toro.
Quiet, thoughtful, and mesmerizing.
Originally, Review #67