Fairy tale violence and fascist violence are placed side-by-side, but one is far more interesting than the other

Rating: 7/10 (18 August 2013)

Many of the world's most ancient myths and fairy tales are notoriously bloody affairs, perhaps because they date from times when death seemed to strike so capriciously. The 20th century, too, was at times brutally and indiscriminately violent, thanks in no small part to the fascist regimes of 1930s and 1940s Europe. Guillermo del Toro sets these two legacies of violence side by side at a Franco-era Spanish military compound built atop a stone ruin and surrounded by woods. This is the killing ground of a fascist officer, but it is also the home (really the prison) of his stepdaughter Ofelia, a book-loving girl who sees monstrous creatures in the trees and walls. Ofelia's encounters with a faun, insectoid fairies, and a faceless, child-killing thing with blood-stained claws are the most creative and interesting parts of the movie. It is unfortunate that so much time is spent away from her and these CG creations and spent instead on her stepfather, who feels like a villain imported from a slasher horror. His persecution of a band of clichéd guerrillas is predictable, and more gruesome than seems necessary for a fantasy period piece. At last, though, del Toro provides an ending that feels true to both the fairytale world and the real one, without compromising the dark tone he sets for both.