more about reality than fantasy

Rating: 9/10 (28 February 2007)

I was hoping/expecting a grim but glorious flight of fancy, but this film is very much about raw reality. More of the film was about the war than it was about imaginary landscapes and creatures. I didn't find any escapist relief, and neither did the characters, in my perception. Everyone I think will have their own sense of what it's about - it is a layered, complex story with a lot of blood and drama and emotional intensity.
I noticed del Toro did not credit the 1973 film The Spirit of the Beehive as an influence, which disappoints me. He MUST have seen it, as it is a very famous Spanish film, and one of the finest art films ever made. It is about a child around the same time, dealing with the Spanish Civil War indirectly, via fantasies about the 1931 James Whale "Frankenstein" film. Beehive is quietly understated, and deeply powerful for those who pay close emotional attention to its slow unfolding... very different from the high drama and visually spectacular creatures of Labyrinth, but thematically very similar.