Seamless visual feast

Rating: 10/10 (9 February 2020)

I kinda feel like saying ROTFL to all the literal minded viewers on this thread who try to "interpret" what this movie is about. Yeah, ok, one can make a myriad attempts at analysis of the themes of good and evil obvious on the surface but that is a miserable response to the wondrous visual universe created by del Toro. I've seen it about five times in the past couple of years, both on TV and Netflix, and I'm totally mesmerised still every time. The young girl is superb, the fable elements inventive, the cinematography just stunning but above all the mood and atmosphere del Toro creates is seamless, weaving the wars both the adults and the child are in the middle of into a fantastic immersive experience. And that's the crux of my "review", analyse this and that by all means but try the immersive approach and let yourself be swept away by the mood of the cinematic narrative. Just like Mulholland Drive, it is the immersion in the mood that pays dividends in terms of viewing satisfaction. Cinema, the multi modal medium that Kurosawa has spoken about at length, is uniquely placed as a medium of immersive story telling. Try it and let go of your cliched approaches to film. You may surprise yourself. Bravo Senior del Toro.