Utterly Depressing. Not Enough Fantasy Sequences

Rating: 4/10 (27 February 2008)

Warning! Many Spoilers Ahead!
This has to be one of the most depressing movie's I've seen in a long time. The acting was decent, but the story (the one in the real world, not the fantasy world) was just too disheartening to watch, even for those who are slightly braver than simply being faint of heart. One who are expecting an engaging invitation to a creative fantasy realm will be sorely disappointed, as most of the screen time (well over half, I would wager) is spent with the army officer who is the protagonist's stepfather. We see scene after scene of his cold, heartless brutality, both towards his wife and stepdaughter, as well as to anti-Franco revolutionaries (just to split hairs for a moment: this movie takes place a few years after the Spanish Civil War had ended and Franco had taken power. I say this just in case anyone thought this a movie about the Spanish Civil War). There are a couple of scenes of grotesque violence, one of which is a disturbingly realistic lip-cutting scene. We see the officer's wound before he sows it up: his mouth looks like that of a gory H.R. Pufnstuf. After his wound has been sown shut, we still see him reel in agony as he bleeds from it. This is simply one reason parents should be wary if they think about taking kids to see this. The officer will give them nightmares for a long time.
The fantasy realm into which the girl escapes is, from what I could deduce, a metaphor for overcoming the madness of the Franco regime, and fascist dictatorships in general. Those wanting to indulge in a fantasy movie like "The Chronicles of Narnia", "The Lord of the Rings", or even "The Neverending Story" will be very disappointed, as the fantasy is not given the screen time one would have hoped, nor is the fantasy world richly developed. The faun's magic realm is supposed to be the girl's way of coping with the brutality of her stepfather, but we see only a few glimpses of it, and it is not juxtaposed well with the scenes of the revolutionaries or the sadistic stepfather. In short, the audience is left craving more of the girl's magic world. Many of the "real world" scenes do not blend in well as a dichotomy with the girl's imaginary world, and the film suffers for it.
In short, the grim storyline and constantly depressing scenes, without so much as a simple moment of comic relief or humor to break the tension, makes this a rather difficult movie to watch. It is simply a dark art house movie thinly masquerading as a fantasy film (at least in promotional art). I do not recommend this for families who want to bring along the kids or fans of fantasy and science fiction. Those adults with a more intellectual bent or those who take pleasure in watching art-house movies may enjoy "Pan's Labyrinth." In all, the audience for this film seems rather limited.