A child's fairytale.

Rating: 10/10 (3 April 2007)

This movie, like all fairy tales, is actually dark and beautiful, mixing the real world with the imaginary one, the tale of a young girl looking to escape reality for another fantastic dimension. British viewers said the movie was gore, which it isn't, based on all the horror/thriller movies I may have seen since the 80s. In fact, the general public thought about this movie as a dark fantasy, a darker version of the "Chronicles of Narnia" perhaps, but they were wrong in that this movie wasn't made for British people who go to artsy international cinema, cocooned by the idea that "art" can be an excuse for all sorts. As a viewer, I would say that what was disturbing was that you can feel a certain unease in the main character's life experience, maybe because fairy tales do take chunks of real life and exaggerate them until you realise you can't stand it anymore. Consequently, the movie, far from being the usual dark fantasy anyone was expecting, turns out to be a real psychological eye-opener to the world of children and their monsters. Highly recommended viewing.