Great film, but not a masterpiece

Rating: 8/10 (31 March 2007)

1944. Spain has just come out of the civil war, and the fascist Franco regime is in power. A small group of republican fighters, though, hold on to a small territory in the remote forested mountains of northern Spain. There, a girl named Ofelia, fascinated with fairy tales, arrives with her sick mother to meet her stepfather, a brutal captain of the regime keen on exterminating the remnant republicans. Living with the military in an old mill, at night Ofelia meets a fairy who takes her to an old Faun, which urges her to complete three treacherous tasks. The movie, thus, occurs both in "reality" and in fantasy. I like Del Toro's previous Hellboy. Pan's Labyrynth is also a great movie, but I think it was just a bit overrated. The movie is well made, the atmosphere and special effects are great, the plot holds your attention, the performances are great. So why I'm a bit hesitant to endorse this movie as a masterpiece? I'm not totally sure, but the movie may be too "arty" for its own good, the film is just a bit too neat, straining for significance while trying to attract both terror film fans and art movie buffs, while probably pleasing neither completely. And in light of history, what does the republicans victory means at the end (unless Del Toro just wanted to please the crowds?)