Dark, Sad and Cruel Fairytale in Times of War and Repression

Rating: 10/10 (25 May 2007)

In 1944, in the post-Civil War in Spain, rebels still fight in the mountains against the fascist troops. The young and imaginative Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) travels with her pregnant and sick mother Carmen Vidal (Ariadna Gil) to the country to meet and live with her stepfather, the sadistic and cruel Captain Vidal (Sergi López), in an old mill. During the night, Ofelia meets a fairy and together they go to a pit in the center of a maze where they meet a faun that tells that she is a princess from a kingdom in the underground. He also tells that her father is waiting for her, but she needs to accomplish three gruesome, tough and dangerous assignments first. Meanwhile, she becomes friend of the servant Mercedes (Maribel Verdú), who is the sister of one of the rebels and actually is giving support to the group. In a dark, harsh and violent world, Ofelia lives her magical world trying to survive her tasks and sees her father and king again.
"El Laberinto del Fauno" is among the best movies I have ever seen, with a fantastic, but very sad, pessimist and violent story, supported by magnificent and powerful characters, wonderful art work, cinematography, soundtrack and make-up. The story takes place in a very difficult period of the Spanish history, the post-Civil War with the victory of Franco. Ofelia, an intelligent girl that loves fairy tales and misses her father, creates an imaginary world to survive to the difficulties of the real world, living the fantasy as escapism. It is interesting to see that even her fantasy is creepy and dark. Her mother Carmen, played by the stunning Ariadna Gil, is a very weak and submissive widow, without expressing her opinion, who probably has suffered many difficulties to raise her daughter without a husband in such difficult times. On the opposite side, the wonderful Maribel Verdú plays Mercedes, a woman full of power and idealism, capable to humiliate herself to achieve her objectives. The outstanding Sergi López (the unforgettable Harry) plays one of the most despicable villains I have ever seen, a cruel, arrogant and evil man that shows no respect for anybody. There is a violent scene that is a rip-off of "Irréversible", when Captain Vidal hits the hunter in his nose with a bottle. This masterpiece is certainly the best work of the director Guillermo del Toro, from the excellent "El Espinazo del Diablo". My vote is ten.
Title (Brazil): "O Labirinto do Fauno" ("The Labyrinth of the Faun")
Note: On 20 December 2014 I saw this movie again.