film analysis

Rating: 8/10 (8 May 2019)

In the film the main character, Ofelia, is a young girl who believes in fairy tales. Ofelia and her mother, Carmen, move to the country where Captain Vidal lives. Ofelia and her mom move there after Ofelia's father dies and Captain Vidal takes Carmen in as his wife. Throughout the movie the storyline consists of two worlds in which Ofelia lives in. She lives in the real world, which is living in the same house as her cruel step-father, and also in a world full of fairies. Once Ofelia and her mom arrive to the Captain's house she comes in contact with a fairy. The fairy leads her to the labryinth where she meets the Faun. The Faun tells her that she has to complete three very difficult tasks in order to grant her immortality and live as a princess of the underworld. Ofelia takes action to complete the tasks because the Faun helps her escape into the fairy tale world whenever things get really difficult in the Capatin's home.
The costumes and make-up of the characters are done really well. The Faun's costume, especially, is done really well to portray the fact that he is in fact a creature sent from the underworld. The horns, the long fingers, the eyes, and every little detail all contribute to the Faun's characsteristics. As for Ofelia, Carmen, and Mercedes, the Captain's housekeeper, are all dressed up and made-up to represent women in Spain living in 1944. The layers of clothing and dresses, the way their hair is done, and the make-up put on the women did a good job reflecting the way women looked and dressed during that time period. The Captain, along with the other soldiers, are wearing their uniforms to show the audience that the movie takes place after the civil war in Spain.
The director, Guillermo Del Toro, makes the different types of settings look very realistic. From the scenes in the labryinth to the scenes inside the Captain's house. The scenes inside the labryinth are done really well because all the details makes it look like it was an actual antique. Inside Captain Vidal's house it is more of a dark place, physically and emotionally. It looks old and the mood changes as soon as Ofelia walks in there. The atmosphere inside of the Captain's house feels like people live unhappily and like if too many people have died or have suffered a tremendous amount of pain while living there. The atmosphere inside the house is a perfect way to represent the Captain himself. In the movie Captain Vida plays the role of a cruel, heartless, selfish person. He is mean to Ofelia and doesn't treat Carmen as if she were his wife. Captain Vidal tortures and beats people when they do something wrong and kills his soldiers when he thinks they are no longer useful.
Overall the film is done really well. The director did a good job overall with the costumes, the character costumes, the setting, and the storyline. The sound effects and the soundtrack match up along with whatever is going on in the movie.