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Summary: In 1944 fascist Spain, a girl, fascinated with fairy-tales, is sent along with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, a ruthless captain of the Spanish army. During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she's a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be the the true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again. (imdb)
Although dark in subject matter, tone and lighting, this remains a magical movie. It feels to me to have a gritty existential feel to it, despite its exploration of magical realism. The military tension of just-post-Civil War Spain is well captured (also see El Espiritu de la Colmena). The acting of the central characters is good.
It's pretty rare for a movie to both be exceptionally beautiful, emotionally gripping and hauntingly tragic AND at the same time so politically and morally mature. There are layers of parable under layers of visual magic. Fantastic film.
Imaginative exploration of the universe of childhood dream and nightmare, but also very bloodthirsty and downbeat, to such a degree that the "historical" thread comes to seem just as fantastical as the fantasy elements.
Wow, not sure exactly what to think of this movie. The fantasy element is produced like a movie for children, but clearly this is a very serious film. I can't tell if GDT did intend this to be viewed by children, but it is rated R and is quite dark and violent. Possibly the darkest fairy tale I have come across on the screen. Ultimately, this is a visually beautiful depiction, a lucid exposition of the cruel, unfair nature of the world engulfing innocence, with a moral lesson or two to boot.
Superb. Full of aesthetic wonder and visual delight. Full of symbolism. Positions 2 stories next to each other and intertwines them. One about the stark and violent Spanish civil war. The other about a young girl and the childlike, fairytale world she enters. How can stories of such vivid contradiction work together in one film, you may ask. Watch it and find out. Mindblowing.
A dark yet endearing adventure, reminiscent of Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away". Makes you wonder if fairy tales were originally designed to scare kids to sleep.
This movie is exceptional. I was expecting it to not live up to the internet's hype but it truly deserves the praise it gets. The acting and photography in particular were wonderful. It's a great film that left me feeling like I had been punched in the gut at the end.
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