Tengo aconseje para usted: Mire
Pan's Labyrinth.
It may not be a happy movie; it may be dark, startling brutal at times and intense, but it is worth living through. Just make sure you have the time to process it once it's over. This isn't a movie you leave behind right away. At least I didn't. For me, this movie was like director
Guillermo del Toro was giving me a small dose of what it must have felt like for the people of
Spain during
Franco's rule and the
Spanish Civil War. There is never a moment of security for the characters or the audience. Even in the fantasy world of 11-year-old
Ofelia, there is a darkness and intensity that never settles or comforts. It is a movie that is both frightening and beautiful in only the way a fairy-tale is able.
For a more thorough review that I couldn't have said better myself see
Roger Ebert's page.
I also have to say that young
Ivana Baquero who plays Ofelia should have been nominated for an Oscar. I think if this movie were from the U.S. she would have been. I loved
Abigail Breslin in
Little Miss Sunshine and believe she deserved the nom she recieved, but because of the type of movie
Pan's was, Baquero's performance needed to be, and was, on a whole other level. For instance, take note of the scene of Ofelia, ear pressed against her mother's pregnant belly, making a heart-wrenching promise to her unborn baby brother. Half the adult actresses who make their living in Hollywood could not find and portray the emotional truth in this scene as well as her.
¡Excelente!
The image of the Pan's Labyrinth poster was taken from Wikipedia where you can find its copywrite information. No infringement intended.