A visually stunning and technically impecable film in Catillian Spanish by Guillermo del Toro tells a story of a girl and her family in the setting of the World War II becomes a magical journey for a little girl. It represents a mixture of the opposite genres that create a marvelous effect on the audience.
The plot describes the adventures situated in the Northern Spain of a sadistic captain Vidal’s stepdaughter, who with the help of the magical creatures that she visualizes tries to save her late pregnancy term mother from the challenges they have to encounter. The story simultaneously represents a childish fantasy and a psychological drama told through the eyes of a young oppressed emotionally and physically girl, whose only resort was escaping reality into the imaginary world where she can become a princess only if she completes the three challenges.
There is no wonder the film won 3 Oscars. In the signature framing of Guillermo, a 12 year old Ivana Baquero’s acting surpases the excellency of some Hollywood stars seen from the upfront and low angles. The image and the performace of the magical characters are equally remarkable. The technical factors help accomplish the story to fully transfer the message input into the text. The colors and the lighting bring out the effect of marvel and magic. Along with the musical accompaniment, these factors are giving the film a unique ability to affect the audience doubting which plot line to believe.
The uniqueness of this film is infiltrated in the way the director chooses to tell a serious story through the eyes of a small child as if it was a fairytale, altering the whole concept of film industry around. The mixture of the two poles is exactly what makes this film unique and so special. It is an almost poetic combination of all technical and acting factors that dive the audience nose deep into the fairy that makes us visualize the second World War from an angle that no one has ever tried to picture.