This is a magical film that teaches adults that is still ok to let your imagination wander. When you’ve had an overly stressful day with an overbearing boss a giant mud puddle or the world just seems to be working against you, what better way to come into your own than to escape to a world that invites you to belong. Ofelia is the naïve bright-eyed child once existing in us all. Those are the eyes that saw everyday as an adventure with amazing new things to discover. It seems that when we have come of age we are tied down or tired by our responsibilities or hardships and as adults lose our sense of excitement. As children free from the stress of survival we are able to explore another dimension of our self-being and world awareness. As I child I feel like I was able to have more trust in the world than I am as an adult. The people, places and events of my live have contoured my consciousness sometimes by cautiousness to view the world. I do believe that knowledge is power but I also understand that once we’ve endured the cruelties and harshness of the world our minds become stained making it difficult for such magical curiosities. Ofelia is able to comprehend evil in the world and you sense her dislike when she refuses to call the Captain “father”. She easily distracts herself from confrontations with the Captain by exploring this new realm of existence she has unlocked.
The most thrilling scene in this film occurs on Ofelia’s second task when she must use her key and retrieve a mystery. She enters a long hallway and soon finds herself at the end of a table full of delicious food. She is not supposed to eat anything but the grapes looked so juicy and delicious I wanted to take a bite. Her little fairy friend’s frantically try to stop her but she bites down with a look of instant gratification only the fattest juiciest ripe red grape can produce. For a split second almost out of the entire movie this is the one time we see Ofelia truly in a state of nirvana. Then he awakens and slowly, carefully presses his peepers in the palms of his gangly pale hands. He raises his hands to his face and his fingers fan open like the flutter of eyelashes. This sickly looking pale man has no intention of flirting with Miss Ofelia how has suddenly realized she has flirted with disaster. And she’s off, round the corner down the stretch and her timer runs out. Is she out of time? She must have had ballet lessons to learn to balance to elegantly on her toes as she stretches with her chalk to draw door on the ceiling. She push the door open and pulls herself up just in time to slam the door keeping the pale man locked in his secret place. I think the coolest thing about this scene is the way they managed the special affects. I was able to watch some DVD extras that showed the creation of the fantasy characters. The extras explain that the director has a background in special effects and you can really see that it helped them seamlessly combine the computer-generated graphics to what was captured on the film. I will be interested to see if he creates more film with this method.
I’ve seen this film a few times and the violence always jars me. This time was too much and I looked away or left the room when the fascist Captain began playing with his tools. I accidentally peeked just as the camera show Mercedes slicing open the Captains cheek and it made my insides feel weird. Blood and anything that’s grown inside of the body I find best when blanketed inside the succulent skin shell it grew in. I try to consider this movie through the scope of Ofelia’s delicate but indubitable eyes. We see her float easily away in moments throughout the movie and I think it is safe to conclude that she has subconsciously chosen to not deal with the stresses of her new life by creating a cooler even newer one to run away to. In Ofelia’s alternate life she is a princess of a powerful under-lord and her father and kingdom have been waiting her return for a very long time. Even with all of its strange schemes and tricks Ofelia’s alternate reality welcomed her with loving stability and that was something found lacking in the house of the Captain. I will think of Ofelia when life cuts me a difficult hand and remember that there is always a way to change your future if you really believe you can!
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