In the fascist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.
This is one of those rare films where every frame is soaked in beauty. It's nearly impossible to believe that the story is original, it seems like it was pulled right from the pages of some ancient fairy tale. Its Oscar win for Best Original Screenplay was deserved. The characters are either beautifully or terrifyingly drawn. The young heroine and her stepfather are exact opposites of each other in every way, where she is innocent, he is corrupt, where she is good, he is evil incarnate. There were so many aspects to the film, it was fascinating to see. It combines the history of Fascist Spain with eternal concepts found in fairy tales like good, evil and obedience. The soundtrack is tailored exactly to the movie's mood, and has some of the most haunting melodies I've ever heard. The movie is excellent, but not for everybody. My mother watched it with me and some of the images really disturbed her. The stepfather character's actions are repulsive, and some other people I know who watched it said he made them physically ill. All in all, the lines of good and evil are clearly drawn, and the ending is victorious. This is one of my favorite movies of all time.
No comments:
Post a Comment