Oscar nominee: Best Foreign Language Film, Cinematography, Original Screenplay, Original Score, Art Direction
What can I say? This film is simply magnificent. I know it’s been hyped to death, but for good reason. Films like this don’t come around too often. It seems to me that most of the negative comments found on message boards and such are from people who expected it to be something other than it is, and this is exactly why I prefer to know as little as possible about a film before I see it. I had no idea what I was in for with this, and I was completely blown away by this heart-wrenching tale about a little girl trying to escape a terrifying reality by creating her own fantasy world. I did not expect this. Especially not from the man behind Hellboy (although, looking at Guillermo del Toro’s filmography I see that he also made The Devil’s Backbone, which was pretty good and which this film, in retrospect, is slightly reminiscent of). It’s a horrifying and violent story with elements of a magical fairytale. The wonderful cinematography gives the film that extra something as well. I honestly can’t think of a single negative thing to say about this film, so this’ll be my first top rating since I started blogging. Definitely my choice for the Best Foreign Language Film award. Best film overall, probably, if only it was nominated. I wish del Toro would spend more time making films like this instead of those ridiculous comics.
