Don't get me wrong, I thought this film was great. It's one of the best melodramas i've ever seen about Spanish war. It's a very sensitive movie with a lot of close ups and analytic editing surrounding the life of the orphans. It gets you into their universe and makes you feel what it was about to be an orphan in times like these. There is also a metaphorical level of political and historical denonciation in this. That's how you make a melodrama interesting, you clearly put up history into the roles of your film. Eduardo Noriega did a great job being the conceptualization of war, totalitarism and hate. Frederico Luppi as the protecting father was once again awesome(he always shines in Del Toro's works).
Thing is...what was billed as a horror movie isn't really horror. I mean there is what? Four scenes with the dead boy? Best thing yet is that when he's not there they are not even talking about him! This film could have got on without the use of a ghost story. Sad thing in this is that the special ghost effects are great, Santi is a creepy young fella. Del Toro is so scare to burn every away with horror like Hollywood does, that he only puts some here and there. I know it's a great film but I feel frustrated because handled better, it could have been the best film I ever seen in my life. It has nothing to envy to American classics of New wave europeans.
See it.
Thing is...what was billed as a horror movie isn't really horror. I mean there is what? Four scenes with the dead boy? Best thing yet is that when he's not there they are not even talking about him! This film could have got on without the use of a ghost story. Sad thing in this is that the special ghost effects are great, Santi is a creepy young fella. Del Toro is so scare to burn every away with horror like Hollywood does, that he only puts some here and there. I know it's a great film but I feel frustrated because handled better, it could have been the best film I ever seen in my life. It has nothing to envy to American classics of New wave europeans.
See it.