So I finally saw this. Great, great movie.

Saw it today. I still don't know what to think of it.

 

To those who saw it, what was the name of the first trailer? The one on the movie that talks about the Amazing Grace song.

Amazing Grace...lol.

Yeah, I'm a moron. I kept looking for Grace.

I agree with your second spoiler, but not with your first.

 

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It's a fantasy. I don't think applying logic makes much sense here. For one, you could just assume the food had some kind of magic to it that put her in a kind of trance. She certainly looked/acted like she was in a trance. But, more importantly, if you think, as I do, that this is all going on in her head, then you understand that scene as a product of her imagination. And I don't think her imagination would be really doing its job if it just let her walk on out of there with no payoff after all that setup.

 

 

As for you final complaint...I KIND OF agree. I went in there expecting a lot more of the fantasy stuff because that's what they played up in the trailer. I figured like 70% fantasy, 30% reality. But it was probably the other way around. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it clashed with my expectations a little. I need to see it again to really judge it fairly. But I think we coulda used a little less time showing us how evil the evil guy was, and a little more of her escaping into her imagination.

 

This is in my top 3 of the year, at least. I'm pretty sure Children of Men is staying at #1, but I need to see both again.

I pretty much agree with your sentiments about the movie. I need to see it again.

 

 

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I think the portrayal of Captain Vidal and Mercedes were very good. I know the trailer made it seem like it was going to be more fantasy than reality but I really appreciated the acting job and the focus placed on Captain Vidal and Mercedes. There were some points in the movie where you could really almost feel like the Captain Vidal monster was really a human at the bottom of it all with conflicts as well. But I disagree about the monster being a cliched Hollywood add-in. The story was a fairy-tale that she was escaping into; and fairy tales always have something like that happen. In fact, I would've been disappointed in that section of the movie had that not happened.

Saw this in a packed theater last night. Thought it was excellent, however there were some shortcomings that would force me to put it near the middle of my yearly top ten (2006).

 

For one:

 

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The scene while in th e labyrinth where she decides to eat the two grapes even after she was warned not to and saw all of the danger of the environment. That's just bad screenwriting. Everyone I was with (they don't share my same passion for film) completely agreed.

 

 

Another:

 

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I find it odd that Mercedes did not kill the Captain when she had the chance to. And I was equally surprised that he was able to recover from such wounds.

 

 

 

As a whole, I think the fantasy undertones of the film were too vague and underdevloped. Almost more suggestive than driving the plot. While that could potentially make the film better, I refuse to believe that because the fantasy scenes were absolutely gorgeous and engaging. It's a shame that the film focused so heavily on the standard good vs. bad guy plot, just under Franco's Spain. All of those aspects seemed cliched to me (The relentlessly evil military officer, the treason by some, the daughter disliking her new father, an aloof mother).

 

I'm just glad it wasn't some CG fest. I can't believe that film was made for only $5 million.

 

 

 

I agree with you....the film did not touch on the fantasy side too much at all however it think it was the best film of the year.

So I saw this movie in a somewhat intoxicated state---seemed pretty vulgar and even gory at times.

 

pretty unique though.

Just watched this the other night. I'm still digesting!

 

I certainly liked it but I'm struggling with how to rate it. On the one hand, I was entertained and the film was visually appealing. I also enjoyed the story and the perspective. On the other hand, I feel like something got lost in translation both figuratively and literally ["hasta ma?ana" was translated as "good night" in a very crucial scene, for example]. I wasn't very emotionally invested in any of the characters and many of their actions seemed forced/unnatural.

 

I'm also trying to reconcile the fact that this is a fairytale for adults set in WWII. A lot to consider!

I really enjoyed this movie.

 

I got the 2-disc SE DVD this week. I'm looking forward to the commentary.

Just watched this the other night. I'm still digesting!

 

I certainly liked it but I'm struggling with how to rate it. On the one hand, I was entertained and the film was visually appealing. I also enjoyed the story and the perspective. On the other hand, I feel like something got lost in translation both figuratively and literally ["hasta ma?ana" was translated as "good night" in a very crucial scene, for example]. I wasn't very emotionally invested in any of the characters and many of their actions seemed forced/unnatural.

 

I'm also trying to reconcile the fact that this is a fairytale for adults set in WWII. A lot to consider!

 

Del Toro did the subtitles himself.

On the other hand, I feel like something got lost in translation both figuratively and literally ["hasta ma?ana" was translated as "good night" in a very crucial scene, for example].

Del Toro did the subtitles himself.If that's true, then it's even more disconcerting. Think about the subtle difference between saying "bue?os noches" and "hasta ma?ana." One implies something that the other doesn't!

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The last thing she says to the Captain before her escape to the resistance [after getting busted about the key] is "hasta ma?ana," [literally "until tomorrow"] right? The other two times she says something similar it's, "bue?os noches," which is the standard "good night." So, why say “good night� in the other scenes and “until tomorrow� during the scene where she has no intent of seeing him the next day? That seems like an intentional subtlety that was overlooked.

 

Maybe I'm just nitpicking because I'm trying to figure out why I wasn't completely satisfied with an otherwise extremely well made movie? :shrugs

The fact that these subtitles were made by the filmmaker (and screenwriter) himself is more than any one of us can dream for and I would have trouble complaining considering how many classic films I've seen butchered before my eyes by actually bad subtitles on the silver screen.

Okay, but have you seen this movie? Tell me it doesn't make a difference in that scene...

If the filmmaker and screenwriter did indeed create the subtitles, that should flat out tell you that you aren't missing anything.

We'll have to agree to disagree on that. I think the differences in semantics are important.

I hate to nitpick yf21, but while hasta ma?ana literally translates to "until tomorrow," for all intensive purposes it means "good night." I never hear anyone say buenas noches and hasta ma?ana in the same conversation. They're interchangeable.

I hate to nitpick yf21, but while hasta ma?ana literally translates to "until tomorrow," for all intensive purposes it means "good night." I never hear anyone say buenas noches and hasta ma?ana in the same conversation. They're interchangeable.

Technically true - but different semantics. That's the point. Watch the movie and let me know what you think of that scene and how you would translate it. I'd love to hear what a native Spanish speaker thinks given the context of the story.

 

Thanks! :thumbup

I did watch it when it was in theaters, that's why I commented. I think hasta ma?ana fits well. Though I have to admit, I always hear/say hasta ma?ana rather than buenas noche

I actually agree with him to a point, some of the translations were weird. But I speak a different spanish than the director does.

 

I was just clarifying that one instance.