"...I had an unfortunate problem with what I perceived to be a harsh presentation of the Spanish language. It seemed to harsh and gutteral. This must be a problem with me - I don't see Spanish language movies often. But it nevertheless grated."
How anyone could think that Spanish, and particularly the Spanish spoken in this film, is harsh and gutteral (or guttural, for that matter), is a mystery to me. The New York Times' review can be read here:
In a wonderful interview (about much more than movies) on NPR last year (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7031354), Guillermo del Toro said that the title of the film was changed in English because American viewers don't know what a faun is.
Critics around the world have praised this violent and disturbing and beautiful film. I wonder if it would have been stronger, and less graphically violent, if it has been told _entirely_ from the perspective of Ofelia. Her escape from fascist Spain into her dark fantasy world would have been just as powerful, if not more so. But it is a great movie nonetheless. It's certainly the most violent movie I've watched all the way through (over the years, I've stopped watching many violent movies half way through).
