El Laberinto del Fauno (2006)

Trailer

A long time ago, in the underground realm, where there are no lies or pain, there lived a Princess who dreamed of the human world.
So basically: The story goes that the princess of a fairytale underworld went up into the sun and lost all memory of her former life. The king of the underworld put portals on Earth to find his daughter. Now in the fascist Spain of 1944, Ofelia's mother has married ruthless Captain Vidal, who has moved her into the country. There she enters a labyrinth and finds a portal guarded by an ageless faun. The faun thinks Ofelia is the long lost princess and gives her three tasks to perform to prove that she belongs in the underworld.

I didn't get the hype after watching this movie for the first time. I mean, I liked it well enough, but I didn't get why it was that praised. On my second viewing, and a little more wise to the world of movie critiquing, I've since learned my error. This movie is stunning both visually and story-wise. The special effects are amazingly done and homg! real trees! (I am, of course, poking fun at Avatar) and it really makes the fantasy world come alive for the viewers. The story is brilliant, to really understand what I mean you have to watch it. The ambiguity of the film is defs what makes it unique.

With any interpretation of the film, it deserves to be on the list.

Ziggi seal of approval!