MovieChat Forums > El laberinto del fauno (2007) Discussion > Why was her mother there?

Why was her mother there?

posted 8 years ago by FirstBlood1982
1 reply | jump to latest

I think that most of the events of the film heavily indicate that the "fantasy" elements, within the context of the story, were meant to be completely real and not Ofeila's imagination.

I also know that Del Toro has outright stated that this was his intention.

The biggest thing that works against this is the fact that Ofelia's mother, who died because of her refusal to believe, is there in the afterlife/spiritual kingdom Ofelia arrives at in the end.

Why would she be there if she didn't believe at all?

+++by His wounds we are healed. - Isaiah 53:5+++

[–] Hecate-3 8 years ago

She didn't believe in fairies, and she didn't believe there was healing magic in the mandrake root. That isn't the same thing as not believing in the afterlife.

Besides, I've always had a problem with this whole notion that entry into eternal paradise should be dependent on belief that might or might not be indicated by observable evidence. Someone being a decent person and living his whole life trying to do the right thing, not because it might lead to eternal reward but because it's the right thing to do, seems more important than whether or not someone believes in a fantastic story he has been given no reason to take seriously.

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Strip away the phony tinsel of Hollywood and you find the real tinsel underneath.