– Ivana: I remember when I was making the movie, I really believed that Ofelia was going to go to a better world. In a way, I felt like this brought comfort, and it justified the strength needed to move the story forward. For him, the endgame is complete. It made the journey even better and I was very determined about it.
As I got older, I thought: No, it was a coping mechanism. This was a way for him to escape from the world he lived in. Of course it can’t be real.
Now, as an adult, I’m coming back to the belief that this is real – even if it’s in a spiritual sense – but I feel like he’s really going there.
It’s interesting that it’s constantly evolving. Every time I watch the movie, I discover something new and my perspective changes, not just at the end but also at the entire movie.
That’s one of the great things about the movie, and I think it’s why it holds up so well. There are so many comments and it is so relevant at any given time that it still speaks to people.