Horrible girl, ill-advised girl, disturbing girl... Anything but magical.
"Magical girl" has an easily understood plot, which still makes not much sense, because everything is symbolic and with various layers. Which makes the story, quite disturbing to start with, think of itself in a too highly way.
It all goes about a young girl, who is sick, and who would like to have a dress from an anime, a Japanese animation series. Her father, decides to do whatever, but whatever, to get her the dress.
That everyone in this movie has some kind of mental problem, or is in mental pain, is quite obvious. The young girl is probably the sanest in all the story. Too bad we are all the time with the creepy father, a young woman with a dark past, who has a very controlling and creepy husband, and a creepy old teacher of her who has just been released from prison. All characters are quite creepy. And this without taking into account the constant hammering of symbols, which also have a strange patriotic tinge to it (bullfighting to justify that Spaniards are not like the Nordic people but neither like Italians or Latinos?; the very Spanish music or the TV playing a Spanish selection match...).
So, the movie seems to say that people in pain or who see people in pain may do crazy things. It could also be about the sick girl and everything be about her illness. Or about the young woman and the very sick life she has had till that moment (and all the "nice" men that surround her). In the end, magic is conspicuous by its absence, but creepiness overstays its welcome, as the movie is two hours long.
"Magical girl" has an easily understood plot, which still makes not much sense, because everything is symbolic and with various layers. Which makes the story, quite disturbing to start with, think of itself in a too highly way.
It all goes about a young girl, who is sick, and who would like to have a dress from an anime, a Japanese animation series. Her father, decides to do whatever, but whatever, to get her the dress.
That everyone in this movie has some kind of mental problem, or is in mental pain, is quite obvious. The young girl is probably the sanest in all the story. Too bad we are all the time with the creepy father, a young woman with a dark past, who has a very controlling and creepy husband, and a creepy old teacher of her who has just been released from prison. All characters are quite creepy. And this without taking into account the constant hammering of symbols, which also have a strange patriotic tinge to it (bullfighting to justify that Spaniards are not like the Nordic people but neither like Italians or Latinos?; the very Spanish music or the TV playing a Spanish selection match...).
So, the movie seems to say that people in pain or who see people in pain may do crazy things. It could also be about the sick girl and everything be about her illness. Or about the young woman and the very sick life she has had till that moment (and all the "nice" men that surround her). In the end, magic is conspicuous by its absence, but creepiness overstays its welcome, as the movie is two hours long.