Magical Girl is a Spanish foreign language film that follows
the father of a terminally ill daughter who is bent on making his daughter’s
last wish come true.
The film follows father, Luis, who relentlessly searches far and wide to get his hands on a gift for his daughter.
The film follows father, Luis, who relentlessly searches far and wide to get his hands on a gift for his daughter.
Magical Girl touches on themes relating to issues relating to
the affects terminal illnesses have on families and the effects traumatic
experiences have on people when during childhood.
Magical Girl also does a great job of telling a unique story
full of the unexpected.
I loved how it was filmed and can imagine the film could have a substantial cult following.
The film reminded me a lot of The Lobster (one of my more recent favourites) in how the film was shot and how the story developed.
I loved how it was filmed and can imagine the film could have a substantial cult following.
The film reminded me a lot of The Lobster (one of my more recent favourites) in how the film was shot and how the story developed.
Synopsis
Luis is an out of work literature teacher. Together with his
twelve-year-old daughter, he lives a fairly quiet life in a small apartment in the Spanish suburbs.
His daughter, Alicia, suffers from a terminal case of leukemia. Despite her illness, she is a bright-eyed girl who loves to draw, dance and even likes spending quality time with her old man.
Among her most favourite things to do is watch anime. Believe it or not, her and her best friend love it with a strong passion. They especially adore the main character from their favourite show called Magical Girl Yukiro. So when Alicia’s health worsens it’s no surprise that she begins to spend more time watching her favourite anime show.
His daughter, Alicia, suffers from a terminal case of leukemia. Despite her illness, she is a bright-eyed girl who loves to draw, dance and even likes spending quality time with her old man.
Among her most favourite things to do is watch anime. Believe it or not, her and her best friend love it with a strong passion. They especially adore the main character from their favourite show called Magical Girl Yukiro. So when Alicia’s health worsens it’s no surprise that she begins to spend more time watching her favourite anime show.
Luis receives news that his daughter does not have much
longer to live. With this knowledge, Luis does not want to scare Alicia. Instead,
he takes things day by day spending more time with her.
That’s when Luis learns just how much Alicia loves Magical Girl Yukiro. She gushes on and on about how awesome her favourite anime star is and asks her father if she can buy Magical Girl Yukiro’s costume. Luis promises his daughter that he’ll buy it for her and searches the depths of the internet for the costume.
That’s when Luis learns just how much Alicia loves Magical Girl Yukiro. She gushes on and on about how awesome her favourite anime star is and asks her father if she can buy Magical Girl Yukiro’s costume. Luis promises his daughter that he’ll buy it for her and searches the depths of the internet for the costume.
However, he finds out that the
costume is extraordinarily rare. With only a couple of sellers who list the
costume at huge price points. Even so, Luis makes the decision to try to gather
up funds to buy the costume for his daughter.
The remainder of the film follows Luis as he goes to extreme
lengths to get enough money to buy Magical
Girl Yukiro’s costume. Sending an unemployed, indebted teacher on a mission
to get enough money, by any means necessary.
Important Themes
Magical Girl is a film that starts as a sweet story, which
turns into a melodrama, which turns into something alike to a thriller. Pretty fascinating,
right?
The film tests a fathers devotion and love for his daughter
by sending him on a wild goose chase for a very sought after magical costume.
By focusing on a story about a magical anime character, this allows the film
itself to take a kind of magical undertone to his adventure.
In the past I have
previously spoken about the spread of anime in the West in my post about the
Italian film Lo Chiamavano Jeeg Robot, so feel free to check that out. Instead, I’ll
focus on the figurative meat and potatoes of what makes up Magical Girl. That being
issues relating to terminal illnesses.
As advancements continue to be made in the medical field, more
and more patients are receiving better forms of treatment for their ailments.
Never before has there ever been such a global availability of doctors, forms of treatment, diverse ways of dealing with diseases and widespread knowledge.
Never before has there ever been such a global availability of doctors, forms of treatment, diverse ways of dealing with diseases and widespread knowledge.
And yet with that being said, there are still incurable diseases
and illnesses. Some experts suggest it is a matter of time before we can cure
all illnesses while others believe that diseases as whole will stay around as medical,
healthcare and pharma industries remain to be multi-billion dollar industries.
Meaning that instead of trying to outright cure diseases, companies will continue to just cure symptoms.
Meaning that instead of trying to outright cure diseases, companies will continue to just cure symptoms.
In today’s modern society, things like assisted suicide and euthanasia
have become well-debated topics when it comes to terminal diseases. Yes, some
are for and some are against it.
However, over the years the rate for assisted suicide has grown ever since being professionally introduced. Statistics from 2018 show that 65% of all assisted suicide cases in Canada were cancer patients.
The same findings revealed that medically assisted death jumped up by 30% in the last year.
However, over the years the rate for assisted suicide has grown ever since being professionally introduced. Statistics from 2018 show that 65% of all assisted suicide cases in Canada were cancer patients.
The same findings revealed that medically assisted death jumped up by 30% in the last year.
Statistics show that approximately 15,300 children are diagnosed with cancer every year. With leukemia cited as
being the most common form of cancer at 29% of all cases.
With so many young children affected, the popularity of cancer related charities has skyrocketed over the past two decades. Leading to the formation of more and more charities to make affected children’s wishes coming true.
With so many young children affected, the popularity of cancer related charities has skyrocketed over the past two decades. Leading to the formation of more and more charities to make affected children’s wishes coming true.
Magical Girl plays with this aspect of living with a terminal illness
as exhibited through the relationship between father and daughter; with the
subsequent chase Luis undertakes to make his little girl’s dream come true.
Conclusion
Magical Girl is a film that I really enjoyed. After my first
viewing I was blown away by just how interesting it was. As stated in the
intro, it really reminded me of something more off-beat and indie like The
Lobster (a 2015 film with Colin Farrell).
The film really opened up to be a very entertaining watch.
Switching from scenes of sorrow, to humour, to confusion, to mystery and even
to disbelief. Truly riveting stuff.
Definitely take a chance on Magical Girl. It sure
will be worth your time.
