Hola!
All reads, rates and r... er, comments greatly appreciated ... :-)
Hola!
All reads, rates and r... er, comments greatly appreciated ... :-)
Member since:29.03.2005
Reviews:104
Members who trust:15
A conceptual and visual triumph from a director with a reputation for handling the fantastical as well as anyone in film, Pan's Labyrinth (Laberinto del Fauno) made its debut at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, and was released later that year. Set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War, the film centres around a young girl, Ofelia, who is embarking upon a new chapter in her life, moving with her mother to her new stepfather's isolated retreat. As a general in his country's Fascist movement, he is entangled in a bloody battle with the guerrilla opposition hidden amongst the mountains.
Uprooted and often quite alone, Ofelia comes to see the sometimes barbaric nature of human relationships, both in the conflict being played out between the warring factions of her country and the near-contempt with which her stepfather treats her mother, tolerating her only for the son she is carrying. Attempting to escape the harshness of her new life and the increasing sickness of her mother, Ofelia stumbles upon an apparent world that exists just beyond the boundaries of the one she is familiar with.
Exploring the crumbling labyrinth that sits
in the woods adjoining the settlement, she finds a reality abounding with fantastical vibrancy and temptation - and is told that this is her world, that she is in fact a lost Princess snatched away from her kingdom by our own world. What is more, she can return to this underworld of happiness and peace - if she can only prove that she is indeed the lost Princess.
As such, she accepts the challenge - to complete three tasks, requiring her to venture into great danger and show herself to be honest and brave before the appearance of the new moon.
Pan's Labyrinth has all the aspects of a classic fable - from Ofelia's intimidating but kindly mentor, the Faun of the title, through the fairy-tale domains she must enter, to the terrifying creatures that lurk within. What sets it apart is the visual flair with which Del Toro delivers the story. This is carried not only in the rich, seductive fantasy-world scenes that Ofelia enters, but also in the stark, monochrome reality she comes from. Though the former is beautifully rendered and heavy with the effects of Del Toro's enormous imagination, it is by contrast with the grim, oppressive depiction of 1940s Spain that it gains its power.
These contrasts feature time and again throughout the film - though the horrors Ofelia meets in the fantasy world are fearsome spectacles (and Doug Jones' Pale Man is a memorably gruesome embodiment of this), those she must face in the real world are just as vile. Though he doesn't consume children or possess razor teeth and eyeballs projecting from his palms, General Vidal's ruthless, passionless cruelty is every bit as frightening.
The performances delivered by the cast are, without exception, outstanding here. Ivana Baquero's realisation of Ofelia is near-perfect, expressing a child's quiet suffering at the hands of a cruelty that, though it doesn't touch her, is all around - as well as a stoical idealism as she treads the fantasy world. Del Toro has said that he was initially looking for a younger actress to portray his protagonist, but was so struck by Baquero, he changed his mind. Although it's hard to speculate as to how the film would have been different with another lead performer, this seems like a wise choice - at eleven, Baquero is able to show a full range of childlike emotions, but is also of an age at which one would be starting to develop a greater consciousness of what is happening around them, and I think this is vital for the role she plays, as a girl standing on the border between childish ignorance of cruelty and a more adult understanding of the nature of the world.
The other two stand-out performances are both from actors not renowned for playing this kind of role. Sergi Lopez plays a fantastically brutal villain in General Vidal, but was previously better known for comic roles, whereas Maribel Verdu typically played sexier, more distinctly feminine roles than the empathetic but hardened character of Mercedes. Doug Jones is also hugely influential as both the Faun and the Pale Man - and went to the effort of learning his lines in Spanish so as to be able to mouth them accurately while another actor provided the voiceover.
Pan's Labyrinth is simply put, a wonderful film. It is at once a stirring picture of a moment in history and a vivid piece of escapist fantasy. Del Toro's immense talent for conveying the fantastical raises this film above almost all others of the genre, and his direction shows a sense of respect for the viewer, leaving the ending ambiguous, and allowing the audience to decide for themselves just how much of what they just saw they want to believe in. The director has stated that he considers this a sister film to his previous effort, The Devil's Backbone (La Espinazo del Diablo), in so much as it is set at the same time and touches upon many of the same themes. One needn't see both in order, though - there's no real continuity between the two. In any case, Pan's Labyrinth comes highly recommended as a fantastic example of an outstanding director at the peak of his talents.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2000 - Horror - Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Carmen Electra, Anna Faris, Kurt Fuller, James Van Der Beek, Keenen Ivory Wayans
Innocence Has A Power Evil Cannot Imagine. Pan's Labyrinth is the story of a young girl ... more
that travels with her mother and adoptive father to a rural area up North in Spain 1944 - after Franco's victory. The girl lives in an imaginary world of her own ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Visionary director Guillermo del Toro creates a unique, richly imagined epic with Pan's ... more
Labyrinth, a gothic fairy tale set against the postwar era of Fanco's Spain.Pan's Labyrinth unfolds throught the eyes of Ofelia, a young girl uprooted to a remote m...
![Pan's Labyrinth (2 Disc Set) [2006] [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78017840.jpg "Pan's Labyrinth (2 Disc Set) [2006] [DVD]")
exceptional by (8%):
very helpful by (92%):
