Pan's Labyrinth

[X-Nightcrawler]

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Pan’s Labyrinth
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"Innocence has a power evil cannot imagine."



"Magic does not exist. It doesn’t exist for you and it doesn’t exist for me." (quote translated from Spanish).

Plot:
During Franco’s Spain in 1944, not long after the end of the Civil War, a young fairy tale enthusiast by the name of Ofelia moves to the countryside with her pregnant mother to live with her stepfather, a military man in the middle of an armed conflict surrounding the house Ofelia will be staying at. Ofelia’s own adventure begins one night when she’s visited by a fairy who leads her into a labyrinth in which’s center, the most beautiful adventure awaits.

What I Thought:
I should make clear that for quite a few months now, I haven’t bothered to write movie reviews as I actively used to. Not really because I’ve grown lazy or because I’m not as opinionated as before (quite the contrary, let me assure you) but because I felt that most movies I saw needn’t be reviewed by myself. Only in cases like “The Constant Gardener” (my review here), where I just seem to have an urge to encourage people to see it, do I really put down on paper my thoughts on the film.

I wasn’t a fan of any of Guillermo del Toro’s previous mainstream movies. With the exclusion of “The Devil’s Backbone”, the man had done little more than disappoint me with mindless movie after mindless movie with only stylish visuals, slick action and quirky humor as the refund of the admission’s price. But “Pan’s Labyrinth” (“El Laberinto del Fauno”) is Guillermo Del Toro’s masterpiece. It’s in this movie when one can almost feel a filmmaker’s evolution from an entertainer to an artist. Up until I saw this movie, I was under the impression it would be Alfonso Cuarón (“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban”) who would give Mexico its first Oscar. This year I realize that I was quite mistaken as another Mexican director, none other than “Amores Perros”’ Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu, gives the promise of success with the opera prima “Babel”. Still, with the promise of a great film (albeit seemingly redundant), I am highly dubious that Iñarritu is going to show us the level of intellect and sophistication del Toro has with “Pan’s Labyrinth”.

And sophistication is the right word to use. Although fantasy and reality had been mixed before so many times and with very decent products, none of the ones I have seen have the imagination, depth and masterful storytelling skills this movie showcased. The story revolves on two different layers, both of which we will be sunk into immediately. One is the harsh and cruel plot of Ofelia’s new life living with his stepfather and caught in a web of murder, grief and war. The other is the magical story of Ofelia’s quest to complete the three tests a whimsically quirky faun has imposed before her so she can open the portal to the Kingdom under the ground, where her father, the King, anxiously awaits for her return. The two stories seem so incredibly distant when read but once on screen, they gel together like two halves of a whole thanks to Guillermo del Toro’s abilities to tell a story. Such polar opposites can symbiotically work so well together because they center on a theme that’s accentuated during the story in just about every possible level. It’s a shame that the story became so immediately predictable and didn’t offer as many plot-related surprises as one would have hoped for, but it would be unfair to damn the film for this, because the fact that I (or any other viewer) could foresee the plot developments is just a very sad reflection on us. I can’t blame a movie for accentuating on its theme as much as possible.

Thematically speaking, “Pan’s Labyrinth” is a movie that will enchant (if not scare) children that can stomach its grisly violence. But more importantly, it’s a movie that will put adults to think. Unlike other fantasy ventures we’ve witnessed over the last six years, “Pan’s Labyrinth” carries a circular thematic of innocence and guilt that makes anyone who’s lost the former (every viewer) to reflect on exactly what it is that was lost. This theme is planted on screen with the classy technique of showing the story in the most linear of fashions but shown from two different perspectives. Of course, these perspectives are shown as essentially the same, since we never switch characters of focus, but as a viewer, we can choose to see the story through the eyes of any character we choose. It’s not until the near end when we finally see the culmination of the theme in a climatic sequence that will have you sweating cold.

And although this is Ofelia’s story, both worlds she lives in have important characters from whom she’ll either get help or hindrance from. Either way, all of these characters are given a very unique if not quirky personality. I particularly liked how del Toro gave them all interesting little traits, as subtle as the way they wipe the food off a knife, that give them all the dimension any human needs. The attachment we gain toward most of the characters (I say most because I still think the main antagonist, Captain Vidal, needed a more dualistic personality) is what gives the story all the tension, depth and emotional impact it has.

One of the main magnets this movie’s promotional material has displayed is a lush, vivid and incredibly imaginative visual style. While most of the movie’s visuals aren’t as inspiring as its more visually driven sequences, what we get is more creative and beautifully shot than we’d realistically need. Most of the movie takes place in the bleak and cruel real world, and having the beautiful images of the childish fantasy segments would almost seem contradictive. Del Toro instead uses intensely grotesque and graphic violence to accentuate on the real world’s nature (it would have been better to skip on the violence in the fantasy world altogether, I think, even though there is only one minor violent scene in there, making it not a thematic contradiction). However, when del Toro decides to treat us and flex his visual muscle, we’re given some of the best, most inspiring images I’ve seen filmed.

The production design is stellar, particularly in the Pale Man’s lair and of course, the final moments of the movie which pack so much emotional and aesthetic weight behind them that your eyes will water for either reason. I also very much liked the creature designs (particularly the faun himself), which seem to inspire exactly what they represent, be it fear or wisdom. Guillermo del Toro was able to weave tension and raw emotion out of thin air in more than one occasion and on top of that, his ability to communicate with his actors seal him as one of the best filmmakers to grace us in the last years. I’ve noticed that he’s going to go back to the ‘mindless’ bandwagon with “Hellboy 2” which I personally consider a real shame, but after “Pan’s Labyrinth” has so much critical and hopefully financial success, maybe del Toro will decide to give his fans more films like this.

I’d like to take a quick moment to mention that the movie’s music is as beautiful as its visuals. I particularly liked the ‘humming’ theme in the movie which was stuck in the back of my tongue for a while.

As said above, Guillermo del Toro has an incredible ability to communicate emotions to his actors, but giving him all the credit for the cast’s incredible performances would be ridiculous. Ivana Baquero (Ofelia) is only twelve and manages to convey more emotions with more skill than many actors much older and experienced than her. I see her fifteen years from now looking back at this movie as the one who launched her career. Doug Jones’ performance under weights of (excellent) prosthetics and makeup was quirky and delightful to watch. Maribel Verdu (Mercedes) was probably the best player in this movie and that is saying a lot. Her multilayered thespian abilities shine through with a masterful domain of facial and vocal acting. She was wonderful to see and made every frame she was in even better to watch. Sergi Lopez (Captain Vidal) was incredible with the character she was given, which wasn’t as one-dimensional as I’m making it sound. I would just have liked a more layered performance from him since he is a very competent actor. With that very minor note said, I can conclude this by saying that those I didn’t mention I didn’t mention because they’re incredible. The ensemble was well cast and everyone seemed to be in the right role.

Rating: 9/10. The problems this movie has are minor, few and far apart. None of them is worth anything more than a quick mention and should never be considered a detractor to take a ride down to the theatre and watch it. It’s an incredible film.

[MrScissorhands]

Pan's Labyrinth

9/10

Horribly beautiful fairy tale for grown-ups



With Pan’s Labyrinth Mexican director Guillermo del Toro for the first time since 2001’s The Devil’s Backbone returns to his Spanish language roots. Just like that film, Pan’s Labyrinth takes place in both the harsh reality of the Franco dictatorship as in the magical world of imagination.

In 1944 the young girl Ofelia moves with her pregnant mother to a rural area of northern Spain to live with her new stepfather, the merciless fascist captain Vidal (a very impressive Sergi López, who excels at playing creepy characters as he did in Dirty Pretty Things and Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien). Vidal however only cares for his unborn son and considers Ofelia and her mother to be no more than a necessary evil.

One night, Ofelia is awoken by a fairy that leads her to the faun Pan. He tells Ofelia that she probably is the princess whose return her kingdom has been awaiting for centuries and he subjects her to three tests in which she has to prove her true identity. Meanwhile captain Vidal has his hands full with the rebels that are hiding in the surrounding mountains and who appear to be aided by someone on the inside.

Guillermo del Toro, who also wrote the screenplay, makes a film with Pan’s Labyrinth that is both Schindler’s List and Alice in Wonderland at the same time. The Schindler’s List element may certainly not be underestimated, as what might at first glance appear to be a Tim Burtonesque visual fairy tale contains on more than one occasion brutally horrific imagery, and the war story is so dominant the Alice in Wonderland storyline becomes almost circumstantial. If anyone was planning on taking the little ones to this film consider yourself warned for weeks of nightmares and wetting the bed. The R rating is definitely a deserved one. However, Pan’s Labyrinth is also an incredibly beautiful and moving film and much of the credit here has to go to the cinematography and the set, costume and make-up designers who created a unique, visually rich film world of magic and imagination. The real hero however remains Guillermo del Toro, who has repeatedly proven himself to be the most visionary horror director of his generation. Pan’s Labyrinth is without a doubt his masterpiece.

The mixture of the harsh and brutal reality of war and the total fantasy of the magical imaginative realm may sound like a strange one, but when dealing with fascism it might be the only one that makes sense.

[Scorpio24]

Great reviews men.


I haven't seen it myself yet but i'm literaly creaming at the prsopect of watching this.