Face-Off: Pan’s Labyrinth vs. The Devil’s Backbone

PAN’S LABYRINTH tells the story of Ofelia, a young girl who stumbles upon a labyrinth and, through her ALICE IN WONDERLAND-esque journey, encounters a number of fantastical creatures, including the Faun and the Pale Man, which both allow her escape from the real world and symbolize most every major figure and event in her life.

One of the themes of both PAN’S and BACKBONE is the effect war has on people both old and young. PAN is set in the years following the Spanish Civil War. While the story primarily focuses on Ofelia, a subplot involves her stepfather’s relentless mission to resist all anti-Franco guerrillas.

Guillermo del Toro perfectly creates a fantasy world that no one had ever imagined before, with incredibly wondrous creatures like fairies and the aforementioned Faun and Pale Man (both played by Doug Jones). These characters stemmed from the director’s detailed notebooks and in part his “lucid dreaming,” and were created using expert makeup and costume techniques. Nearly every image inside of the labyrinth and its underworld stands above what other directors have so far conjured up for the genre.

PAN’S LABYRINTH holds a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the most critically acclaimed films of its year. In addition to snagging nods/wins at the BAFTAs, the Golden Globes and the Cannes Film Festival, it also earned six Oscar nominations (behind only DREAMGIRLS and BABEL), including ones for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Score. It went on to win three statues, second only to the Best Picture winner, THE DEPARTED.