Pan's Labyrinth (Spanish)
Movie Review
"Pan's Labyrinth (Spanish)"
Review by Eric D. Snider
Grade: A-
Rating: R
Released: Friday, December 29, 2006
Directed by:
Cast:
Dios mio, what a movie is "Pan's Labyrinth"! It's a dark fairy tale, complete with a wicked stepparent, but by no means is it for children. Yet if it weren't for the grim, sometimes shocking violence, it would be the sort of story children love, with a young hero encountering fantasy, mystery, and magic.
Call it a fairy tale for grown-ups, then, written and directed by Mexican filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro ("Blade II," "Hellboy") and set in Spain in 1944. The Spanish Civil War has been over for five years, but Franco's fascist armies are still rooting out resistance sympathizers hiding in the hills and fighting guerrilla warfare. A particular government-owned mill has been attacked by these freedom fighters, so Franco has sent military forces to guard it.
Into this dreary situation comes a little girl named Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and her mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil). Ofelia's father was killed during the war and Carmen has since remarried and gotten pregnant. Her new husband is Capt. Vidal (Sergi Lopez), the commandant at the mill. He has sent for his new wife and stepdaughter to join him -- primarily, it would seem, so that he can supervise the birth of his heir, to hell with the wife and stepdaughter.
We know immediately that Capt. Vidal is a stern, authoritarian man, different only in gender from the stepparents of the Grimms' fairy tales. Soon we see he's even worse than that: He's also a cruel, vicious killer. His treatment of two men suspected of being resistance fighters is offered as proof.
While exploring the grounds surrounding the outpost, young Ofelia encounters a stone labyrinth in which she meets a faun -- a goat-man, like Mr. Tumnus in "The Chronicles of Narnia," except this one (played by Doug Jones) is more fantastic and ghastly looking, part nightmare and part children's story. He's extremely tall and walks on bent legs and cloven hooves that do not seem at all ergonomic. His voice is a deep growl that hovers between serene and menacing.
The faun tells Ofelia that she is the princess of the underworld. She left her home and her true father, the king, years ago, took human form, and forgot her past life. Her people have been eagerly awaiting her return via a portal in the center of the labyrinth. But before the portal can be opened, Ofelia must -- you guessed it -- complete three tasks. (There are always three tasks, aren't there?)
Ofelia's tasks involve collecting certain supernatural artifacts, guided in part by the faun's instructions and by a magic book he gives her that reveals her instructions. Some of these sequences are spellbinding and frightening, scary enough to make you hide your face, but so macabrely imaginative that you're compelled to watch. Why, there's a monster whose eyes are on his hands! And looks what he does to those poor fairies! I can't bear to watch/can't resist watching!
Meanwhile, Del Toro balances this exciting fairy-tale world with the stark terrors of real life. Capt. Vidal continues to wage war on the resistance fighters in the hills, unaware that certain members of his household staff are sneaking food and medicine to them. Is fantasy the only escape from the treachery of the real world?
Del Toro is exploring deep themes here, with long, symbolic histories. The story of an innocent who comes to this world from a better one and longs to shake off the shackles of mortality and return to paradise is as old as time. And just as deeply entrenched in our consciousness is the sad fact that no matter how horrible a thing your imagination can conjure, real people are capable of much worse. The real monster in "Pan's Labyrinth" isn't the creature with eyes on its hands; it's Capt. Vidal.
We also find an undercurrent of viva la revolucion in Del Toro's curious fable. Unquestioning obedience to authority is depicted as a poor philosophy to go by ... except in one sequence, where Ofelia's failure to blindly obey instructions almost gets her killed. I'm not sure what message we should glean from that -- follow the rules sometimes; other times, think for yourself? -- but this morbid, visually stunning fairy tale gives you plenty to think about and plenty to be entertained by.
Grade: A-
Rated R, a few bursts of graphic violence, some harsh profanity
1 hr., 52 min.; Spanish with subtitles
Copyright © Eric D. Snider.
This work may not be transmitted via the Internet, nor reproduced in any other way, without written consent from Eric D. Snider.
This item has 21 comments
January 17, 2007 at 7:12 pm
I'm so glad you gave this a great review. I was really wanting to see it. Now I think I'll go this weekend. Thanks :)
January 19, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Best sentence: He's extremely tall and walks on bent legs and cloven hooves that do not seem at all ergonomic.
January 20, 2007 at 7:17 pm
I would love to see this movie, but I suspect that it's another one of those well-crafted films filled with misery that the critics love. Though I'm a fan of Del Toro's work (and love a good dark movie as much as anybody), I'm not sure. . . could somebody who's seen it tell me if it's really as depressing as it seems?
January 21, 2007 at 8:48 pm
shocktherapy, yes, the movie isn't a happy movie at all. it's not hopelessly depressing, but it's far from being a happy movie. "dark" is a very good way to describe it.
it's a shame to miss this movie though. i think it was quite well put together. mirror mask (if you've seen ti) in someways was similar to it. but mirror mask had a much more interesting art direction but pan's labyrinth by FAR was much deeper, well written, and well acted.
if it's a movie you're interested in seeing, i would say you definitely need to watch it.
January 22, 2007 at 12:13 am
I will probably see it then, if only because it actually seems entertaining and well-done. It seems like a fantasy-ish version of Donnie Darko. Eh - I'll check it out.
January 24, 2007 at 4:38 pm
I saw this a month ago and it is a really, really wonderful film.. 96% approval rating on Rottentomatoes.com and 6 Oscar nominations..go see it!! It's really that good.
January 29, 2007 at 7:22 pm
I normally agree with Eric, but not this time. Don't believe the hype! This story doesn't make much sense if you think about it. It's basically two incomplete stories that have little to do with each other. Wait for video.
January 29, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Don't believe the other Andrew's snipe! The two stories are perfectly complementary and loaded with symbolic references. I don't watch movies in order to observe symbolism and to make observations on how said symbols incorporate a greater theme, but this is absolutely the type of movie that merits a second viewing. The second viewing can certainly wait for video, but the first should occur within the confines of a theater.
February 3, 2007 at 4:12 pm
Yes, see it in a cinema. The underground sequences are so dark that you'll have a hard time seeing it on video.
February 4, 2007 at 11:23 pm
Since this finally came to a theater near me, I can wholeheartedly agree with Eric's grade on this movie. I absolutely loved it, and plan to go back to the theater again, to see all the things I missed the first time. It was dark, yes, and had a lot of scary violence, but the darkness had to be shown so the viewer could realize just how necessary the fantasy was for Ofelia.
February 6, 2007 at 4:03 pm
The Captain bashing the young man's face in with the wine flask will haunt me for the rest of my life.
February 7, 2007 at 5:48 am
I finally got to see the movie and I agree with Eric. I normally don't like fantasy movies, but this combination of reality and fantasy really works. Has there ever been a movie that combines brutal violence with fantasy that kids would love (if not for the brutal violence). It's like Apocalypto meets a souped up Wizard of Oz. Eric is also right about Ofelia obeying or disobeying the rules. I was thinking that when the movie ended. A smart girl like Ofelia eating the grapes when the faun cleary said "eat nada!" was crazy. When the faun said do everything I say and obey me in the third task- he was testing her?..... Still, a great movie.
February 15, 2007 at 11:12 am
Saw this at Toronto Film Festival. My wife and I were blown away. My daughter (25) was, as well. It's brilliant, haunting and scary. Anyone who takes a child to see it is an idiot. The fairy-tale test, by the way, is not 'obey without question' but 'deny yourself this little indulgence for a higher purpose' and the movie's test is exactly right.
February 20, 2007 at 4:00 pm
I saw the film last Sunday 17th and I wasn't ready for the bloody part. My husband said the reviews were good, but we had no idea that it was going to be a cruel fairy tail. I didn't like the tortures... It was too much... I wanted to relax before Monday and I left all stress-out and not happy. I will recomend the movie only if you go with the right attitude. Don't expect any happy endings or fantasies here.
March 8, 2007 at 11:16 am
I personally loved it I cannt get enough of that freaky dark fairy tail stuff it was twistedly beatiful in my opinion silvia may have a point though noy good for kid who are affriad of the dark but I thuogh the bloody element added to the masque and anything liked by more than one person has to have a slight hype (sadly) it is the way life goes
April 8, 2007 at 3:44 pm
A somewhat interesting story, but with loose ends. The movie should get your attention because it is quite violent. The visuals and music should win awards.
June 6, 2007 at 9:36 pm
To whom ever thought the stories didn't go too well together. If i hadn't seem the directors commentary I MIGHT have agreed with you. Watch that too and you'll see how the stories are inter-related. All in all, loved the movie. I even learn some cool Spanish phrases along the way^^
July 19, 2007 at 9:36 am
I'm so glad. I just bought this movie on Pay Per view and if it was a really bad movie, I would be pissed off.
September 13, 2007 at 10:29 am
I did a blind-buy of this movie when Blockbuster had it on sale for five bucks, but the risk paid off. Absolutely fantastic movie.
December 3, 2007 at 5:20 am
I just now saw this movie. It was riveting and lovely, dark and poignant.
This movie reminded me very much of a book I read not too long ago called "The Book of Lost Things" by John Connolly, which is about a young boy in post WWII England whose mother has died and whose father remarries and has a baby with the new wife. The boy gets lost in books (especially fairy tales), which literally start speaking to him. He later finds his way into their world through an ancient sunken garden behind his house. But that fairy world, like in the old fairy tales, is quite a predatory place with disturbing inhabitants and dark goings on.
(Here is the link to "The Book of Lost Things": http://www.amazon.com/Book-Lost-Things-Novel/dp/074329890X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196685761&sr=8-1 )
I would be very interested in anyone else has read that book and also seen "Pan's Labyrinth" and if, like me, they found them very evocative of one another.
December 24, 2007 at 10:24 am
Just another comment on the grape scene and creepy monster thing. I think the reason Ofelia ate those grapes was also almost like she was compelled to. If you watch that part closely you can see that as Ofelia walks by, she's almost entranced by them. It kind of reminded me of Snow White and the poisoned apple. I think it adds a little something extra into the whole fantasy bit, and gives us another glimpse at how magic can work: even something that subtle can be deadly.