Pan's Labyrinth-possible spoilers
On Friday night I saw one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. And I see a LOT of movies, at least 2 or 3 per week. "Pan's Labyrinth" (in Spanish with English subtitles) was one I'd been anxiously anticipating for a while now and so when it finally went into wide release I was very excited to go see it. The following may contain spoilers so if you have not seen the movie yet and/or don't want to know what happens in the movie, stop reading! :)
The movie is brilliantly directed by Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, who has directed American movies such as "Hellboy" (which I was not a fan of) and "Blade II" as well as Spanish-language films such as "The Devil's Backbone" (which I am also a fan of.)
For those not familiar with the plot, it is an "adult fairy tale" set in 1944 post-war fascist Spain. It tells the story of a young girl named Ofelia who goes with her pregnant mother to live with her mother's new husband, a sadistic, cruel and brutal Army Captain, in a remote military outpost in Northern Spain. He has been tasked with ridding the area of Republican guerrilla soldiers who are camped out in the mountains surrounding his headquarters. Upon arrival, Ofelia spies a dragonfly who later comes into her room, turns into a fairy and leads her to an ancient labyrinth on the grounds where she meets a faun who tells her she is a reincarnated princess from another realm and in order to return to her kingdom, she must complete three tasks before the full moon. From there, the movie juxtaposes the fantasy scenes of Ofelia's tasks with the real-life horrors of the world around her: her mother's poor health, the cruel treatment by her stepfather, and the escalating violence around her. She also befriends Mercedes, a servant of the Captain who is also aiding the rebels, one of whom is her brother. Ofelia keeps this fact a secret from her step-father, who tortures or kills (or both) anyone he even suspects is a rebel.
The movie is at once very dark, disturbing, violent (at times graphically so) as well as heartbreaking, haunting, beautiful, deeply moving and stunning. The visuals are astounding. The characters are wonderful (and at times wonderfully creepy, such as the baby-eating Pale Man.) This is definitely not a movie for kids and it definitely deserves its "R" rating. If I had seen this movie as a kid, I would probably *still* be having nightmares from it. The violence is intense and very hard to watch and at times I was definitely squirming in my seat and having to look away from the screen.
I will almost definitely see this movie again while it's still in theaters and plan on buying it when it comes out on DVD. It's a movie that has many layers and deserves more than one viewing. I am really hoping that it will receive recognition on Tuesday when the Oscar nominations are announced. Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay would all be well-deserved awards as well as the score, cinematography, makeup and costumes.
The acting was amazing all-around. Sergi Lopez was utterly detestable as Captain Vidal, Ivana Baquero was great as Ofelia without being cloyingly cutesy like too many young actresses lately. And I was especially impressed with Doug Jones who played both Pan and the Pale Man. In an interview I watched, he said he doesn't speak any Spanish. You definitely can't tell from his performance-he delivered his lines flawlessly and sounded like a native Spanish-speaker.
If you haven't seen this movie, I recommend it very highly. And if you have seen it, I am interested in hearing your opinion, so please leave a comment!
The movie is brilliantly directed by Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, who has directed American movies such as "Hellboy" (which I was not a fan of) and "Blade II" as well as Spanish-language films such as "The Devil's Backbone" (which I am also a fan of.)
For those not familiar with the plot, it is an "adult fairy tale" set in 1944 post-war fascist Spain. It tells the story of a young girl named Ofelia who goes with her pregnant mother to live with her mother's new husband, a sadistic, cruel and brutal Army Captain, in a remote military outpost in Northern Spain. He has been tasked with ridding the area of Republican guerrilla soldiers who are camped out in the mountains surrounding his headquarters. Upon arrival, Ofelia spies a dragonfly who later comes into her room, turns into a fairy and leads her to an ancient labyrinth on the grounds where she meets a faun who tells her she is a reincarnated princess from another realm and in order to return to her kingdom, she must complete three tasks before the full moon. From there, the movie juxtaposes the fantasy scenes of Ofelia's tasks with the real-life horrors of the world around her: her mother's poor health, the cruel treatment by her stepfather, and the escalating violence around her. She also befriends Mercedes, a servant of the Captain who is also aiding the rebels, one of whom is her brother. Ofelia keeps this fact a secret from her step-father, who tortures or kills (or both) anyone he even suspects is a rebel.
The movie is at once very dark, disturbing, violent (at times graphically so) as well as heartbreaking, haunting, beautiful, deeply moving and stunning. The visuals are astounding. The characters are wonderful (and at times wonderfully creepy, such as the baby-eating Pale Man.) This is definitely not a movie for kids and it definitely deserves its "R" rating. If I had seen this movie as a kid, I would probably *still* be having nightmares from it. The violence is intense and very hard to watch and at times I was definitely squirming in my seat and having to look away from the screen.
I will almost definitely see this movie again while it's still in theaters and plan on buying it when it comes out on DVD. It's a movie that has many layers and deserves more than one viewing. I am really hoping that it will receive recognition on Tuesday when the Oscar nominations are announced. Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay would all be well-deserved awards as well as the score, cinematography, makeup and costumes.
The acting was amazing all-around. Sergi Lopez was utterly detestable as Captain Vidal, Ivana Baquero was great as Ofelia without being cloyingly cutesy like too many young actresses lately. And I was especially impressed with Doug Jones who played both Pan and the Pale Man. In an interview I watched, he said he doesn't speak any Spanish. You definitely can't tell from his performance-he delivered his lines flawlessly and sounded like a native Spanish-speaker.
If you haven't seen this movie, I recommend it very highly. And if you have seen it, I am interested in hearing your opinion, so please leave a comment!
Labels: movies, Pan's Labyrinth
posted by NicaGirl @ 10:50 PM
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