Movie Notes: Pan’s Labyrinth
= 4 stars
Starring Ivana Baquero, Sergi Lopez, Maribel Verdu
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Synopsis
Set in Spain around 1940s, dreamy 10-year-old Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and her pregnant mother Carmen move in with stepfather Captain Vidal, who is fighting with rebels in the mountains. Ofelia finds a stone labyrinth in the backyard and meets Pan, a mystical entity who sends her on various tasks. The mystical and real entwine and the stakes rise for all involved.
The Good
- Masterful directing — detailed scene transitions, sweeping camera moves, dark shadows, and contrasting colors.
- Imaginative fantasy sequences — I liked the creepy skinny creature with eyes in his hands and the disgusting frog reminiscent of “No Face” in Spirited Away.
- Near seamless CGI.
- Extremely dark war story that runs in parallel with the fantasy stuff.
The Bad
- Might be a bit too dark for some — especially once the killing starts and the perhaps too brutal ending. Don’t rent this for your kids.
- Some of the fawn’s missions reminded me a bit of a really twisted video game scenarios. He does resemble a night elf.
Conclusion
Last week, after watching MirrorMask I voiced doubts that I could ever become involved by a story of a young girl lost in a fantasy world. I take that back — I really enjoyed Pan’s Labyrinth. I think its saving grace is the dark war story running in parallel. It’s ending is also very gutsy but perhaps the only way to reconcile the fantasy world with reality.
In addition, Guillermo del Toro’s direction is very evocative, moody, and occasionally stunning. Now, I can totally see why he’s been name dropped as a director for The Hobbit. Based on what’s here, The Hobbit will surely be awesome.
IMDB: Pan’s Labyrinth
Wikipedia: Pan’s Labyrinth
Rotten Tomatoes: Pan’s Labyrinth 96%
hey there J.
it took you long enough to see this movie! it was my favorite movie of last year…excellent film. Imaginative, dark and very interesting ~ historically and dramatically
ps I didn’t hear about the hobbit director idea. that would be excellent ~ two of my favorite creators represented in one film G del T and Tolkien. very cool!
ps what an excellent idea to pair G del T with Tolkien. I’m looking forward to that. Twould be awesome ; )
Hi Liza — yeah that is one downside of a long queue in Netflix, in that I will add a film someone recommends and then it shows up months later! I can’t remember if you recommended this one to me or not but if you did, thanks.
oops there was something wrong with the comment feature. my second comment didn’t show up when I submitted so I wrote it again…and it didn’t show up either even after refreshing the page. That’s why I’m repeating myself ~ probably did about the IT Crowd, too. You can delete the extra comments ; )
you’re welcome btw ~
[…] generally feel the whole Alice In Wonderland homage has been done to death (Labyrinth, MirrorMask, Pan’s Labyrinth), there was enough stuff going on in Coraline to keep me alternately mesmerized and amused. […]