Amazing Film!

Rating: 10/10 (14 August 2007)

Pans Labyrinth was simply amazing to me. I had never watched a film with full subtitles before and I didn't know if I was going to like it. But I sure did!!! I just thought that the plot and story was incredible. The film takes place in Spain in 1944. Spain was being ruled by Francisco Franco, a fascist dictator. Ofelia, a little girl, is a stepdaughter to an evil, brutal fascist military captain. Because her birth mother is pregnant with the Captains child, Ofelia and her mother go out and live with the Captain in his military outpost in the far countryside. Ofelia is troubled child. She completely dislikes her stepfather and she is caught in a terrible civil war. Now living on the outpost Ofelia encounters a mythical faun that tells her that she is a princess, but she has to prove herself first. The faun gives her three tasks that she has to complete to become a princess. Ofelia faces danger from the tasks and faces danger from the world she lives in. As the film progresses her mother becomes ill and her stepfather becomes more increasingly violent.
The film has two sides. Ofelia has to accomplish her three tasks and in the real world a bloody civil war wages between the fascists and the rebels. Their female servant along with their doctor are also secretly part of the resistance. Ofelia's world along with her military step-dad's world start to crumble. As Ofelia becomes closer to completing her three tasks the world on the outside becomes more unstable and violent. Her stepfather starts to loose control and becomes ever more desperate to crush the rebels. To do so he uses extreme forms of violence and torture.
Ofelia's fairy tale world maybe just as violent and dangerous as her real life. Ofelia's tasks test her will and courage. She encounters disgusting, violent, and dangerous situations. The monsters she faces in her fairy tale world are as horrific and as terrible as she faces in the real world. What's more horrifying, a monster trying to eat you or a brutal, sadistic fascist military captain. Ofelia faces two conflicts: the monsters in her three tasks and the monster in the real world who is her stepfather.
In the film there is conflicting evidence to tell if everything is in Ofelia's head or is it real. Is the violence that she encounters in her real life affecting her mind to a certain point that she is having out of body experiences. Is she insane? Does she Have a brilliant imagination? Or is this all real? The director makes you wonder.
At the end her fairy tale life and her real life collide in a dramatic climax that may sadden you.
I will warn you that the violence is very graphic. Probably some of the most graphic violence I have ever seen. But don't let this discourage you. The violent and horrifying scenes are what make this movie so great.
Also don't let the subtitles discourage you. After a while you forget that you are even reading. Plus its a poor excuse to miss out on this excellent film.
Pan's Labyrinth is a great film. Go rent it!