Definitely not meant for children

Rating: 9/10 (28 November 2006)

Pan's Labyrinth, as the international title goes is a conflicting film - it mixes a fairy tale into the Spain of 1943, split up in a civil war. This conflict makes for two good bases for stories, rolled into one great story. The effect is weird like Big Fish, intense like Hard Candy and bittersweet like Thelma & Louse.
Be warned! Do not think this film is meant for children as it includes a fairy tale. I would not take any children younger than 15 years to see this film. Some scenes are pretty twisted and/or downright evil.
The story starts when a little girl and her mother travel toward a military base somewhere in the middle of a forest in Spain, to be safe from further harm. A sense of drama is added: the girls father is dead, a casualty of war, and her mother is throwing herself into the arms of the captain of the garrison. Then the film turns on its heels and goes into full flexed fairy tale mode as the girl finds a friend in a big grasshopper that turns into a fairy.
From there it rolls on and the film switched to/from reality a number of times, each time revolving into something else, each time becoming stronger and more overwhelming. The end effect is both lovely and grueling, both sweet and sour.
Spoken language is Spanish but that doesn't take a single thing away from the film. In the contrary, having English speaking Spanish people would have ruined it a bit.. Special effects used range from OKish to pretty good and the scenery is very good. Really gives the feeling of a war zone. Story is a little predictable, but not in a bad way.
IMO, a very good film that has made it onto my list of films to get on DVD when it gets released. Has a good base for extras.
9 out of 10 fairies lost in a labyrinth.