Great film

Rating: 7/10 (31 October 2017)

Considering pans labyrinth isn't usually the type of film that I would watch (in regards to the genre and language) I really enjoyed the film. Not only is the film built upon a solid plot and story line, surrounding the height of the Spanish civil war; it dabbles with the idea of fantasy and escapism from the real world. This escapism aspect is played out through the mind-set and narrative of a young girl called Ofelia. Many props and editing techniques are used within the film to further propel us into the idea of a fantasy world and allow us to delve even deeper into her Arcadian mind-set. I personally really like the side by side contrast of a happier/ more uplifting toned plot in conjunction with the much more serious and depressing story of the civil war. Not only does the film explore historical context and escapism, but more serious themes like abuse, sexism, war and even more jarring themes such as torture, both physical and psychological/ mental. As someone who generally appreciates the physical aspects that go into the making and cinematography of a film, I was thoroughly impressed with the special effects makeup within the movie, as well as how continuously used it was throughout. Two of the main characters were fully created using special effects makeup (these being the pale man and the fawn) this further added to the fantasy genre of the film and made it that much more enjoyable to watch.
However, as much as I did enjoy the film, certain aspects of it did become rather repetitive and almost predictable, for example, as soon as the film started, it was clear to me that the mother was going to die at some point; this level of predictability could be a good or a bad thing, as well as just be down to a person's individual perceptive abilities when viewing films, however, this did stick out like a sore thumb to me. Certain parts of the movie were also quite slow and seemed to drag on for a while, not any major parts come to mind although certain shots and edits/cuts between shots could have been more finely tuned in my opinion, making certain scenes even more impactful or dramatic. Overall, Pans labyrinth was an enjoyable film to watch, the pros definitely outweigh the cons and in my opinion, is a "breath of fresh air" in comparison to some other fantasy films.