A child's troubled fantasy in a harsh world.

Rating: 10/10 (19 January 2007)

Pan's Labyrinth is a masterpiece. It paints a dark and disturbing picture about the horrors of war and how an innocent, imaginative child copes with her gruesome reality.
CAVEAT: THIS "FANTASY" MAY NOT BE WHAT YOU EXPECT!
Note to those who are expecting a romantic escapist fantasy flick - this is a VERY DARK and disturbing movie, not for the light hearted and impressionable. Definitely NOT for children. Definitely NOT a "date" movie, unless afterwords you plan to spend a detox session at home sipping warm milk, watching Teletubbies. And I thought that "Se7en" and "Reservoir Dogs" were romantic comedies. Some scenes will make even the most hardened of the audience members cringe. Be warned.
Is it a Fantasy, as advertised? It certainly has faeries, fauns and other creatures that would legitimize this description. However, these are no elves of Tolkien's Middle Earth nor are they centaurs of Narnia. These guys are straight out of paintings by Hieronymus Bosch's "Hell" or Goya's "Saturn, devouring his children". Are they real? Or are they the product of little girl's fantasy whose imagination has been twisted by indiscriminate brutality of the Spanish Civil war? You be the judge.
While this was not exactly what I expected to see going into the movie theater, I was totally blown away: the acting, visual effects, scenery, music, camera work - all were absolutely wonderful. Pan's labyrinth is a cinematic masterpiece. Just know what you are getting into and if you are up to it, watch it!.. and then take a cold shower.