In death there can be life

Rating: 9/10 (15 January 2007)

Pan's Labyrinth makes fairy tales amazing again, creating a world of fear, joy, and anticipation. Set during World War II, this film embraces the darkest most villainous spirit of man-kind and unleashes it with a cruelty that chills to the bone, and just when the chill pulls at the very fiber of your being the warmth and kindness of unconditional love breath life on the screen with you endearing young girl. As in most Fairy tales, she is innocent, pure and dangerously naive. Surrounded by treacherous, unrelenting viciousness the young child of a widowed, expectant mother who has recently remarried finds her sanctuary within a world filled with Fairies, bright, playful, and most intent on luring her to her destiny. This film is magnificent, and as most fairy tales is far darker than the one most of us grew up to. The performances are all wonderful, however are somewhat lost in the magnificent world created in live action and breathtaking animation. Not for the faint of heart to be sure, non the less a spectacular piece of film making and one that should be celebrated not just for its visuals but for the messages it ever so gently to allows to flitter through the story.