Disappointing

Rating: 5/10 (31 August 2014)

I think this is two fairy tales - one tells the story of the heroine's three tasks in Pan's labyrinth, and the other the fight between good communists and bad fascists. In the end the final task corresponds with the defeat of the fascists.
The production and acting are very good, the fantasy scenes are imaginative, and overall it's good to watch. The only violence I had problems with was the amputation scene - had to turn away. I had a problem with a couple of plot points- the heroine breaks the rules, which seems out of character for her + as a consequence Pan says the game's up, but then returns to give her another chance. The second bit does get resolved, but it bugged me.
The story's not really satisfying because it's a total fairy tale - no true insight for the audience. Plus it seems to me the heroine's completion of her fantasy tasks produces the kind of hierarchical system that the goodies have been fighting against in the other fairy tale. So that makes it politically naive.
I hadn't watched this before because it's subtitled + had a reputation for being weird. I wish it had been genuinely weird.