Harmful at best

Rating: 1/10 (1 June 2007)

As I see movies made within the past 20 years climb the ranks of the IMDb top 250 with alarming speed, I wonder what on earth is happening. I see that this movie is at #41, higher than Chinatown, The Third Man, To Kill a Mockingbird, Alien, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Metropolis, and even The Wizard of Oz. Does Pan's Labyrinth deserve such high praise? Yes, it is steeped in intellectual metaphor and is crafted in such a Philip K. Dickian manner that the audience is left wondering what was real in the film. I applaud the filmmakers abilities in this manner, but regarding what they are willing to portray, they have the restraint of sociopaths. This movie contains some of the most wretched, horrific violence and psychologically uncomfortable character interactions I have ever seen in a film. Early in the movie, we watch as the cruel Captain Vidal crushes the face of an innocent young man while his helpless father watches. Vidal shoots the father moments later, after the man had to watch his son die in front of him.
Art is no longer on the minds of movie makers, instead they revel in their abilities to accurately replicate grisly murders and terrible nightmares. Suggesting violence gives way to indulging in the talents of the make up artists and the FX men. Subtlety and metaphor are discarded so the audience is not simply a witness to gruesome murders, but is forced to be a part of them. The story, fascinating as its concept may be, is buried under layers of constant uncomfortableness. There is no relief for the audience. Thanks to the movie establishing the evil of Vidal early on, the audience squirms in dreaded anticipation for what his next cruel act will be, and who he will direct his wrath towards. The movie ultimately delivers, committing the cardinal sin that a movie can make: showing the graphic death of a child. Pay It Forward tried this bit of emotional manipulation, and lost any credibility it had as a story. The narrative was lost, the escapism destroyed. Once the innocent little girl died in Pan's Labyrinth, the audience remembers that they're watching a story and their emotions are being toyed with.
I despise seeing such films because I ultimately feel anger not towards the characters in the films, but at the filmmakers themselves for presenting me with such atrocities. I know Pan's Labyrinth is based in folklore, but I don't believe for a second that this is any kind of fairy tale. When a parent reads a child Hansel and Gretel, the visuals are very cartoony and are relayed through the buffer of said parent. With this "film," there is nothing but blood seeping from the mouth of an innocent little girl to tell the audience that the fairy tale is over. A fairy tale for adults? That's false advertising and I hope that all with weak stomachs are fairly warned.