Simple review on the film

Rating: 9/10 (17 October 2017)

Pans Labyrinth hooked me in, and created an enigma that had me captured from the very start. The overall mood of the film is extremely dark, ghostly and eerie, and the lighting often changes to represent the different themes of the film; escapism, reality and fantasy are shown in green, blue and red/gold lights. The micro elements are very detailed, for example in the first scene, the graphic editing of Ofelia's eye into the parallel universe was very effective as it represented the other world through her perspective, along with the narrators voice. Furthermore, the mise-en-scene used through the constant use of books portrayed Ofelia's interest in fairy tails and fantasy, which she uses as an escape from the real world, and also the horrific things that happen around her. I thought that the special effects were astounding, from the faun, to the toad, to the pale man; all the creatures/monsters shocked me as they were so realistic. The film was visually remarkable! Additionally, the performance from Ivana Baquero was exceptional, especially considering she was so young at the time of the film. The camera shots were very significant throughout the film, as there are extreme close ups of Vidal's watch which symbolises how important time is in the film. Also the distant shot of the pale man is very similar to when Vidal is at the dinner table, this portrays Ofelia's mental reconstruction of Vidal as Ofelia sees him as pure evil. Overall, I loved the film and thoroughly enjoyed the juxtaposition between the 'two worlds' and also the theme of good vs evil.