Del Toro's masterpiece allegory fantasy

Rating: 9/10 (2 January 2007)

PAN'S LABYRINTH (2006) *** ½ Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Sergi Lopez, Maribel Verdu, Doug Jones, Alex Angulo, Manolo Solo, Cesar Vea, Roger Massague. Filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro's masterpiece fantasy cum political allegory is set against the WWII backdrop of Franco-era Spain, with a young girl (newcomer Baquero in a fantastic performance), who travels with her pregnant widowed mother (Gil) to be with her mother's new husband, a fascist Army captain (Lopez, a vile, evil second cousin to Ralph Fiennes in "Schindler's List"), who only wants his new baby while ruling with an iron fist. The girl meanwhile discovers an enchanting yet forebodingly dark underworld of woodland creatures and fairies that beckon her as their long-lost princess to lead them into a new future together. Told with imagination beyond capabilities of lesser hands, Del Toro's unwavering originality is on par with his mentor David Cronenberg in his morality plays mixed with macabre and sprinkled with liberal gory violence.