Beautiful and melancholic piece of work

Rating: 9/10 (9 May 2007)

Oh, wow! I liked "Pan's Labyrinth" a great deal.
Not having read any reviews I somehow got it into my head, probably because the lead character is a young girl, that "Pan's Labyrinth" was a film for children. It is most definitely not a film for children. It is a very dark, violent and brutal fantasy set in 1944 during the immediate aftermath of the Spanish civil war.
A young girl moves with her heavily pregnant Mother to be with her adoptive Father, a captain in the Spanish army (a supremely cold and ruthless Sergi Lopez), who is occupied leading the fight against anti-Franco/Fascist resistance. Here she discovers a fantasy world of fauns, fairies and doorways into other worlds. That is all you are going to get from me with regard to the plot. Nothing else, Jack.
Go and see "Pan's Labyrinth". It exceeded my expectations. It is a truly beautiful and melancholic piece of work and it works on all sorts of levels.
Please beware, though. "Pan's Labyrinth" is (eeek!) a subtitled movie. Do not let this upset you. You can do it. You can read and watch pictures at the same time. Be big. Don't be like the teenage couple who left 10 minutes into the film when I saw it just before Christmas. I waved goodbye to them, as they left. I am sure that they enjoyed "The Santa Clause 3" that was showing on the screen next door.