A Dark Fairy Tale

Rating: Null/10 (25 September 2010)

Although this film appears to be marketed as a children's film I can confirm there are some grim scenes I personally would not recommend for a Childs viewing, despite this it is a very well made film containing all of the generic conventions of a fairy tale with a modern twist and the fact it is in Spanish (containing subtitles) allows viewers to see a different take on the world of fairy tales rather than that of Disney. The story is very interesting and draws you in from the offset however at the start there is a brief flashback scene where Ofelia is shown and that for me spoiled the ending as it creates a inevitability that I as a viewer was expecting from the offset. There are many familiar aspects involved in Pan's Labyrinth, such as when she enters a tree it is very similar to Alice in Wonderland, although the stories are dissimilar. My personal favourite aspect of this film is the two contrasts between reality- the Spanish civil war and fantasy- the tasks Ofeila has to complete, this creates two simultaneous stories interlinking and coming together at different points. The fact that one of the themes of the story is fairy tales is revealed to the audience before the story actually plays out by Ofelia reading children's fairy tales and adults denial and scepticism, reminding the audience of their own childhood and there childish naivety and this creates a contrast between Ofeila as a character as she is childish and naive believing in fairies yet having this air of experience and loss about her making her very much a two dimensional character. I would recommend this film.