A Historical Fantasy-Drama With Dark Wonderland Elements

Rating: 10/10 (7 July 2007)

Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), a young girl in 1940s fascist Spain, lives two lives: one in the real world, where her father is dead and her stepfather is an evil army captain, and another where she is a princess in a fairy tale. Worlds collide as she tries to escape one for the other and finds cruelty behind every corner.
I want to go on record as saying as far as "horror" films go, this one is not really horror at all and I would classify it as "fantasy-drama". But as far as movies in general go, this one was probably the best film of 2006, even beating out Darren Aronofsky's excellent "The Fountain". All aspects of a film that can be analyzed were present in top form here.
The acting was simply amazing. The captain was evil incarnate, yet believably human -- these sorts of men did exist and still do. Putting a human face on a devilish beast is no easy task, but it was done in spades here. The main character, Ofelia, was likewise amazing: for being only 11, she out-acted many of the adults in this feature and gave off a look of natural innocence combined with childlike confidence. I cannot recall the last time such a young actor really made that sort of impression on me.
The directing was quite well done with some breathtaking cinematography. In one memorable scene, the captain is looking at a derailed train and the angle shows him against a sky of blue-grey. I felt this really captured the whole mood of the film -- a skyline that said "there is no hope here", a permanent twilight. Glorious!
The special effects blew my mind. I detest CGI, but here it seemed to almost blend in with the real world in a seamless way. The insects, faeries, and everything else were just great, and the actress was able to interact with them in such a way as to think she was really looking at them. Just incredible -- I hope more films pay attention to how they accomplished this, because if CGI is not going to to go away, the least they can do is make it look good. (Compare Doug Jones from here -- the faun -- to Doug Jones from "Hellboy" -- Abe Sapien -- and you will see what I mean about good and bad CGI.)
For the horror fans: you will love how they did the special effects and makeup for the blood and violence. There is a man who gets his nose bashed in with a rifle butt, and another man who get his mouth slit to his ear. Both, in my opinion, look very realistic. Similar things might appear in horror films, but not often on this level of quality.
Do I need to get into the plot? The fantasy part is great, like "Silent Hill" but actually with a sense of continuity to it. ("Silent Hill" is awful.) The real-world part was also well-done, as we have seen many WWII films, but how many take place in Spain? Not nearly enough. The comparison this film gets most -- and del Toro admits an influence -- is "The Spirit of the Beehive". The connection is definitely there, but "Pan's Labyrinth" is its own vision and may have even exceeded its predecessor.
Please see this movie. I held off for many months, thinking it could not possibly match the hype. But it does match the hype, and really should be seen. Why are you wasting your time with crud like "Lady in the Water" when the best film of 2006 (fantasy or otherwise) is right here?