Fantasy has never been this good

Rating: 9/10 (24 January 2007)

It's such a treat to be able to go to the multiplex and see a film like Pan's Labyrinth, when more often than not, there are 4 screens showing the latest Adam Sandler or Tom Cruise flick. It's even more exciting when the theatre is half full on a Saturday afternoon. I'm sure there wasn't a disappointed movie goer in this theatre.
The film is an interesting mix of genre, part Spanish Civil War tale/part children's fantasy fairy tale. Between these two lies a beautiful depiction of how a child can cope with horrors both real and imagined, possible and imminent, and a testament to a child's strength in the face of adversity. When a child is living a most wicked life, even the most terrifying supernatural being pales in comparison, even this one: So the movie sways, between the real life horror and the complex underworld reminiscent of classic European fairy tales. You know the ones, where Hansel and Gretel cook the witch, instead of just running away. Or Little Red Riding Hood is saved because the woodcutter disembowels the wolf, but not after poor grandmama is savagely eaten. There are no apologies for wicked behaviour, real or imagined, in this film, as the closest fairy tale element Pan's Labyrinth shares with Disney is a tinkerbell like creature from a movie with a similar name.
The fantasy is breathtaking and frightening in equal amounts, causing the viewer to gaze dumbfounded against their better instincts to look away. It is Ofelia's (the child in the film) courage that pulls us along, as she knows nothing can hurt her in this fantasy realm as much as the pain she feels in her everyday life for her mother and unborn sibling, trapped in a marriage of convenience for the lead villain.
And what a villain this film has! A memorable fairy tale depends on its antagonist to be unnaturally cruel or morally corrupt. Sergi Lopez plays the adversary with such menace, such cruelty and such inhumanity that you'd swear he was someone not from this world. Yet we can see and understand his drive and motivation as a direct result of his unfaltering belief that orders must be followed and rituals held fast. It is this contrast between making moral decisions for oneself, and blindly towing the line that situate the characters as good or evil.
Though not an entirely easy film to watch, in that triumph is born only out of pure suffering and sometimes the right choices are not the easiest or safest ones, Pan's Labyrinth is able to somehow feel exhilarating in its telling of a story quite distressing. This can be attributed to its stellar cast performances, lush musical score, and eye popping fantasy visuals juxtaposed with its gritty wartime realism.
This is one fairy tale that will stand the test of time to rest alongside other greats. It is truly deserving to be on so many year end critic's Top 10 lists. Go see so for yourself.
Grade: A