A captive and beautiful movie

Rating: 10/10 (4 February 2018)

When I first saw this movie, I had this rare feeling like entering another world with my whole body and mind from beginning till the end. It was written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, produced and distributed internationally by Esperanto Filmoj and Warner Bros.
The story takes place in Spain in the summer of 1944, five years after the Spanish Civil War, during the early Francoist period.
Pan's Labyrinth takes place in Spain in 1944s, during a time of Spanish civil war. A ruthless Captain has set up camp in a distant forest, and requests that his pregnant step-wife and her fantasy-obsessed daughter, Ofelia join him there.
Del Toro stated that he considers the story to be a parable, influenced by fairy tales, and that it addresses and continues themes related to his earlier film The Devil's Backbone (2001) to which Pan's Labyrinth is a spiritual successor, according to del Toro in his director's DVD commentary.
The original Spanish title refers to the fauns of Roman mythology, while the English title refers specifically to the faun-like Greek deity Pan.
The film won numerous international awards.
There are some visually brutal scenes in it, so attention.
The acting is amazing, especially the young Ivana Baquero, playing Ofelia.
The animation is phenomenal, but not nearly as breathtaking as the costumes or scenery. The labyrinth itself just sucks all the breath out of you when you see it at night for the first time. Pay attention to the great "pale man": a most terrifying creature in the movie.
To me it's a jewel in the movie world: a sad description of the Franco period, mixed with a great fantasy: cruel, sad but wonderful.