Beautiful and imaginative.........

Rating: 10/10 (9 October 2010)

Pan's Labyrinth is a fairytale like no other. It is essentially gripped in reality and submerged in the real world with a sense of horror that brings you back into the real world we live in.
What I loved about this story is that you are sort of expecting a typical ending that has most of these sort of fairy tales ending but you get something different (which I won't say here).
Our main heroine is Ofelia, a young girl who has moved with her pregnant mother who has married an officer who is hunting out Spanish guirellas during a war. She is a lover of fairy tales and its novels. Disliking her wicked stepfather who is a cruel man blinded by his mission of blood and pride, she encounters a labryinth in which she meets a Faun who says she is the reincarnation of a princess called Moanna. She is given three tasks by the faun to ensure her loyalty and spirit is true so she will be able to return to the world her father - the King - has longly awaited for her to return to.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I watched this. I imagined some sort of escapism for this girl as I read the back of the DVD and saw it was set during a war. And I wasn't entirely wrong but at the same time, it is almost a sense of hope for this girl to escape a world that is torn apart by the cruelty of life and the people that inhabit it.
The visual effects are superb, and you can't help but be drawn into this world of wonders. I was a bit shocked by the graphic violence in this, so you do wonder which audience this film is going at. But I think it is interesting that a film which seems to have very mature adult themes can incorporate so much magic and wonder at the same time. It really is something to behold.
All the performances are fine, in particular from Ivana Baqureo as Ofelia. You really feel for her and the supporting characer of Mecedes really makes you root for her and the whole guerilla group fighting for justice.
It's an unusual but highly imaginative story that manages to capture your interest in this dark world mixed with the human spirit to fight for what is right. Highly recommended.