El laberinto del fauno
Tags: cruelty, murder, paranormal, allegory, cult, psychological, gothic, alternate reality, magical realism, horror, psychedelic, tragedy, historical, fantasy, boring, atmospheric, good versus evil, storytelling, dark, dramatic, violence, romantic, sadist

Plot synopsis:
An unseen narrator (Pablo Adán's voiceover) tells of an underground kingdom that was devoid of lies or pain. Long ago, the young princess of the realm escaped, curious to see the world above, but was blinded by the bright sunlight and all memories of her past were erased. She eventually succumbed to the natural world as her inability to adapt to her new surroundings left her helpless. Her father, the King, remained hopeful that his daughter would return to her kingdom someday, in another place and time.Spain; 1944. The Spanish Civil War has been over for five years but small groups of guerrilla rebels continue to fight against the new fascist dictatorship led by Francisco Franco. Ten-year-old Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), a quiet lover of books and fairy tales, is travelling with her mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil), to the rural village of Navarra where Carmen's new husband, Captain Vidal (Sergi López), an officer of Franco's army, is stationed with his men at an old mill. Carmen is heavily pregnant with Vidal's child. Ofelia's father, a tailor, had died during the war.When Carmen and Ofelia arrive at the mill, stern Vidal shows little concern for his new stepdaughter but takes great care to ensure that Carmen's pregnancy progresses smoothly. He commissioned a local doctor, Ferreiro (Alex Angulo) to stay at the mill and tend to Carmen. Ofelia wanders off to the nearby woods where she discovers a strange stone structure. She is found by Vidal's housekeeper, Mercedes (Maribel Verdú), who explains that the structure is an ancient labyrinth that Ofelia should not enter, lest she get lost. Mercedes gently ushers Ofelia back to the house.Ofelia and Carmen settle into their bedroom. Dr. Ferreiro speaks with Vidal in his study, explaining that Carmen should not have traveled in such a late stage of an already difficult pregnancy. It becomes increasingly obvious that Vidal only values Carmen as a vessel for his child, which he is certain will be a son to carry on his name. Vidal's tyrannical temper is revealed that night when he brutally murders two peasants whom his men mistook for rebel fighters, but who were merely farmers hunting for rabbits. Vidal realizes this after the men are dead, but blames his soldiers for the error, barking that they should "learn to search these assholes properly" before consulting him.That night, Ofelia sleeps beside her mother. In the middle of the night she is woken by the sound of fluttering wings and beholds a large insect she'd spotted during the the journey to the mill. After Ofelia shows the insect what she considers a fairy to look like in a book, the insect transforms into a tiny humanoid fairy, and gestures to Ofelia to follow it. It leads her outside to the stone labyrinth. When Ofelia reaches the underground center of the maze,she is greeted by a faun, (Doug Jones, voiced by Pablo Adán), a supernatural creature that is half-man, half-goat. He explains to Ofelia that she is really the long-lost Princess Moanna from the underground realm. The faun explains that he had been sent by the King to bring her home, but that she must first prove herself worthy of returning.The faun presents Ofelia with a magic book that will detail three tasks which she must complete by the next full moon. The first task, he explains, is to retrieve a key from the stomach of a giant toad that lives beneath a fig tree in the forest. He gives her three magic stones which she must feed to the toad. He also tells Ofelia to look for a moon-shaped birthmark on her shoulder that identifies her as the princess.Meanwhile, Mercedes and Dr. Ferreiro are risking their lives by secretly aiding the group of rebels hiding in the woods, one of whom is Mercedes' brother Pedro (Roger Casamajor). Since Vidal had decided to starve out the rebels by keeping all available food and medicine locked up in the mill's storeroom, Mercedes and Ferreiro must smuggle the goods silently in the dead of night. Both are all too aware of the sadistic violence Vidal inflicts upon those who disobey him.Captain Vidal is hosting a banquet at the mill for some local political figureheads.Carmen expects Ofelia to attend, and presents her with a beautiful new dress and shoes for the occasion. Ofelia accepts the gifts with lukewarm gratitude, as she is distracted by the thought of the first task. As Ofelia prepares to take her bath, she examines the magic book, which informs her that the task must take place that day.Shortly before the dinner party, wearing her new clothes, Ofelia escapes to the woods. She finds the fig tree and crawls into the cavern below. She manages to feed the magic stones to the enormous toad, which vomits out its insides. Ofelia finds the key amid the sticky mess, and departs. She returns to the house, her new dress ruined. Carmen sends her to bed without supper.During the banquet, Vidal's rigid views become apparent. He vows not to rest until every rebel is shot dead. The town mayor (Juanjo Cucalón) recalls being in the army with Vidal's father, who, upon his death, smashed his watch on a rock to ensure that his son would know the exact time of his demise. Vidal dismisses this, claiming that his father never owned a watch (though he is seen several times meticulously cleaning an old broken pocketwatch in his study).Despite her punishment from her mother, Ofelia is pleased with her success at completing the first task. Checking on the magic book again while taking a bath, blood-red ink begins to spread over the page in the shape of a womb. A thud is heard in the bedroom and Ofelia finds her mother collapsed on the floor, hemorrhaging from her uterus and begging for help. Dr. Ferreiro stabilizes Carmen with a powerful sedative and informs Vidal that the outlook for his wife is grim: she must remain on strict bed rest. Vidal orders the doctor to save his son, even at the expense of his wife's life. Ofelia is sent to a separate bedroom and is comforted by Mercedes, who has become Ofelia's friend and protector as Carmen grows weaker and weaker.Vidal and his men continue to hunt for rebels in the forest. While examining a recently abandoned campsite, Vidal finds a small glass vial of antibiotics, which he eyes suspiciously before pocketing.During the night, the Faun appears in Ofelia's room and asks why she has not begun the second task yet. Ofelia explains that her mother is not well. The faun gives her a mandrake root, explaining that, when placed under her mother's bed in a bowl of milk and fed with drops of blood, it will improve her health. Ofelia obeys, feeding the the humanoid mandrake under Carmen's bed with her blood from her finger. Carmen's condition quickly improves, and Ofelia is now free to begin her next task.That night, Ofelia is again visited in her room wall by the Faun who gives her instructions for her second task, which involves invading the lair of a feared monster and retrieving a golden dagger. Above all things, Ofelia is warned explicitly to not eat any of anything from the enormous feast that she will find laid out on a table within the lair. The Faun gives Ofelia a piece of magic chalk, an hourglass, and the aid of three fairies. She is to use the chalk to draw a magic door leading to the monster's lair, flip the hourglass, and return with the dagger before the last grain of sand falls.After forging the other-worldly door through her bedroom wall, Ofelia follows a hallway to a large room where a magnificent feast is set out on a large table. At the head of the table sits a child-eating creature known as the Pale Man (Doug Jones), completely motionless, with two eyeballs set on a plate front of him. Ofelia finds that the creature is immobile and doesn't respond to her presence. On the walls she sees hideous paintings of the Pale Man devouring children, and a large pile of children's shoes in a corner of the room. On the far wall are three cabinet doors,one of which she unlocks with the key she retrieved from the toad, and removes the desired dagger from within. As she begins to leave, she pauses beside the table and eyes a platter of grapes. Enchanted by the food and very hungry, she ignores the previous warnings of the Faun's and the present warnings of the fairies. Ofelia plucks a grape from the bunch and eats it. The fairies frantically try to alert her as the Pale Man jolts awake, inserting the eyeballs into sockets in his palms. Not seeing this, Ofelia eats another grape before she turns to see the Pale Man approaching her. The fairies try to distract the creature but he grabs two of them and eats them. Horrified, Ofelia runs with the last fairy. The Pale Man chases Ofelia down the hallway. In horror, she notices the chalked doorway closing as the hourglass runs out. However, Ofelia manages to draw another doorway in the ceiling and barely escapes back into her room.Mercedes and Ferrerio make another dangerous visit to the rebels in the woods, bringing them supplies from the storeroom. One of the rebels, Francés (Gonzalo Uriarte), is suffering a from an infection in his leg from a bullet wound. Doctor Ferreiro determines the leg must be amputated before gangrene spreads beyond it, and takes on the unpleasant task in the rebel hideout.The Faun revisits Ofelia in her room and she gives him the dagger, but admits that something went wrong during the second task. The remaining fairy guide angrily whispers in the Faun's ear, explaining Ofelia's disobedience. He admonishes her for her recklessness and tells her that, with the full moon only three days away, she may never prove herself worthy of returning to her kingdom. He vanishes, leaving Ofelia alone and in misery.The next day, loud crashing sounds are heard though the woods. Vidal assembles his men and they rush into the woods to confront what they assume to be attacking rebels, but discover a derailed train, an apparent decoy move, and no rebels in sight . Vidal returns to the mill to find that the storeroom is missing a large amount of supplies. He also sees that the lock is not broken or tampered with. This leads him to suspect Mercedes, since she carries the only key to the storeroom. He questions her, but she assures him that she had nothing to do with it.Vidal and his men finally have a direct shootout with the rebels one rainy day in the forest. They callously shoot all the seriously wounded men they find, but when they discover a rebel sustaining only a leg wound, they haul him to the storeroom for interrogation. Mercedes soon learns that a rebel has been captured for torture, and rushes to the storeroom in fear that it is her brother Pedro. Mercedes catches a glimpse of the man's desperate face before the door swings shut and sees that the unfortunate prisoner is not Pedro, but an associate nicknamed Tarta (Ivan Massague).Vidal casually shows Tarta the array of tools that he will be using to "extract" information about the rebels. Noticing that Tarta speaks with a heavy stutter, Vidal taunts him with a proposition: if Tarta can count to three without stuttering, he will be set free. Vidal addresses his second-in-command, Garcés (Manolo Solo), who confirms Vidal's power to release him. Tarta attempts Vidal's challenge, but fails. Vidal begins the torture.Dr. Ferreiro is later summoned to the storeroom by Vidal, who wants him to strengthen Tarta for another round of interrogation. Ferrerio is horrified to see Tarta reduced to a broken, bloody pulp who is begging for death. Ferrerio gently euthanizes the poor man, angering Vidal, who fatally shoots Ferrerio as he departs the storeroom. Vidal had also discovered vials of antibiotics in the doctor's case that were identical to the ones found at the rebel campsite, confirming Ferrerio's involvement in aiding the rebels.Later, Ofelia checks on the mandrake beneath her mother's bed. She is interrupted violently by Vidal, who discovers the mandrake root with disgust. Carmen wakes and Vidal shoves the milk-soaked mandrake into her hands, chastising her for letting Ofelia read fairy tales and get silly ideas. Carmen insists on speaking to Ofelia alone, and Vidal leaves them. Though Carmen and Ofelia had a close and loving relationship, Carmen's sad and dismal view of the world made a sharp contrast with her daughter's optimistic innocence. Carmen attempts to prove to Ofelia that magic does not exist, and throws the mandrake root into the blazing fireplace. Moments later, Carmen collapses in pain. The mandrake, which had become the embodiment of Carmen's health, is destroyed in the flames.Carmen is dragged into a harrowing labor which she does not survive. She delivers a healthy son, which is satisfaction enough for Vidal, but Ofelia is devastated by her mother's death.Now orphaned and at the mercy of her evil stepfather, Ofelia's only ally is Mercedes. Ofelia admits to Mercedes that she knows that she and the doctor had been helping the men in the woods, but swears to keep the secret to herself. Vidal summons Mercedes to his study that night, casually musing about how the storeroom could have been opened so easily when she had supposedly given him the only key some time before. Mercedes, knowing that Vidal has discovered her secret, prepares to escape the mill that night. She stops by Ofelia's room to say goodbye, but ends up bringing her along as the girl begged not to be left alone at the mill.Mercedes and Ofelia attempt to escape that rainy night, but are quickly apprehended by Vidal and his men. Vidal drags Ofelia back to her bedroom, furious that she had known about Mercedes and Ferrerio aiding the rebels. He locks her in her room, giving his men orders to kill her if anyone tries to break in. He then returns to the storeroom, where Mercedes has been brought and bound for torture.Vidal begins the same speech he gave to Tarta, showing Mercedes the various tools he will use to extract information from her. While his back is turned, Mercedes cuts through her binds with a small paring knife kept hidden in her apron and attacks Vidal, plunging the blade into his back and then shoving it into his mouth. She furiously warns him not to harm Ofelia, and then slashes the knife through the side of his cheek before fleeing into the forest. Vidal, not quite incapacitated, orders his men to bring her back at once.Mercedes arrives at a clearing in the woods before several of Vidal's men catch up to her on horseback. Garces tauntingly approaches her, but a barrage of shots ring out from the surrounding trees, shooting all the men off their horses. The surviving rebels emerge from the woods, led by Pedro, who embraces his sister as she weeps with relief.Locked away in her room, Ofelia is visited again by the Faun. He has decided to grant her one last chance to prove herself as Princess Moanna. He tells her that the third and final task is to fetch her infant brother and take him into the center of the labyrinth. Ofelia escapes her bedroom using the piece of magic chalk and sneaks into Vidal's quarters where the baby boy is kept. Ofelia takes a bottle of sedative previously administered to her mother by Ferrerio and hides in Vidal's room, watching him sew up the horrid gash in his cheek. While he is distracted, Ofelia drugs his glass of scotch heavily with the medicine. As he drinks, gunfire and explosions erupt as the rebels begin an attack on the mill. Vidal rushes to the doorway but begins to stagger as he begins feeling the effects of the drugs. Vidal makes out the bleary image of Ofelia standing in the doorway holding the baby, who she had gently taken from his cradle. Vidal stumbles after Ofelia as she runs to the labyrinth with her brother.When Ofelia reaches the center of the labyrinth with the baby, the Faun is waiting for her with the dagger from the Pale Man's lair. The Faun explains that the full moon is nigh and that the portal to the underground realm, Princess Moanna's kingdom, must be opened with the blood of an innocent. He says he needs a drop of blood from the baby-just a pinprick-to open the portal and return Ofelia to her true home. Ofelia staunchly refuses to let her baby brother be harmed in any way, and insists she would give up her chance at entering the heavenly kingdom for him. Vidal finally catches up to her and sees her talking to nothing but air. He forcibly takes the baby and shoots Ofelia in the stomach before departing the labyrinth. As Ofelia begins to bleed out, she collapses onto the stone portal in the bottom of the maze. Her blood begins to drip into the portal, and she faintly smiles as her body becomes still.Vidal exits the labyrinth with the baby, only to be met by a score of armed rebels (including Mercedes) waiting for him. Knowing he cannot escape them now, he calmly hands his son to Mercedes, asking her to tell him one day what time is father died. Before he can finish his last request, Mercedes firmly assures him that the boy "won't even know your name." Pedro then shoots Vidal in the face, leaving him dead at the entrance to the labyrinth.Mercedes and the rebels rush into the labyrinth and find Ofelia bleeding out into the stonework. Mercedes weeps uncontrollably as Ofelia draws her last breath.As Ofelia leaves the mortal world, she is transported to a grand hall and sees both her parents, alive again, sitting atop tall thrones. She has been called home as Princess Moanna at last, to be reunited with the King and Queen. The Faun appears and explains that the last "task" was a test of honor and integrity. Because Ofelia offered her own blood to open the portal instead of her brother's, she proved herself brave and kindhearted enough to re-enter the underground realm.The narrator explains that Princess Moanna became the eventual beloved ruler of the realm, and that small traces of her time in the mortal world are still visible, but only to those who know where to look.

Review: Brutal but beautiful, magical yet earthy, it has a remarkable cast, with standout performances all round.A special mention must go to Sergi Lopez, whose 'Captain Vidal' is indeed one of the most sadistic film creations ever seen.
Set during Franco's mopping up exercise after the Spanish Civil War, Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth is a wonderful, dark fairy tale that, in a metaphor for Spain itself, teeters on the edge of nightmare dreamscapes of corruption, violence and the death of innocents.This film is definitely not for young children.
Although the fantasy sequences are gorgeously realised, and are fairy tales in the truest sense (in that they are dark, fey, dangerous and violent), most of the story (about three quarters of it, in fact) exists outside of the dreamland, in the even more frightening (and sometimes shockingly violent) world of a real life struggle of ideas and ideology.Sergi Lopez is excellent as the brutal (and possibly sadistic) Falangist Captain tasked with routing out the remaining leftists from the woods and hills of Northern Spain.
Into this precarious situation come his new wife (a widow of a former marriage, who is carrying his son) and his stepdaughter Ofelia (played to absolute perfection, by the then 11 year old, Ivana Baquero).Uncomfortable with her new surroundings, suspicious of her stepfather and desperately concerned about the worsening condition of her mother, Ofelia uncovers a strange alternative world, and the chance to escape forever the pain and uncertainty of her everyday life.Thus the film alternates between the world of Civil War Spain and the increasingly bizarre, dark and frightening world of the Pan's Labyrinth.
This is a movie with a simple and straightforward plot which contains layers and layers of intelligent writing, metaphors and message.To speak further about the script will end up in spoilers and that would be pointless since my very purpose writing this review is to encourage people to see it.This is no small feat, interpreting fantasy as something of a product of a real world, cross-referencing how the child acts to her real surroundings and the "other world", metaphors that describe the accelerated state of growing up some of us are put through...
Ivana Baquero is excellent as the main character Ofelia, her performance is very mature and believable and she shares some beautiful scenes with her mother and Mercedes.When the fairy tale elements return, it's astounding how naturally they fit into the story.
Innocence and brutality, fantasy and reality, together in a wonderful fairy tale about the power of magic in dark times.
Del Toro repeats the context of the film "El Espinazo del Diablo" ("The Devil's Backbone"), the Spanish Post-Civil War, with the same philosophy: the supernatural invading the daily life in a depressive environment and the innocence of children trapped between both world.
Del Toro gets a brilliant film but also superb performances from all involved, particularly from Sergi Lopez as a brutal Fascist army captain Vidal and Doug Jones (Abe Sapien from del Toro's Hellboy) as the Pan and the wonderfully disturbing Pale Man. But the real find is Ivana Baquero (12 years old) as the young heroine Ofelia.
I saw this film toward the end of the Cannes Film Festival; it edged out all the others I'd seen, 30 of them, because of its wonderful story; history, politics and fantasy woven into a fabric spun by a superlative creative team headed by Guillermo del Toro.
The music is some of the best I've heard in years, so well suited to the action that you almost don't notice its specific effect because of how well it is intertwined with the visual, emotional and intellectual experience.In my opinion, del Toro's "...Labyrinth" deserved to win at Cannes over the Ken Loach film, "The Wind That Shakes the Barley".
At first I agreed with her but on reflection it actually works the other way because this is much more of an adult tale but just doesn't quite have the intelligence and complexity in all parts of the story (again specifically the fantasy).By this point my review will have been slated by all readers who are not used to a dissenting voice but for those who have made it this far let me just say that it is a very good film overall and that I did enjoy it.
When I heard first time about the movie made by the Mexican director Guillermo del Toro that was a mixture of many genres, including drama, fantasy, thriller, and fairy tale for adults that takes place in Spain of 1944 in two parallel words, one of unbearable bleak and horrifying reality, and the other of deliciously dark magic fantasy, I wanted very much to see it.
The main reason for me was the fact that I love del Toro's earlier film, "The Devil's Backbone" (2001), the ultimate ghost story that goes beyond the genre and very successfully mixes horror, suspense, and coming of age during the war time story.I hoped and expected "Pan's Labyrinth" to be as compelling, insightful, interesting, and engaging as "The Devil's Backbone" was.
It brings to mind many famous works of literature and the earlier movies about the little girls escaping their dreadful realities of war or death of the loved ones or all sorts of abuse in the world of their imagination such as "Forbidden Games", "Spirits of the Beehive" (which "Pan's Labyrinth" tried to be but never was), the later also takes place in Spain during the Civil war, as well as "Wizard of Oz", "Alice in Wonderland", "Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece".
One movie that "Pan's Labyrinth" has been often compared to is Terry Gilliam's "Tideland", his fairy tale for adults, his "Alice in Wonderland meets Psycho" which also tells the story of an 11-years-old girl and her world of imagination.
Vidal is simply bad, mom is simply weak and Ofelia was nothing more than the little girl playing with imaginary friends in the corner of the room.This film is alas just another example of a movie where they just don't seem to be able to get it both ways (powerful story AND powerful cinematography) which is the Achilles' heel of many a film lately but which oddly doesn't seem to bother the average moviegoer nor professional movie-critic who somehow seem to think that foreign+different=Masterpiece..
Playing moments of true wonderment off scenes of sadistic brutality, Guillermo del Toro has created an epithet for classical fairy tales reminiscent of the traditional stories which amazed - yet simultaneously frightened - children.Del Toro offers us two worlds through the perspective of young Ofelia.
So, while there are trips into the magical world (including a disturbing yet inherently memorable scene with the hieronymus bosch-like spectre known as the 'Pale Man') they do not overwhelm the film.The true horror and the meat of the story lies in Falangist Spain with the menacing Captain Vidal, who takes delight in torture - ritually preparing his tool kit and reciting his own speech to demoralise his victims - and who is equally obsessed with the continuation of his bloodline.
That life is nasty!Laberinto del Fauno (titled Pan's Labyrinth here, though no mention is ever made to the faun in the film being Pan) is the story of Ofelia, a little girl forced to move with her pregnant mother to rural Spain to be near her step-father, a Captain in the fascist army during the Spanish Civil War. As she experiences first hand the horrors of war and fascism, she enters an ancient maze and meets a faun who tells her she is a lost Princess of an underground kingdom and must pass three tests to claim her place there.I will admit that I went into this film expecting a nice, children friendly movie, but del Toro pulls no punches when it comes to the war, a war he experienced as a child.
It's purely self preservation, to know your place and survive, and that is more disturbing to me than anything else in the film.Sometimes it's even almost as if Ofelia's quest is the subplot, as even fantastical tales of giant toads, fauns, a magical kingdom, the Pale Man (a horrific creature with it's eye in its hands) pale into insignificance when we're faced with the true life horrors that we see mankind inflict upon itself.And that's one of the most interesting aspects of the story.
Both aspects of the film seem just as important to del Toro, some directors would have favoured one or the other sides of the story and that would have made the film unbalanced.It's clearly influenced by many fairy tales, and a nice touch is, like many movie fairy tales, we never certain whether the fantasy is real.
So if you often find the following aspects annoying in movies you should be careful before buying a ticket to this one.* Over-simplification of evil through characters that are extremely bad for no obvious reason (black or white - no gray scales) * Extreme violence that is completely pointless and makes you feel sick* Sympathetic characters that you are supposed to sympathize with immediately without really getting to know them * Two parallel story-paths (fantasy vs reality), none of which has any absorbing plot, and are completely unrelated to each other during most of the movieNormally I hate when people express their anger and give a 1 star rating because they hate a movie that everyone else finds so great, so the only good thing about PL is that I can at least start to understand how people can become so angry with a so called cinematic masterpiece.PS.
Once the innocent little girl died in Pan's Labyrinth, the audience remembers that they're watching a story and their emotions are being toyed with.I despise seeing such films because I ultimately feel anger not towards the characters in the films, but at the filmmakers themselves for presenting me with such atrocities.
Marvelous movie in which a bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into a creepy but captivating fantasy world and finds a strange Pan. Set in the not so tranquil Spanish woodlands of aftermath Spanish Civil War , where a small band of anti-fascism rebels are hiding out.
Again, don't jump down my throat too quickly, these scenes are interesting to watch and for light touches of fantasy I think it was very well done, but by no means whatsoever can a movie that is 75% war drama and 25% fantasy, if that, be considered an "enchanting and mysterious fairy tale".
If anything, it is a dark war drama with innovative and well crafted flairs of fantasy interwoven, but stop reviewing this movie in ways that are going to mislead people into thinking they are going to see a flood of creative and magical imagery!Possible SpoilersAs a final point, I think the biggest flaw in this movie is that I couldn't help but feel all the mystical elements of the story were, in the end, pointless.
In the case of "Pan's Labyrinth," however, that foot may be so firmly planted in the real world that it actually prevents the movie from cutting loose and soaring into the stratosphere of imagination and enchantment in the way we wish it would.The movie takes place in 1944, five years after the end of the Spanish Civil War that has left Franco in power and bands of defeated Leftist rebels hiding out in the Iberian countryside.
As Vidal busies himself with hunting down the pesky Communist outcasts, Ofelia discovers herself drawn to a strange alternate universe, unbound by the laws of nature, which frequently opens up for her to enter and to which she alone seems privy.There's no denying that "Pan's Labyrinth" is an extremely well made movie, miles above the average American fantasy film in terms of both sophistication and vision.
The movie is a miracle of art direction, set design, makeup and special effects, and it boasts some of the most dramatic use of sound this side of "Das Boot." Yet, for all its good points, "Pan's Labyrinth" winds up disappointing us a bit in the end.
The magical world in "Pan's Labyrinth" lacks the sort of densely plotted, compelling narrative one finds in the "Lord of the Rings" saga or "The Wizard of Oz." We don't get a clear picture of what the land itself is like, who its various inhabitants are, and what Ofelia's real role will be once she gets there.Thus, although the parts in "Pan's Labyrinth" are better than the whole, thanks to the quality of the film-making and of Baquero's performance, those parts are often indelible and unforgettable..
A beautiful but hard-biting portrait of a girl's mental escape from the Spanish Civil War. Guillermo del Toro thinks his latest production to be his best to date, and perfectly describes it as "a powerfully moving story, profoundly human and dramatic." Throughout the film there is a contrast between the fairytale land that the young Ofelia is mixed up in and the brutal goings on of the Spanish Civil War that surround her.
Pan's Labyrinth is one of the few movies I rate with a straight ten: a fantastic and unusual story, an outstanding cast (Ivana Baquero is incredible good as Ofelia), a superb cinematography and directing - simply put, a movie without any flaw.
And as far as I see it his best work as yet this one Pan's Labyrinth one of the most beautiful, atmospheric and captivating film I have ever seen in my life.The story takes place in Spain after the Civil War of 1936 to 1939 and follows the young bookish girl Ofelia ,who goes with her pregnant mother to a military camp under to control of her step-father, the general and commander of that place and one of the most cruel, arrogant and sadistic villain in movie history, who could give Ramsay Bolton a run for his money.
The movie also gives time to the rebel group that is hunted down by the Franco forces and their tries to survive and beat back the fascist in the camp.The contrast between the fantasy world that we among side Ofelia explore and the real one is close to perfect for we see both similarities and differences.
For del Toro turn the model of the classic fairy tails complete on its head and gives you a story which feels both realistic in plot, out of this world when it comes to the fantasy elements, which looks as they were the child for a beautiful dream with a horrifying nightmare and you want to look over and stare at it at the same time.As for the acting, is perfect with Ivana Baquero that plays Ofelia been so good that for a while I forgot that she was acting, Doug Jones as the titled Pan as is usual for him been in to the character( literally) and the rest of the cast having their time to shine.For anyone who likes creature feature, fantasy, the fairy tails with a twist or in general good movies is a must watch, like now.
Del Toro made a movie about a fabulous tale, but fail on the point of telling the story of Ofelia, a girl taken to the middle of the Civil War in Spain -that actually never concerns or interests her-, and confronted to an evil man who is meant to be his stepfather.
IMO "Pan's Labyrinth" has FAR more power and I suspect much of that comes because it is the director's (del Toro) fairy tale and his conception and realization was always in the grammar and syntax of film.
The film can be viewed from almost equally valid contrasting positions -- one, that the fairy tale aspects are a young girl's fantasy life boat she creates to escape a harsh, uncomfortable world.
All that I will say about it is that despite knowing where the film would end up and why, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey, and was surprised by many aspects of the film along the way.Written and directed by rising Mexican directorial star Guillermo Del Toro, Pan's Labyrinth is set in Spain during the Franco years.
No, this movie is not at all for children nor those who dislike major violence.Labyrinth takes place in Spain in 1944s, during a time of Spanish civil war.
The juxtaposition of fairy tales and childhood innocence with the horrors of war seen through the eyes of a little girl sounds like a good backbone to a movie.However, Guillermo Del Toro fumbles big time.
A modern fairytale, "El Laberinto del Fauno" is a remarkable achievement that probably, is just the beginning of a new stage in this courageous and imaginative director.Set in Spain in 1944, five years after the end of the Spanish Civil War, "El Laberinto del Fauno" is the story of Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), a young girl who travels with her mother (Ariadna Gil) to a rural area to meet her mother's new husband, the Captain Vidal (Sergi López).
In the middle of this post-war nightmare, Ofelia finds an ancient labyrinth that is the path to a magical world of faeries and monsters.In "El Laberinto Del Fauno", Del Toro once again dives into the fantastic genres he loves so much, this time exploring the nature of fairy tales, taking them back to its original roots, when fantasy tales were grim, dark and violent.
And it's because Del Toro is obsessed with the Spanish Civil War, and we the adventures of little children in the midst of this important historical event (watch "El espinazo del Diablo"); but all of this comes from his obsession with fairy tales, those that are only for children.But look at what he does: he invents the most infantile story of all, in a film that's everything except infantile.
Through-out this movie, Del Toro manages to weave a bit of history, politics, and fantasy, all together creating an original, unique, and compelling film.This film quickly begins as a unique story of a young girl named Ofelia unfolds.