Review: PAN'S LABYRINTH (2006)
December 8th 2008 22:49
Pan's Labyrinth - 8/10
Guillermo del Toro's touching film about the power of innocence over evil was so much more than meets the eye.
Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) is a young girl living in a war-torn Spain in 1944. Her mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil) has just remarried to a brutal captain of Spain's army (played amazingly well by Sergi López) and with her mother, have relocated to a small town in the country side, where a battle has been raging with nearby rebels fighting against the Spanish Army. On her first day there, Ofelia encounters what she believes to be a fairy, and over time, this fairy guides her to a labyrinth near the mill where she lives where she meets the Faun (Doug Jones). The Faun (aka Pan) tells her that she is, in a matter of speaking, the reincarnated spirit of a princess of a long-lost kingdom. In order for her to return, she must pass three tests to prove herself worthy of being by her father's side again. All the while, the battle between the Army and the rebels continues to get worse and worse, and Ofelia's mother, pregnant with a child, is getting more and more sick as the film progresses. Ofelia has to make the choice of whether or not she can complete the tasks without forsaking her mother.
I am a huge fan of fantasy films...usually. I love fantasy type films that either A) immerse you completely into a world that does not exist but is so complete and so amazing that you can believe it does (IE: Lord of the Rings) or B) fantasy films that have a combination of fantasy and realism, much like this film. One of the greatest aspects about Pan's Labyrinth is that del Toro let you decide whether or not what Ofelia was seeing and doing was real. There were equal arguments made on both sides of the story that could support that either Ofelia just has a very powerful imagination or that the long-lost Kingdom did exist and the cast of magical characters were real. The film was done in a very realistic manner, giving it a lot of believability and depth. Having the war as a backdrop and showing a protagonist like Vidal made you root for Ofelia and truly feel her pain as she tried to escape such a brutal time. There wasn't a lot about this film that I did not like. The acting was incredible, especially by little Ivana Baquero, who pulled the weight of the entire film, and Sergi López, who brought a whole new meaning to the word evil. The writing, directing, cinematography, and especially Javier Navarrete's score only added more to the overall beauty of this film.
I'm upset that I waited this long to see it. Like Apocalypto, it was one of those films that came highly regarded, and I always feel apprehensive when seeing a movie that was so well received by critics and others in the filmmaking world, because I usually don't have the same taste. However, Pan's Labyrinth did not disappoint and was a very touching film.
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