Pan's Labyrinth

Starring: Sergi Lopez, Maribel Verdu, Ivana Baquero, Alex Angulo, Doug Jones

Directed by: Guillermo del Toro

RS: 4of 4 Stars Average User Rating: 3.5of 4 Stars

2006 Picturehouse Thriller

Guillermo del Toro, who calls himself "the geek from Guadalajara," fires up a classic cinematic fantasy in Pan's Labyrinth, a film for all ages, as long as they're open to gothic twists that scare them senseless. Del Toro is just one of the three amigos showing our local boys how it's done. Mexico City's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu cemented his reputation with Babel, the completion of a trilogy he began with Amores Perros and 21 Grams. Not to be outdone, Alfonso Cuaron, also from Mexico City and a producer of Pan's Labyrinth, follows up Y Tu Mama Tambien and the only memorable Harry Potter film (The Prisoner of Azkaban) with another knockout, Children of Men.

Still, it's del Toro, 42, the gore master behind Hellboy and Blade II, who springs the biggest surprise. Pan's Labyrinth, horrific and heartfelt in the way it sees the trauma of war through the eyes of a little girl, is some kind of great movie. Nothing in del Toro's previous work, except his little-seen 2001 ghost story, The Devil's Backbone, prepares you for the impact of watching harsh reality and harsher fantasy bleed into each other. To hail Pan's Labyrinth for its visionary ravishments is hardly to do it justice. You leave del Toro's one-of-a-kind film feeling you've never seen the world before, not like this, not with such aching beauty and terror in the service of obliterating barriers of time, place, genre and language.

Set in the Madrid countryside in 1944 after the Spanish Civil War, when Generalissimo Francisco Franco and his repressive fascist guard attempted to quell rebel uprisings, the film makes no attempt to hide or soften the brutality of the period. If del Toro is the wizard of this surreal Oz, then Ofelia, played with resilient spirit and dark-eyed loveliness by eleven-year-old Ivana Baquero, is his Dorothy. As the film opens, Ofelia and her mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil), have arrived at a garrison commanded by Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez). Vidal is a sadistic monster, unaware that his housekeeper, Mercedes (Maribel Verdu, touching and vital), is aiding the guerrillas he executes with cold-blooded abandon. Ofelia hates him, which is too bad, since Vidal is her new stepfather and her beloved mother is carrying his baby.

Ofelia's only solace is in the fairy tales she reads with devouring obsession. When her mother falls ill, Ofelia retreats into a fantasy world that mirrors the ferocity outside. She finds a garden labyrinth ruled by Pan (Doug Jones of Hellboy), a tall, goatish creature with menacing horns who sets her a series of tasks that have dire consequences if she can't complete them. There is also the Giant Toad and the shuddery Pale Man (also Jones), who holds his bulging eyes in his hands. With the help of production designer Eugenio Caballero and the superb cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, del Toro uses puppets, prosthetics and computer-generated images to create a haunting parallel universe where Ofelia can exert at least some control.

Still, it's the perils of the real world that Ofelia must confront at last in the person of Vidal, the spirit of fascism incarnate. Lopez is brilliant in the role, taking screen villainy to new levels by showing how a cruel ideology can contort the human into the bestial. Del Toro never coddles the audience. He means for us to leave Pan's Labyrinth shaken to our souls. He succeeds triumphantly.

PETER TRAVERS

(Posted: Dec 28, 2006)

Your Turn

Give us your review of
Pan's Labyrinth

Review 1 of 15

4of 4 Stars

I have just watched this excellent movie for the first time on cable TV and I must say I am enormously impressed with Mr. Del Toro's talents in all aspects of filmaking here. I myself am a filmmaker with over 25 independent films to my credit and he is worthy of high praise for his work on this film. The most glowing talent I see is his storytelling, weaving complex themes and multiple storylines through a tale that is both fairy tale and political tome without ever feeling like you were preached to about either. The European style of acting is quite different from the Hollywood way and in that light he got amazing performances from his cast. Everyone mentions Ofelia but Mercedes and the Captain are also VERY good. The story's neccesity for special effects was handled deftly and in a way that truly served the story. I do have a bone to pick with Mr. Del Toro and it comes from two different perspectives on filmking I suppose. How can our hero, the fabulous Ofelia be allowed to die at story's end by her own father's hand? Does this mean that only in death can we achieve any kind of balance or escape from the daily horrors that life hands us? Her fantasy world was then only there to lead her away from her difficult life, ultimately towards her end? She was self-preserving through her fantasy world and ends up a sacrificial lamb for the bad judgment of her country's leaders and her bad luck in family gene pool? I just wish this strong and spirited life had been able to go on. But I do respect the choice Mr. Del Toro made and that is part of why this is a film and not a movie. None the less, I was totally disappointed but not surprised by her fate at the story's end. Much like Roberto Benignini's wonderful "Life is Beautiful" the ultimate fate for an innocent soul in a corrupt world is what we expect it to be. I was hoping for transcendence and I got reality. I respect the choice but I was truly hoping Ofelia could get away and make a life for herself somewhere. Like reality, twas not to be. In conclusion I will now see any movie Mr. Del Toro makes and I would love to work with him on anything. This is a complex well made film that inspires introspection and debate and leaves an emotional stamp on you after you watch it. It entertains you AND makes you think. what a concept! Well done Mr. Del Toro.

Oct 4, 2007 03:42:42

Review 2 of 15

4of 4 Stars

BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT! Probably one of the best movies that has ever been made. A grim fairy tale come to life. Any review will not to this movie justice, just go watch the movie!

Jul 27, 2007 07:30:33

Review 3 of 15

Not Rated

This movie reminds us of the courage and sensitivity that children are capable of. It is also a reminder of the unfairness of innocence robbed in a world filled with cruelty. Our protagonist Ofelia enters a supposed fantasy world that would normally offer an dreamy escape from harsh realities. Instead her fantasy world is potentially as menacing as her real life but at least here she has the possiblity of controlling her own fate through her own deeds. There are some tremendous performances in this movie, Ofelia's sadistic facist father has to go down as one of the most unsavory characters in movie history. The emotions that the movie evokes are honest and powerful. There is no sentimentality here, only the brutal weight of harsh reality. The movie ends with a glimmer of hope that both tempers the aadness but also amplifies it as well. A stunner of a movie that deseves seeing.

Jun 23, 2007 13:15:02

Review 4 of 15

4of 4 Stars

This is my new favorite movie. Dark, violent and creepy, Pan's Labyrinth twists the hell out of recycled fairy tales. The acting is well done - particularly the Captain - and in order to understand and notice the symbols and metaphors in the film you really need to watch it 2 or 3 times. When Ofelia is brought to her new home with a Spanish Captain during Spain's civil war, she immediatly becomes immersed in an ancient fairy tale kingdom, a fantasy that eventually bleeds into reality and creates some of the most captivating storytelling I've seen in a while. Beautiful cinematography and music add to the wispy but deep feel of the movie.

Jun 13, 2007 15:48:25

Review 5 of 15

3of 4 Stars

Pan's Labyrinth is a fictional story of a spanish girl named Ofelia who lived in the era of war. Her mother, Carmen married a General who was really mean, cruel and hostile. Ofelia's story revolves around her mother who was terribly ill due to pregnancy, her most hated step-father who was unpleasant to everyone and the turmoil brought by war. Her only refuge out of her chaotic world are her fairy tales that makes her somewhat out of awful reality.

Then her fairy tales came into reality. When Ofelia and Carmen moved to the residence of the General, Ofelia found a labyrinth. There he met Pan (or Faun) that told her that she was a Princess. Pan gave Ofelia tasks to accomplish in order to save their Kingdom. These tasks include taking a key from a giant toad, getting a dagger from a man with eyes positioned in his palm and sacrificing an innocent life.

The story moved me as it teaches us to view life in better perspective. I can only imagine life during war times. It must have been horribly dreadful. More so, taking care of a dying mom in the house of a vicious stepfather would make the situation a lot worst.

But Ofelia escaped this gruesome truth. She decided to make a reality of her own, by making challenging plots, and putting hope that things will be fixed once she overcome the tasks.

I guess this is a pressing truth that people should learn. We make our reality. We view things on how we perceive things. And we should learn how to master the art of looking at the better side of things.

If we could be like Ofelia (we would be a little insane, yeah…. But isn’t it to be sane, you need to be a little crazy??), looking for a better truth, looking for things that can make us happy (which is not necessarily could make harm to others…) we can make this place a better world to live in. Despite the chaos brought by war, antagonism and oppression, we can still be happy and make it through.

The ending appeared to be tragic. Well Ofelia died for crying out loud. But then, her death does not connote defeat. Until the end, the movie thought us of HOPE and FAITH.

Beautiful things happen to those who believe.

May 24, 2007 14:37:11

Review 6 of 15

4of 4 Stars

My, my, what a beatiful and powerful film. I don't think that
people should avoid seeing it beacuse they're too lazy to read
subtitles, even for the most uneducated person who hates
reading, it is more than worth its weight in gold to. I recommend
this movie to anyone who can appreciate a little beauty. Pan's
Labyrinth is a gem.

Apr 30, 2007 17:57:38

Review 7 of 15

4of 4 Stars

This was an amazing movie all around. Visually, it was amazing and the story was one of the most captivating I've seen in a movie. Del Toro blended the childlike fantasy atmosphere and the historical theme of the Spanish civil war perfectly. Not only one of the best movies of the year, but one of the best movies of all time.

Mar 20, 2007 06:37:09

Review 8 of 15

4of 4 Stars

And the award for "Who Knew This Guy Had Talent??" goes to...Guillermo Del Toro! This is Del Toro's first nomination and it signifies that this monster-loving writer/director has all the makings of an amazing talent, that perhaps he should join the ranks of that other Mexican master filmmaker: Alfonso Cuaron (who exec-produced Pan's Labyrinth). This is yet another sterling late-release film I was unable to view before year's end.

The story here is one of almost banal simplicity: a young girl named Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and her mother Carmen (Adriana Gil) go to live with Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez, the very vision of evil incarnate) in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. Carmen is carrying Vidal's baby and it's quite clear that that's the only reason he married her in the first place. Ofelia herself spends hours reading while the Captain brutally executes guerrilla rebels in the hills around their military post. Ofelia, ever the bookworm, gets sucked into a fairytale where she is the princess of a long lost underground kingdom. In order to return there (and subsequently escape fascism and the evils it entails) she must complete three tasks as ordained by Pan (Doug Jones), a faun whose very syntax sends shivers up my spine. The tasks involve large fig trees, fairies, giant toads, and a demon known as the Pale Man (Doug Jones) that sits forever inert at a subterranean dinner table...waiting for his next victim.

All the while that Ofelia is scurrying about completing tasks and being wonderfully resourceful, there is a story of tragic insurgency going on in the "real world" (I use that because here, in this dark and disturbing myth, where does reality end and fantasy begin?). The captain spends days oppressing the village he protects while his maid Mercedes (Maribel Verdu, on loan from Alfonso Cuaron's Y Tu Mama Tambien) spends equally as much time secretly trying to thwart him. Indeed one of the film's many great climaxes occurs as Mercedes escapes Vidal's torture using only a small blade and her own steely resolve.

What Guillermo Del Toro has created is a terriying fairy tale and a twisted war story. The genius of his creation however is that he blends the two seamlessly. His intuition into Ofelia's imagination is so deeply felt, that it is impossible to tell whether she is the subject of her own mental sanctuary or whether she reallly is to be a Princess in her own secret kingdom. The fantastical imagery itself could have made this a great horror story but Del Toro is willing to reach deeper and come up with a film of shocking emotional ferocity. The word masterpiece is much to common for this movie, but it is most definitely Del Toro's masterwork. He's taken elements from everything he's ever touched (be it the monsters of Mimic, or the cracked characters of Hellboy, or even the atmosphere of The Devil's Backbone) and created one of the most inventive, rich, powerful spectacles of cinema I have ever seen. It shook me to my core and has haunted my dreams for days.

Mar 3, 2007 15:13:17

Previous Next