El Laberinto del Fauno/ Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro, 2006)
sliated lluF
Average viewer rating: 8.3/10
My rating: 10/10
Oh, I can't help it. I think this is the best film I have ever seen. It deserves ten out of ten, and I would only have given Brazil or Fargo 9.8. There are so many films on release at the moment I've been dying to get to the cinema for- and I hate cinemas. But I've been waiting for Pan's Labyrinth all year.
The basic storyline follows a young girl called Ofelia whose step-father is a military captain just after the Spanish Civil War. There are clear ideas of good and bad as the evil captain tortures and murders his way through the local Guerillos, freedom fighters, good ole honest rebels. Questions of choices and loyalties are raised, as Ofelia shares several meetings with a strange faun in the labyrinth hidden in the forest near the mill where the captain's cruel troops are based. The faun informs her that she is a reincarnated princess and must complete several tasks in order to regain her kingdom. As the blood on the captain's hands increases and her life in the real world darkens, so does the fantasy world the faun sends her to.
Every single frame of this film is beautifully photographed. The fantasty set-pieces parallel Gilliam at his best, and outshine Burton's most radiant works. There are some genuinely terrifying moments, such as the "Pale Man," a child-eating monster from the dark ages whose eyes are in the palms of his hands, and also several torture scenes involving the murderous step-father.
By the end of the film I was a nervous wreck; the brutality is a lot to take in and I found myself wishing for the fantasy sequences to last for ever. The film is in Spanish, with subtitles, another of its delights; it kept all the noisy chavs out of the screening. And another interesting detail; the actor who played the captain also played Senor Juan in Dirty Pretty Things. So there.
sliated lluF
Average viewer rating: 8.3/10
My rating: 10/10
Oh, I can't help it. I think this is the best film I have ever seen. It deserves ten out of ten, and I would only have given Brazil or Fargo 9.8. There are so many films on release at the moment I've been dying to get to the cinema for- and I hate cinemas. But I've been waiting for Pan's Labyrinth all year.
The basic storyline follows a young girl called Ofelia whose step-father is a military captain just after the Spanish Civil War. There are clear ideas of good and bad as the evil captain tortures and murders his way through the local Guerillos, freedom fighters, good ole honest rebels. Questions of choices and loyalties are raised, as Ofelia shares several meetings with a strange faun in the labyrinth hidden in the forest near the mill where the captain's cruel troops are based. The faun informs her that she is a reincarnated princess and must complete several tasks in order to regain her kingdom. As the blood on the captain's hands increases and her life in the real world darkens, so does the fantasy world the faun sends her to.
Every single frame of this film is beautifully photographed. The fantasty set-pieces parallel Gilliam at his best, and outshine Burton's most radiant works. There are some genuinely terrifying moments, such as the "Pale Man," a child-eating monster from the dark ages whose eyes are in the palms of his hands, and also several torture scenes involving the murderous step-father.
By the end of the film I was a nervous wreck; the brutality is a lot to take in and I found myself wishing for the fantasy sequences to last for ever. The film is in Spanish, with subtitles, another of its delights; it kept all the noisy chavs out of the screening. And another interesting detail; the actor who played the captain also played Senor Juan in Dirty Pretty Things. So there.
posted by BlackAndrew at 1:56 PM
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