Pan's Labyrinth
2006. Written and directed by Guillermo del Toro. Starring Ivana Baquero, Maribel Verdu, Ariadna Gil, Sergi Lopez, Doug Jones, and Alex Angulo.
My body was sitting in a theatre but my heart and imagination were captive inside another world. From the very first sounds, even before the first image appeared on screen until the credits began to roll, I was completely immersed in Pan's Labyrinth. I had no idea how long I was there, I only knew I didn't want to leave anytime soon. We were taken to Spain in 1944 after the Civil War had ended. A girl and her pregnant mother are coming to live with her new step-dad. It takes only a moment for us to distrust the man she is told to call father, and our distrust is more than justified. The girl, horrified by her new life, is less resistant than she might otherwise have been when she meets bizarre magical creatures and is asked to carry out dangerous tasks.
Pan's Labyrinth has a complete and consistent mood. It never breaks for a wink of humor or irony. It adds nothing that doesn't belong. It doesn't differentiate between reality and fantasy and lets the viewer be the judge of what is real. I was completely engaged; spellbound to the suspense and horror, the bizarre and grotesque. At the heart of the story is the girl, played very well by Ivana Baquero, and her heartache becomes ours. The film never drags and is fascinating in both its moments of fantasy and its equally terrifying reality. Pan's Labyrinth surrounds you in excellence in filmmaking as the sound, images, and imagination all work in perfect harmony while giving you characters you truly care about. It is an unforgettable experience and a tremendous movie.
My grade: A
My body was sitting in a theatre but my heart and imagination were captive inside another world. From the very first sounds, even before the first image appeared on screen until the credits began to roll, I was completely immersed in Pan's Labyrinth. I had no idea how long I was there, I only knew I didn't want to leave anytime soon. We were taken to Spain in 1944 after the Civil War had ended. A girl and her pregnant mother are coming to live with her new step-dad. It takes only a moment for us to distrust the man she is told to call father, and our distrust is more than justified. The girl, horrified by her new life, is less resistant than she might otherwise have been when she meets bizarre magical creatures and is asked to carry out dangerous tasks.
Pan's Labyrinth has a complete and consistent mood. It never breaks for a wink of humor or irony. It adds nothing that doesn't belong. It doesn't differentiate between reality and fantasy and lets the viewer be the judge of what is real. I was completely engaged; spellbound to the suspense and horror, the bizarre and grotesque. At the heart of the story is the girl, played very well by Ivana Baquero, and her heartache becomes ours. The film never drags and is fascinating in both its moments of fantasy and its equally terrifying reality. Pan's Labyrinth surrounds you in excellence in filmmaking as the sound, images, and imagination all work in perfect harmony while giving you characters you truly care about. It is an unforgettable experience and a tremendous movie.
My grade: A
posted by Keith Allison at 10:26 PM
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