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Pan's Labyrinth (no-spoiler review)
Dec. 4th, 2006 03:04 amOn Friday night, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
filceolaire, G, the ESDs, pola_bear's boyfriend and I went to see Pan's Labyrinth.
It's billed as a horror film, but I don't like horror films, and I really wouldn't call this a horror film. It looks like a fantasy film, but again, I wouldn't call it completely a fantasy film, either. It's both of those two things, and rather than blurring reality to introduce fantasy, it keeps its two parallel stories deliciously, sensuously, seductively apart.
In short, it's stunning. Observe the ratings system on this one: this film is not suitable for children younger than about my son's age (14). In the UK it carries a 15 rating, and I think it will be rated R in the US. This is not a film for children. There is a fairytale in it, but it is not a watered-down happy-ending fairytale for children. It's creepy and beautiful, engaging and enthralling. There are no "rest" moments in this film: it's intense from beginning to end, and neither is it short: at 112 minutes, you'll be afraid to look away. Except when you (briefly) have to.
If you're looking for a simple story with simple answers and something to smile about on the bus home from the cinema, Pan's Labyrinth is not the film you want to see. Guillermo del Toro (probably best known for Hellboy) skillfully tells the story of twelve-year-old Ofelia, who finds herself the main character in a dramatic adventure peopled with mythical beasts and magical beings, and whose life is about to change dramatically as she travels with her mother to be with her new stepfather, a Captain who's been posted to a remote area to oppose a group of rebels. The story's set in barely post-civil-war Spain (1944), and the film is in Spanish. The subtitles aren't intrusive, and they're easy to read. I wouldn't want to see this film dubbed: the actors' voices are perfect as they are.
As a final note, know that the film's Spanish name is not Pan's Labyrinth, but El Laberinto del Fauno, "The Faun's Labyrinth." I suppose the people who make these decisions thought it would be better to give English speakers a common symbol, although the faun in this film bears very little resemblance to the common view of Pan.
Sorry, American friends-- the film isn't released there until 29 December. It will be worth the wait.
filceolaire, G, the ESDs, pola_bear's boyfriend and I went to see Pan's Labyrinth.It's billed as a horror film, but I don't like horror films, and I really wouldn't call this a horror film. It looks like a fantasy film, but again, I wouldn't call it completely a fantasy film, either. It's both of those two things, and rather than blurring reality to introduce fantasy, it keeps its two parallel stories deliciously, sensuously, seductively apart.
In short, it's stunning. Observe the ratings system on this one: this film is not suitable for children younger than about my son's age (14). In the UK it carries a 15 rating, and I think it will be rated R in the US. This is not a film for children. There is a fairytale in it, but it is not a watered-down happy-ending fairytale for children. It's creepy and beautiful, engaging and enthralling. There are no "rest" moments in this film: it's intense from beginning to end, and neither is it short: at 112 minutes, you'll be afraid to look away. Except when you (briefly) have to.
If you're looking for a simple story with simple answers and something to smile about on the bus home from the cinema, Pan's Labyrinth is not the film you want to see. Guillermo del Toro (probably best known for Hellboy) skillfully tells the story of twelve-year-old Ofelia, who finds herself the main character in a dramatic adventure peopled with mythical beasts and magical beings, and whose life is about to change dramatically as she travels with her mother to be with her new stepfather, a Captain who's been posted to a remote area to oppose a group of rebels. The story's set in barely post-civil-war Spain (1944), and the film is in Spanish. The subtitles aren't intrusive, and they're easy to read. I wouldn't want to see this film dubbed: the actors' voices are perfect as they are.
As a final note, know that the film's Spanish name is not Pan's Labyrinth, but El Laberinto del Fauno, "The Faun's Labyrinth." I suppose the people who make these decisions thought it would be better to give English speakers a common symbol, although the faun in this film bears very little resemblance to the common view of Pan.
Sorry, American friends-- the film isn't released there until 29 December. It will be worth the wait.
