Guillermo Del Toro is my favorite film director who's still alive. While he is celebrated by geeks for his fun popcorn movies like Hellboy and Pacific Rim, it is his spanish language dark fantasy films that won me over and made me fall in love with his work.
Pan's Labyrinth is almost certainly his best and most sophisticated film, and rightly deserves its critical acclaim.
The film's plot is thoroughly fantastical, with fauns, mandrakes, horrible demons, giant frogs, tests of character, etc. Not only that, but it's not just any kind of fantasy. This is DARK fantasy, a genre that is woefully under-represented in cinema. It is frightening, oppressive, and morbid, but remains beautiful. The prosthetics, special effects, CGI, costumes, etc are incredible and extremely convincing, making it a gorgeous film.
But what really makes Pan's Labyrinth shine, and elevates it from simply just another horror/fantasy flick and into a legitimately great drama is the backbone of the spanish civil war that frames the whole story. As horrible as all the things Ofelia suffers through are, the horrific cruelty of Captain Vidal, and the very real, human horrors of the war trumps them all. This ends up giving the film an immense narrative weight that is so lacking in most fantasy movies, it grounds the story and permits the viewer to become attached to these characters in a way they otherwise wouldn't.
All of the actors in this film are great; I especially have to congratulate Sergi Lopez for his unforgettably chilling and mechanical performance of Captain Vidal.
Overall Pan's Labyrinth succeeds in pretty much every area and is a must-view for any fan of fantasy, as it brings the genre to a height it very rarely achieves.
One of the best fantasy films ever.
Guillermo Del Toro is my favorite film director who's still alive. While he is celebrated by geeks for his fun popcorn movies like Hellboy and Pacific Rim, it is his spanish language dark fantasy films that won me over and made me fall in love with his work.
Pan's Labyrinth is almost certainly his best and most sophisticated film, and rightly deserves its critical acclaim.
The film's plot is thoroughly fantastical, with fauns, mandrakes, horrible demons, giant frogs, tests of character, etc. Not only that, but it's not just any kind of fantasy. This is DARK fantasy, a genre that is woefully under-represented in cinema. It is frightening, oppressive, and morbid, but remains beautiful. The prosthetics, special effects, CGI, costumes, etc are incredible and extremely convincing, making it a gorgeous film.
But what really makes Pan's Labyrinth shine, and elevates it from simply just another horror/fantasy flick and into a legitimately great drama is the backbone of the spanish civil war that frames the whole story. As horrible as all the things Ofelia suffers through are, the horrific cruelty of Captain Vidal, and the very real, human horrors of the war trumps them all. This ends up giving the film an immense narrative weight that is so lacking in most fantasy movies, it grounds the story and permits the viewer to become attached to these characters in a way they otherwise wouldn't.
All of the actors in this film are great; I especially have to congratulate Sergi Lopez for his unforgettably chilling and mechanical performance of Captain Vidal.
Overall Pan's Labyrinth succeeds in pretty much every area and is a must-view for any fan of fantasy, as it brings the genre to a height it very rarely achieves.