Drool on the Frog

Friday, July 13, 2007

Willa's Flic Pic: Pan's Labyrinth * * * * *


Pan's LabyrinthPan's Labyrinth

- Guillermo del Toro
- Drama/Fantasy, 2006
- Spanish
- R
- Trailer

* * * * *

Ofelia: Hello. I am Princess Moanna, and I am not afraid of you.

When we popped the DVD in for this film, we selected to see the director's introduction. With an ironic laugh, del Toro said that he hoped we enjoyed the movie that almost killed him in the making. We knew were about the see an intense film made by an intense, dedicated guy.

Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto del fauno) is a Spanish film that was in limited release in the US. It's the story of how a young girl, Ofelia, deals with being thrust into the final violent frays of the Spanish civil war in 1944. She is an avid reader and her fairy-tale world is more familiar to her than the setting she's been forced into by the adults in her life. Her father is dead and her mother, Carmen, is pregnant by a vicious captain of the Spanish army. Very late in her term and at great risk to her life, the captain has Carmen moved to his location in the mountains where he is battling rebels. Everyone there is in service to the captain and, with her mother bed ridden, Ofelia learns very quickly she is completely alone.

For a film that is seen as a "fairy tale", it is very violent and many wonder why. In an interview conducted by Brian Tallerico with UnderGroundOnline, de Toro said of the violence:
What I would say to these people is, “If the movie works for you and you get into it, you should go back to being a kid and experience the fear and the wonder as intensely as you do when you’re a kid.” Violence and fantasy have to be dialed up to cause that in an adult. Now, the violence makes you appreciate the beauty and the beauty makes you vulnerable to the violence. It’s not a particularly genteel mix. It’s a very aggressive movie.
I struggled with giving this film my highest rating but I didn't know why. So I ask my qualifying question: What's wrong with the film? Acting, directing, filming, screenplay, costume, music, editing, f/x - anything? I came up with nothing. The only thing that was giving me pause was the fact that it is a tough movie to watch, in all aspects. Innocence faces injustice, life value is determined by net gain, the weak have to face evil alone because those who should be there are either blind or cowardly.

Pan's Labyrinth is brilliant in its story and visuals. If you're a writer, I encourage you to watch it as a story teller. If you're an artist, I encourage to critique it as a canvas. It has its own beauty and I think you'll see it.

Labels:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home