Pan's Labyrinth

[Brian in Mesa]

Pan's Labyrinth

Release Date: December 29, 2006 (limited)
Studio: Picturehouse
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Screenwriter: Guillermo del Toro
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
MPAA Rating: R (for graphic violence and some language)
Website: Pan's Labyrinth | MySpace.com/PansLabyrinth

Starring: Ivana Baquero, Doug Jones, Sergi López, Ariadna Gil, Maribel Verdú, Álex Angulo, Roger Casamajor, Sebastián Haro, Mina Lira, Federico Luppi, Ivan Massagué, Chema Ruiz, Manolo Solo, Milo Taboada

Plot Summary: "Pan's Labyrinth" is a fanciful and chilling story set against the backdrop of a fascist regime in 1944 rural Spain. The film centers on Ofelia, a lonely and dreamy child living with her mother and adoptive father; a military officer tasked with ridding the area of rebels. In her loneliness, Ofelia creates a world filled with fantastical creatures and secret destinies. With post-war repression at its height, Ofelia must come to terms with her world through a fable of her own creation.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Another poster...

 

[Louis]

Watched this yesterday. And IMO it's tied with Little Miss Sunshine for best movie of 2006.

It was wonderful in every way. Great acting, story was excellent, the acting was great (especially the little girl, the maid, and the brutal captain).

Visually the movie was very good. The mixture of the real world and Ofelia's fantasy underworld worked very well.

 

[Linderbee]

Watched this yesterday. And IMO it's tied with Little Miss Sunshine for best movie of 2006.

It was wonderful in every way. Great acting, story was excellent, the acting was great (especially the little girl, the maid, and the brutal captain).

Visually the movie was very good. The mixture of the real world and Ofelia's fantasy underworld worked very well.

but, how did you feel about the acting?

 

[Louis]

but, how did you feel about the acting?

The acting was meh.

 

[dyle_ph1]

Just saw this one.. Great movie. Good mix of realism and fantasy and you really connect with the characters. Awesome acting IMO and the computer effects are impressive without taking over the movie.

 

[AZZenny]

GREAT movie. Beautifully filmed, acted, written, the whole ball of wax. It has some of the most appalling violence I can recall, juxtaposed with the magical but dangerous allure of the fantasy.

The Captain is the coldest SOB since the German officer Ralph Fiennes played in Schindler's List. The little girl is incredible.

 

[Pariah]

The guy who played the captain was terrific.

I didn't notice that this was directed by del Torro until the ending credits. He's pretty good (he also did Hellboy).

I thought it was a little odd the way the fantasy world and the fantasy world stories were being told side-by-side like that. It worked pretty well, but I don't yet understand the literary meaning of it. I'll have to think about it.


************SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT IN THE THREAD***************

 

[Stout]

The guy who played the captain was terrific.

I didn't notice that this was directed by del Torro until the ending credits. He's pretty good (he also did Hellboy).

I thought it was a little odd the way the fantasy world and the fantasy world stories were being told side-by-side like that. It worked pretty well, but I don't yet understand the literary meaning of it. I'll have to think about it.

It was nice to see that the Ofelia learned the lessons that others in the real world did not, that you should not just blindly obey, but question the morality of tyrannical orders. She refused to give up her baby brother for sacrifice, after agreeing to obey Pan's orders, setting her apart from much of the real world and thus assuring her spirit's return to the underground kingdom.

Just an excellent movie overall.

 

[Pariah]

that you should not just blindly obey,

Nice call. Reminiscent of the doctor's last words.

 

[Mulli]

It was nice to see that the Ofelia learned the lessons that others in the real world did not, that you should not just blindly obey, but question the morality of tyrannical orders. She refused to give up her baby brother for sacrifice, after agreeing to obey Pan's orders, setting her apart from much of the real world and thus assuring her spirit's return to the underground kingdom.

Just an excellent movie overall.

Thanks for the spoiler alert.


just kidding

 

[AZZenny]

The other way to take it a bit more literally is as a tale of dissociation, which is what many children do under intense stress or conflict or ongoing trauma -- enter a more-real-than-reality fantasy world that is somewhat parallel to the intolerable reality, but where things are transformed to be manageable: good triumphs, there are dangers but miraculous escapes happen, and so on. Adults under very extreme duress also sometimes do this, like in prolonged severe pain, or under torture.

The stepping back and forth from one world to the other, the sense that the other world is right there, fits.

This is a movie that hangs around in your head for days.

 

[Pariah]

The other way to take it a bit more literally is as a tale of dissociation,

Yeah, I thought of that as well.

But, even within Ophelia's fantasy, I think the literary parallel is as Stout pointed out--the right and proper order of the universe (real and/or imagined) comes from following your heart rather than following your orders.

 

[Stout]

Hmm, good points all around. I like to think that her body died, but that the fantasy world was real, and in death her spirit returned home.

 

[General Chaos]

I just saw this movie and absolutely loved it. I agree the acting was superb and the story was terrific as well.

 

[AZZenny]

Hmm, good points all around. I like to think that her body died, but that the fantasy world was real, and in death her spirit returned home.

Me too.


We probably ought to have stuck a spoiler alert in here somewhere before this, though.

 

[Pariah]

Zenny, I've been thinking more about the disassociation angle.

Spoiler

It holds up, with the exeption of when she was locked in her room and the faun told her to go get the baby. She was locked in the room, and was only able to escape through the portal she made with the chalk.

I think I'm leaning towards her fantasy-world was real, but I'm very torn.

As has been said, either way....very good flick.

 

[AZZenny]

In the best Fellini-esque tradition (which this is) it doesn't have to be either-or, and it doesn't have to tell us which is when -- or how. Like a great poem, or novel, it can work on many levels. But also, if we are 'in' her dissociation with her, her reality is the 'real' one and we experience it with her.

 

[UncleChris]

It sucked the emotion right out of me.... I felt absolutely drained when it was over. I hated it.

Then, as I got by the obvious "girl escapes horrid reality through fairy tale fantasy" and got to thinking about it, it really is a helluva movie. Not your standard, Saturday afternoon popcorn fare, that's for sure.... but a dark, ugly, meaningful portrayal of multiple layers of life. Wow!

 

[Heucrazy]

I rented this movie on Sunday and I must say it was great. The stories blended well together and they kept useless dialouge out of it, which was great for a subtitled movie.

 

[Covert Rain]

Does the movie have an English dubbed track? I have to be honest, I need it to watch movies like this. I loved "Life is Beautiful" but probably wouldn't have gotten through it without the English dubbed tracked.

 

[SouthEndZoner]

Does the movie have an English dubbed track? I have to be honest, I need it to watch movies like this. I loved "Life is Beautiful" but probably wouldn't have gotten through it without the English dubbed tracked.

I just bought the DVD and it can set it up to play with an English track. This is a great movie and I really felt that it should have won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

 

[Stout]

Does the movie have an English dubbed track? I have to be honest, I need it to watch movies like this. I loved "Life is Beautiful" but probably wouldn't have gotten through it without the English dubbed tracked.

Not to be a movie snob or a jerk or anything, but you probably just won't enjoy foreign movies then. I mean, watching a foreign movie with an English dubbed track, even one done moderately well, is awful.

 

[Covert Rain]

Not to be a movie snob or a jerk or anything, but you probably just won't enjoy foreign movies then. I mean, watching a foreign movie with an English dubbed track, even one done moderately well, is awful.

It doesn't ruin it for me at all. Especially if the voice acting is good like in Life is Beautiful. The script is still good or bad...dubbed or not. The visuals are still good dubbed or not. I just find it distracting to have to constantly read versus looking at what's on film. I do enjoy foreign films but just because I like a dubbed track doesn't mean I can't. After all, the rest of the world has been watching our "foreign" films for years with dubbed tracks and it hasn't impacted their enjoyment.

 

[Chaplin]

It doesn't ruin it for me at all. Especially if the voice acting is good like in Life is Beautiful. The script is still good or bad...dubbed or not. The visuals are still good dubbed or not. I just find it distracting to have to constantly read versus looking at what's on film. I do enjoy foreign films but just because I like a dubbed track doesn't mean I can't. After all, the rest of the world has been watching our "foreign" films for years with dubbed tracks and it hasn't impacted their enjoyment.

Hate to burst your bubble, but frequently even subtitle tracks aren't "on script", let alone dubbing, which is usually worse. I will never understand how anyone can consider themselves a "movie fan" and refuse to watch foreign movies with subtitles. No offense to you, but that is just mind-boggling to me.

I mean, Hong Kong action movies don't have any substance, and they are most always dubbed, but I'd much rather see them with subtitles--because an actor's voice is also a big part of their performance, regardless of the language. Can you imagine someone OTHER than Samuel L. Jackson dubbed over his Ezekiel speech in Pulp Fiction? Or over just about any line in The Godfather that Brando speaks? I can't even begin to be interested in watching Crouching Tiger dubbed--because there is a certain way that Chow Yun-Fat or Michelle Yeoh or Zang Zhiyi speaks, and it adds to the performance.

Then you have the Jackie Chan dub, which is halfway there, as Jackie will do his own dubbing into English. That helps a lot, but it still makes the rest of the actors look ridiculous.