2006
Rated R
Written and directed by Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Ivana Baquero, Doug Jones, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú, Ariadna Gil, Álex Angulo
Spanish, with English subtitles
Spanish title: El Laberinto del Fauno
Pan's Labyrinth is a beautiful but very, very dark fantasy movie that takes place in Spain in the 1940's. The movie opens with a fairy tale: immortal young Princess Moanna, whose father is the king of the underworld, is curious about the world above and sneaks to the surface. The sun blinds Moanna and causes her to lose her memory and to become a mortal human.
In "real-life," young Ofelia (Baquero) is living in post-Civil War Spain with her sickly pregnant mother Carmen (Gil) and her mother's husband, the sadistic and cruel Captain Vidal (López). Vidal is a fascist and is in charge of finding the anti-fascist rebels hiding in the mountains.
With her sickly mother out of commission and zero affection from her new stepfather, Ofelia has little to make her happy except for her love of fairy tales and Vidal's kindly maid, Mercedes (Verdú). One day, Ofelia is befriended by a fairy who takes her to a stone labyrinth nearby. There she meets the faun, a mythological half-goat half-man creature who tells her that she is the reincarnation of Princess Moanna. He tells her that she has to complete three tasks in order to take her place back in the underworld. Ofelia agrees to do so, and begins to undertake the dangerous tasks.
Meanwhile, her mother is getting sicker and sicker, Captain Vidal is becoming more and more cruel and abusive, and Mercedes, along with the Captain's doctor, Doctor Ferreiro (Angulo) are sneaking supplies to the rebels, one of which is Mercedes' brother Pedro.
The "reality" side of the movie is extremely dark, violent, and scary, but the "fantasy" side is dark as well. The special effects and art direction are breathtaking, and the storyline and performances had me hooked from the first minute.
I definitely recommend this movie, but don't let it fool you: this is NOT a kids' movie so it's best to watch it after they go to sleep.
(since I don't think the stars are showing up for the reviews, I'll tell you here that this gets 4.5/5)
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Oh, the stars DID work. To quote a genius: "YEEPIE!"
1yeepie to that. It is on my queue, and can't wait to see it!
2Oh, and I think the little girl looked a little bit like a young Winona Ryder. If that matters.
3Sounds really good - I'm glad you reviewed it. It's probably not something I'd ever pick up on my own.
4Great review! I saw this movie about 3 weeks or a month ago. Your review is perfect.
5It was a good movie, but it was completely different then I thought it was going to be.
6I really enjoyed this one! I saw it in the theater and was pleasantly suprised!
7Wow, I'd only heard of this in passing, so glad you reviewed it! Now I def want to see.
8I LOVED this movie.
9The frog in the tree even disturbed me, so yeah. NOT for kids.
10Ugh, that part was creepy. The worst part, though (not to give anything away), was what Mercedes did to the Captain and what he did to himself afterwards.
11This is a great movie! Good review too
12The part with the monster with the eyes in his palms was soooo disturbing.
I could barely watch it,
oof.
I enjoyed this movie.
13On the other hand, my hub thought it was over-hyped and expected more out of it.
The B.K. monster was fa-reaky! Those of you who have seen it know what I mean.
I saw this the other day and started to rent it. When you say not suitable for children what age group do you recommend? I also started to rent "The Messengers". Have any of you seen this one?
14mominator, the monster in the commercial eats fairies. Crunchy, gory, chewy little fairies. I don't have kids so I don't know what age is appropriate for that. Also, the step father is abusive and they show it.
15Haven't seen it, but I really want to.
16The review states the film is rated "R" for those concerned about children.
Thanks colormesticky. It sounds like it would not be appropriate for my 11yr old. might rent it for myself while she is at camp.
17I read about it when it first came out and I thought it wasn't my cup of tea. I'll wait until it comes on HoBO
18_________________________
Don't worry 'bout a ting!
I saw this! Like someone else said, it was different than I was expecting. And that first very violent and graphic scene almost deterred me from watching the rest of the movie. But I stuck it out and for the most part enjoyed it. I was totally cheering for Mercedes!!
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