FilmFan
07-20-2009, 12:36 AM
http://www.ramchandra.me.uk/blog/archives/2006/11/pan.jpg
Pan's Labyrinth aka El laberinto del fauno
Running time: 119 minutes
Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Ivana Baquero
IMDB rating: 8.5
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457430/
Pan's Labyrinth has been described as a fairytale for adults, and I think that's a fitting description. The events take place in Spain, and the year is 1944.
In an military-controlled town in the countryside, a sociopathic army captain is trying to track down rebels that are hiding in the surrounding woodland. Although the civil war ended 8 years previously, there were still pockets of resistance, and armed forces dedicated itself to wiping them out, often employing brutal tactics in the process.
The captain's financee, who is heavily pregnant with his child, has an 11 year old daughter from a previous marriage (she's a widow). Ofelia, who dislikes her mother's choice of partner and is very unhappy, is one day visited by a fairy, which urges her to come to enter a labyrinth in the forest. There she meets a creature who tells her that she is the reincarnated daughter of the king of a mystical place, and that he has been sent to bring her back, as long as she can pass 3 challenges.
I enjoyed this film. It has some great scenes, the supernatural elements are very well done, and the acting is good as well. Having said that, it didn't quite do for me what it seems to have done for many other people. The film didn't really affect me emotionally, and I didn't feel for the characters to quite the same extent as I've done when viewing certain films in the past. I think it's a good film, but not necessarily a special one.
7.5/10
Pan's Labyrinth aka El laberinto del fauno
Running time: 119 minutes
Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Ivana Baquero
IMDB rating: 8.5
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457430/
Pan's Labyrinth has been described as a fairytale for adults, and I think that's a fitting description. The events take place in Spain, and the year is 1944.
In an military-controlled town in the countryside, a sociopathic army captain is trying to track down rebels that are hiding in the surrounding woodland. Although the civil war ended 8 years previously, there were still pockets of resistance, and armed forces dedicated itself to wiping them out, often employing brutal tactics in the process.
The captain's financee, who is heavily pregnant with his child, has an 11 year old daughter from a previous marriage (she's a widow). Ofelia, who dislikes her mother's choice of partner and is very unhappy, is one day visited by a fairy, which urges her to come to enter a labyrinth in the forest. There she meets a creature who tells her that she is the reincarnated daughter of the king of a mystical place, and that he has been sent to bring her back, as long as she can pass 3 challenges.
I enjoyed this film. It has some great scenes, the supernatural elements are very well done, and the acting is good as well. Having said that, it didn't quite do for me what it seems to have done for many other people. The film didn't really affect me emotionally, and I didn't feel for the characters to quite the same extent as I've done when viewing certain films in the past. I think it's a good film, but not necessarily a special one.
7.5/10