PAN’S
LABYRINTH
With
Ivana
Baquero,
Sergi
López,
Doug
Jones
Directed
by
Guillermo
del
Toro
Del
Toro
returns
to
his
roots
originally
kick-started
with
his
great
take
on
the
vampire
myth
with
his
debut
Cronos.
His
commercial
efforts
like
Mimic,
Blade
II,
and
Hellboy
no
doubt
have
an
edge
over
your
normal
Hollywood
action
fare.
As
with
Cronos,
Pan’s
Labyrinth
is
in
Spanish,
distancing
it
even
further
from
the
viewer’s
expectations
(and
indirectly
aiding
in
its
believability).
The
only
downside
to
this
would
be
that
slow
subtitle
readers
could
perhaps
miss
a
few
glimpses
of
the
amazing
images.
Furthermore
Del
Toro
also
revisits
a
previous
time
period
he
explored
in
The
Devil’s
Backbone
-
Set
during
the
Spanish
civil
war,
the
tale
of
Pan’s
Labyrinth
is
told
through
the
eyes
of
a
young
girl
(Ofelia)
whose
mother
has
married
a
coldhearted
captain
on
the
heels
of
ill-equipped
rebels
in
the
countryside.
Her
mother
is
pregnant
with
her
stepbrother.
They
are
sent
for
and
brought
into
this
dangerous
environment
because
“the
mother
of
the
new
child
should
be
where
the
father
finds
himself”,
whatever
the
circumstances.
Within
this
tense
situation
Ofelia
is
systematically
swept
into
a
fairytale
world
where
she
happens
to
be
the
daughter
of
the
underworld
king
–
she
wandered
off
to
the
world
above,
one
day
to
return
unknowingly
in
the
body
of
another.
Adjacent
to
the
old
mill
taken
over
by
the
Spanish
army
under
her
stepfather’s
command,
there
lies
an
ancient
labyrinth.
Here
she
is
met
by
an
awe-inspiring
faun
who
relays
her
destiny
and
gives
her
several
tasks
to
prove
she
is
the
chosen
one.
This
fantasy
world
is
contrasted
by
the
escalating
conflict
in
the
hills.
With
creatures
ranging
from
fairies
to
totally
creepy
monsters
(the
biggest
one
in
fact
being
the
captain),
Del
Toro
brings
to
life
an
amazing
world
of
mysterious
fantasy
and
cold
reality.
Fantastic
in
every
sense
of
the
word,
Pan’s
Labyrinth
would
more
than
likely
not
be
justified
in
the
hands
of
anyone
other
than
Del
Toro,
an
exceptionally
visual
director
who
does
not
sacrifice
great
storytelling
for
visual
effect.
With
him
you’re
guaranteed
to
get
both
in
serious
doses.
One
sad
fact
about
this
work
of
art
is
that
unless
this
gets
a
long
theatrical
run
at
art
cinemas,
it
is
doomed
to
flicker
for
a
few
weeks
in
a
couple
of
mall
theatres
and
disappear
to
be
rediscovered
on
DVD
where
the
English
dubbing
will
take
preference.
While
it
should’ve
won
the
Best
Film
or
Best
Foreign
category,
it
did
deservedly
win
the
Best
Cinematography
Oscar™.
6
/
A
-
PB
1
2
3
4
5
6
A
-
B
-
C
|