Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno) (2006)

Posted : 2 months, 2 weeks ago at Apr 16 1:01

Just an absolutely beautiful movie. This film's creativity & emotion are elegantly entwined in a manner that blurs the barrier between the "real" world & the fantasy dimension, many times almost beyond physical distinction.

Rating : 9/10

Posted : 11 months, 1 week ago at Jul 27 1:00

Oh Guillermo, after this movie you have a permanent free pass to do whatever the hell you want and I will be there to watch. Equal parts historical fiction, Grimm’s Brothers fantasy, and Mexican folkloric art inspired, Pan’s Labyrinth was the best movie of 2006, and a neo-classic. It might only be two years old, and it might seem like hyperbole for me to make such proclamations, but I do not care. I believe that this movie will stand the test of time and be considered one of the great foreign films, and one of the great films like The Seven Samurai, M, and Beauty and the Beast before it. The story is appropriately simple, the good guys are very good and the bad guys are very bad, but it’s the visual trickery and designs that make it so stunning. That, and El Fauno is a fantastic crea...Read more

Posted : 1 year, 11 months ago at Jul 15 17:59

A thought provoking and enchanting tale that is only slightly let down by stereo-typical characters. The Captain being the main culprit in question. Brought back memories of childhood reading I'd almost forgotten.

Rating : 8/10

Posted : 2 years ago at Jun 28 18:57

This movie was definitely misleading, based on the commercials. Not what I expected at all. Very dark and violent (gruesome even), but still really good. Don't watch this with children. Definitely NOT a family movie. But definitely one to watch. Very well done, well acted, and great story.

Rating : 9/10

Posted : 2 years ago at Jun 25 0:04

I was very surprised with this film. I have no idea what I was expecting except it was maybe more a children's film then anything else. Jeez was I mistaken! Obviously I hadn't heard much about it.

For starters it was far too violent in parts for children and younger children may have found it more on the scary side. For adults though (including young adults) it was excellent. It was unlike any other movie I have seen in a long time and by far a rarity in cinematic excellence. The acting was fantastic and the story line was marvellous. If you're a world cinema fan you have to see this and if you aren't, well you really have to see this.

Rating : 10/10

Posted : 2 years ago at Jun 16 21:29

Spain. 1944. Ofelia, a girl fascinated by fairy tales, is sent with her pregnant mother to meet and live with her new stepfather, Capitan Vidal, a particularly sadistic character. One night Ofelia meets a fairy, is told she is a princess and encounters the faun Pan. To prove her royalty, she must execute specific albeit gruesome tasks. Sergi Lopez as the Capitan is excellent, as are the two leading actresses, Maribel Verdu (playing Vidal's housekeeper, Mercedes) and Ivana Baquero (Ofelia). The faun is magistrally played by Doug Jones. An intense, brutal, beautiful, magical world is what makes this movie A MUST SEE, for it is quite the masterpiece, visually and artistically. The film definitely deserved its Oscar for best cinematography: Guillermo Navarro used wonderful lighting and t...Read more

Rating : 10/10

Posted : 2 years, 1 month ago at Jun 4 20:28

My first thought after renting and watching this movie wasn’t very honest. I was upset that it didn’t have an English language version and that the English sub-titles often ran way too fast prompting several rewinds on my player. But in retrospect this was a good movie, a really good movie. And sub-titles do make you pay more attention to the story, but when concentrating on the sub-titles I think you miss some of the visuals and visual effects. My hope is that a Special English dubbed version might be released sometime in the future. I give it high marks for everything but the Spanish only language and way-to-fast sub-titles. Yes, I was aggravated by it, but it was still a good movie.

Rating : 7/10

Posted : 2 years, 1 month ago at May 26 4:40

Ok, so I have been waiting to see this movie for a long time, and I have built up quite an excitment for it. As with any high expectations, I was slight disappointed in the way the movie was presented. The previews I saw gave the movie a fantastic feel when in reality the movie focused more on the story of the gril in real life rather than her fantasy world. But in the end it was maid up for by the fact that so many people died. Lost of action, a little bit of fantasy, and some pretty good music. See it, but don't expect another LOTR or Neverending story.

Rating : 7/10

Posted : 2 years, 4 months ago at Feb 23 17:18

This is definately one of the best films I've seen in a long time. Everything was just so amazingly good! The storyline, the characters, the acting, the music, the graphics and effects, they were all just about perfect. All of these together make the film beautiful and touching, yet at the same time suspenseful. The elements of horror and graphic violence in the film add to it's realism, a perfect escape from the usual sugar-coated films.

This really is no ordinary fantasy film. It is beautifully crafted in every way and I would definately recommend it. :)

Rating : 9/10

Posted : 2 years, 4 months ago at Feb 20 10:48

This movie is probably one of the best examples of a journey into the psyche of a child. Our young heroine Ophelia is a girl living in a time of turmoil, she escapes the real dangers and troubles of her life by retreating to her fantasy world. Where her real life is relatively complicated moral ground and outcomes are shaky her fantasy world is simple with a clear end and defined right and wrong. It is absolute escapism when she needs it the most. This dark fairy tale has fantastic imagery in both the “real” and “fantasy” world albeit very gruesome. Only the very desensitized will not flinch at scenes of graphic torture and gaping wounds. It's a visual feast I would recommend watching without reading the subtitles. Not much of a family film but likely to become an artistic...Read more

Rating : 7/10

Posted : 2 years, 5 months ago at Jan 25 0:47

I really enjoyed watching this movie. If you've heard about this movie, you've probably heard that it is a fairy tale. It is in a sense, but it isn't one that you will want to bring your kids to watch. The movie is rated are for a reason; it is very graphic at times. If your stomach turns at watching graphic violence, you may want to skip this movie. After saying that, I will say that this has a great story that grabs you and won't let you go until it ends. It ebbs and flows in and out of the fantasy world and the horror of war. The main character is a girl who is trying to make sense of her new stepfather and the life that has been thrust upon her. The fairy tale shows you a way in which she tries to cope with this situation that she doesn't want. This movie is subtitled so y...Read more

Rating : 9/10

Posted : 2 years, 5 months ago at Jan 7 20:40

When I first arrived to the theater, I came in thinking Pan's Labyrinth was more a fantasy film than anything else. After the film ended, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. After thinking more about the film (a reason why I think the film works - it forced me to really think about the outcome) it was clear that it was more than just a fantasy film. Pan's Labyrinth found a way to balance a story between fantasy and reality that forces the viewer to imagine what life in war is like, and how everyone involved must deal with the situations in their own way. The story puts all of the major characters in a situation where they are each trying to achieve their own goals, even the villain. It is a classic story, told and re-told through different mythology and fairy tales in many different cu...Read more

Rating : 8/10