Pan's Labyrinth Reviews

''Many, many years ago in a sad, faraway land, there was an enormous mountain made of rough, black stone. At sunset, on top of that mountain, a magic rose blossomed every night that made whoever plucked it immortal. But no one dared go near it because its thorns were full of poison. Men talked amongst themselves about their fear of death, and pain, but never about the promise of eternal life. And every day, the rose wilted, unable to bequeath its gift to anyone... forgotten and lost at the top of that cold, dark mountain, forever alone, until the end of time.''

In the fascist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.

Ivana Baquero: Ofelia

Sergi López: Captain Vidal

Guillermo Del Toro's El laberinto del fauno, translating as Pan's Labyrinth or The labyrinth of the faun, has been called a fairy tale, but it is one with dark, exotic colours, a seething reality of warmth, and a tragic adult fairy tale reminiscent to the tones entwined, for example, in The Brother's Grimm stories.
Historical, realistic merging with the layers and realms that equal fantasy. Guillermo Del Toro effortlessly combines the two Worlds; Essentially one World thus joined.



It owes a debt to the Latin genre concerning magical realism, as it reflects the grim fantasies revolving around a young child caught in the middle of a brutal conflict and her desperate longing for a world without torment and anguish. Set in Spain after Franco had emerged victorious in the Spanish Civil War, Nationalist troops and die hard resistance fighters continue the struggle in the Spanish countryside.
As the film opens, Carmen (Ariadna Gil) and her daughter Ofelia, brilliantly performed by Ivana Baquero, are travelling to join Carmen's new husband, Falangist Captain Vidal (Sergei Lopez) in his military headquarters.

The film shifts seamlessly between fantasy sequences and the armed conflict. Captain Vidal is depicted as a soldier who takes pleasure in killing. In one scene, he sadistically beats a peasant to death with a bottle, suspecting him of being a rebel. However, his actions, brutality and cruelty is not limited merely to rebels. When Carmen becomes sick during her difficult pregnancy, the girl hears her stepfather tell the doctor that if it comes to a choice between saving the mother or saving the baby, he wants him to save the baby.
Nationalist men, fascist men deal strength through lacking in empathy and essentially weakness is nurturing compassion for those considered weak. Captain Vidal is merely the equation of a unified sense of patriotism mixed with hatred for the World which is to be this perfect World. He is a product of Franco. A product of malicious certainty which wishes to eradicate anything that opposes the regime.
Amidst all this darkness, Ofelia develops a warm relationship with the housekeeper, Mercedes (Maribel Verdu), whom she later discovers sneaks out at night to bring messages, food, and medical supplies to the rebels. The Captain is merciless when he discovers Mercedes' treason as well as that of Dr. Ferreiro (Alex Angulo) whom later refuses to obey Vidal's orders.




As the world around her grows darker and her mother becomes sicker, Ofelia further retreats into her dream world. Soon she must make the most difficult choice any person can be asked to make.
Pan's Labyrinth is a strong and layered film but it is also emotional, tragic and dramatically charged while being powerfully subjective.
Del Toro's work, however, is not confined merely to metaphysics or spirituality.
Essentially his story is a personal film about memory, life and dreams. As both Ofelia and Vidal remember their fathers, Guillermo Del Toro wants the world to remember the sadistic nature of the Franco regime, the courage of those who stood up against its brutality, and the innocence his country lost forever.

Overall, Pan's Labyrinth won 3 Oscars for it's beauty and arty majestic approach. Art direction, cinematography and make up we're the respective awards yet I feel it is much more than merely a beautiful style over substance venture. This is a beautiful, effect laden piece, yes, but it is also deep, meaningful and reflective of ideals and philosophical discussion regarding life and death. In that respect, Pan's Labyrinth achieves eternal, loving adoration from audiences and film lovers. A timeless classic for years to come.



''A long time ago, in the underground realm, where there are no lies or pain, there lived a Princess who dreamed of the human world. She dreamed of blue skies, soft breeze, and sunshine.''

Pan' Labyrinth is one of those extremely bizarre films that sticks the same way all the way through it. The story is very magical, very imaginative and very clever. It is a film with a large meaning to particularly younger children that fairy tales aren't really real. This has a lot of fantastic epic qualities within it. This is a fantastic example of fairy tales for adults just like Lord Of The Rings. It is a powerful story that sees through the eyes of a young girl. Pan's Labyrinth is a very emotional, heartbreaking and yet beautiful film which has fantastic qualities within cinema. Pan's Labyrinth ends in a similar sort of way Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain did.


Ivana Baquero delivers an absolutely outstanding performance as Ofelia. She goes through a lot of rollercoasters in this film which includes the three tasks Pan sets for her, looking after her pregnant mother and being around and obeying her evil stepfather. I remember when Ofelia's mother said to her that fairy tales aren't realy and never have happened and never will happen. So, that makes me question whether Pan, the fairies, the Pale Man, the tasks and the other creatures are just in Ofelia's imagination. Ivana's performance was very powerful and was very heartfelt which can be rare from a child in a film. It is definitely one of my top child female performances. Sergi López brings together one of the coldest film monsters of all time that is Captain Vidal. He kills innocent people for no reason but it is mostly how he kills them which makes Vidal a very dominant and powerful character to watch.


Guillermo Del Toro uses his typical visual style in this film. I think he imagines this film in his head as a similar sort of way Tim Burton did with Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride. Del Toro's directing was so precise and he wanted the performances from the actors decent enough for his type of film. The script is fantastic. It is very original which makes it a bit like a cult fantasy film.


This is my favourite Del Toro film so far, it is my second favourite film of 2006 after The Departed, it is one of my close favourite fantasy films, it is my favourite foreign language film. It is a film that is almost tied with Sweeney Todd for film with best art direction, the same with best film with best make-up. One of my most treasured films ever! Love it to bits! Always have and always will!

Pan's Labyrinth is a film whose creativity & emotion are elegantly entwined in a manner that blurs the barrier between the "real" world & the fantasy dimension, almost beyond physical distinction.
Just an absolutely beautiful movie that successfully takes the constant air of peril that comes with living under the grim realities of war & overlays it with the macabre & twisted influence that such a situation can have on a young creative mind's fairy-tale-like imaginations.

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.

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.

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.

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 techniques.

Brilliantly directed and masterfully written by Guillermo Del Toro, this is a movie FOR ADULTS.

(Warning: English subtitles only so far available on the DVDs.)

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.

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.

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. :)