Pan's Labyrinth
We went to see it last night, late showing. The theater was sparsely populated, and we had the best seats in the house with no effort. We'd snuck bottles of pop in. I had a coupon for a medium bag of popcorn, and Bob got another bag, as well as some Reese's pieces. We were all set to be entertained and perhaps frightened a little. Our local paper and a few online synopses characterized the film as horror rather than fantasy, but Pan's Labyrinth can easily fit into either/both genre(s).
The film is set in 1944 Spain, and was written and produced by a Spaniard, Guillermo del Toro. The language is Spanish, with English subtitles. The scenery, including magical sunlight, is distinctly southern European.
The cast of PL is impressive! The actors are unknowns to me, but I haven't seen many Spanish films, so it's no surprise. The character development for several of the characters is also impressive.
The plot follows that of a classic fairy tale. The special effects have been meticulously manifested, and you'll believe them when you see them. The sets are likewise impressive. You should not wait to see this film as a video rental. It cannot be fully appreciated unless seen on the big screen.
I'm not going to give away too much of the plot. Suffice it to say that there are heroes, villains, magic, and politics in Pan's Labyrinth. Excellent piece of filmmaking!
I went onto imdb.com when I got home. I wanted to see where it was filmed (Mexico, Spain, and the U.S.) and ended up finding an interesting bit of trivia. The director Guillermo del Toro had been making sketches for PL for years prior to making the movie. He lost them in a cab one day. When the cab driver found the sketchbook, he went to great trouble to reunite Mr. del Toro with his sketchbook. To del Toro, this was a sign that the movie needed to go forward and be created. I'm glad for that decision. See it and you'll see what I mean.
posted by ms_lili @ 10:31 AM
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