Pan’s Labyrinth

PAN’S LABYRINTH
OPTIMUM RELEASING
RELEASED 24 November 2006
A fairytale that definitely isn’t intended for children is director Guillermo del Toro’s latest movie. Pan’s Labyrinth’ harks back to his 2002 ghost story ‘The Devil’s Backbone.’ It’s a frightening spin on ‘Alice in Wonderland’ set against the war-torn backdrop of the 1940s Spanish Civil War.
Young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and her mother Carmen (Ariadne Gil) are being taken through the Spanish forest to an outpost of General Franco’s army. Here, Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez) is expecting his new wife and step-daughter’s arrival. Carmen is heavily pregnant with the captain’s baby, but he is a cruel man that Ofelia has no time for. A troublesome guerrilla uprising is causing Vidal problems and Ofelia’s mother is undergoing a difficult pregancy, meaning Ofelia has plenty of time to daydream.
A stone labyrinth lies near the outpost, and Ofelia wanders into it, led there by a friendly flying stick insect. There she finds a talkative faun (Doug Jones), who claims she is a legendary lost princess and must pass three tests in order to claim immortality. They begin with a grotesque and messy challenge beneath a rotten old tree and finish with Ofelia’s very life in the balance.
I don’t wish to divulge any of the visual delights in store for you, but just let me say that ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ is probably the most creative and horrific eye-candy you’ll see this year. There are some really amazing ‘monsters’ in here and some gorgeous ‘Grimm’ style scenery. This isn’t a case of style over substance however, as every other aspect of the movie doesn’t disappoint either. The story melds historical fact with fantastical fiction seamlessly. The two worlds exist in each others glare with only Ofelia able to see both. The audience never has any doubt as to what is happening.
The script never puts a foot wrong, and credit for this should probably go to Del Toro himself as he wrote the subtitles personally, having been disappointed with the translation of his foreign language film ‘The Devil’s Backbone’.
Star Ivana Baquero ‘does’ sad very well, but it’s Sergi Lopez who you’ll remember with revulsion as the perpertrator of some quite sickening acts in the name of the army. There are fleeting moments of torture and violence which may make you look away, but the bad captain does get his comeuppance!
There’s no question this is one of 2006’s best films – it already has a timeless feel. There’s no fancy camerawork or editing to date it. Just an imaginative bedtime story for adults.
FOUR OUT OF FIVE