Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno)
Jan. 16th, 2007 12:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
timepiececlockImagine what the cute, cheesy but endearing movie The Labyrinth would have been like if it'd been written by horror-fantasy novelist Clive Barker? Then take that image and transplant it to Spain in 1945 amid a dying civil war, add a dash of The Diaries of Anne Frank, and you'll have some idea of what it's like to watch Pan's Labyrinth.
Today I saw a matinee, and it is the hands-down the best fantasy film since The Lord of the Rings. In the specific genre of "fantasy-horror" it is flat-out the best I've seen. PL is frightening, dark, beautiful, and haunting. I recommend it, but if you go you better leave the kiddies at home.
Story: This is an alegory of the finest form. It is a fantasy and a war movie told in tandem, wrapped up and tied with leaves and dew drops. The basic fairy tale has similarities to a wide range of previous stories or fiction works: the Greek myth of Hades & Persephone, Alice In Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, Rumplestiltskin, and even the cheesy 80s movie The Labyrinth. The giant faun Pan even vaguely resembles the Minotaur that guarded the labyrinth of Crete. Alice In Wonderland and Hades & Persephone are probably the most easily visible homages, but in totality this film is not like any of those. It borrows a symbol here, a thematic element there, and it runs like crazy into the night. It resembles the oldest fairy tales as they should be: tales of cruelty and valor, where everything beautiful has teeth, and only the courageous can earn their right not just to survive, but to transcend.
Plot: Well-written, exciting, tightly directed. I was never bored. It is very dark, very heavy for a fairy tale. This is not the Shire-- this is what the Shire would look like if Mordor had overrun the lands and Lord Sauron was now Sam Gamgee's step father.
Rating: Don't kid yourself by the pretty movie poster-- this movie deserves an R rating. There were at least four times that I flinched at the cruelty of what we see happening in front of us, and most of those times had to do with war violence. But at the same time, I would almost like to take kids to see it, particularly young girls. Because the film is just that good; it has important lessons, and it has an amazing set of protagonists in Ophelia and Mercedes. Now mind you I wouldn't-- because it really is too gorey for kids-- but I'd probably bring young teenagers because this film is too rewarding to miss. It will impress you and linger in your thoughts.
Characters: Exceedingly well-acted, from the young heroine to the villainous military Captain to the tenacious housekeeper. Each of the characters is given lush development, though I would have liked to have known a bit more about the origins of the labyrinth itself, and the faun Pan. While everything you need to know to enjoy the story is explained, the fantasy fan in me wants even more of this strange world. But onto the characters... Ofelia is wonderful. She's exactly the kind of film role model I think young girls should have. She's brave, smart, resourceful, and ultimately a master of her own fate. She's a hero, but she's also heartbreakingly human, and young. I loved her character.
The film is also good to the other major female characters. Ofelia's mother is sickly but strong of heart and in Ofelia's actions we can see what a positive, strong person she was as a mother. Mercedes, the housekeeper, is in many ways the adult foil to Ofelia. She is also navigating a world of traps and tunnels, where any misstep could be death and failure is equally devastating. She's strong an brave and I felt for her journey as much as for Ofelia's. I don't often discuss feminist issues when reviewing films because I'm so used to stereotypes and disappointment. But this is a film that gets an A+ for its portrayal of female characters. And although most of the violence in the film is done by male characters (to other men and to women)-- they are not all bad; there are a few minor male characters as well that represent the hope and decency and honor that are so contested over in this film.
Music: Subtle but powerful, especially the lullaby leitmotif for Ofelia and the Labyrinth. I already want the soundtrack. It lingers, with haunting slow notes, eerie vocals, deep horns, and soft piano.
What I liked: the toad and the key
What made my skin crawl: the tree insects, the bottle-smash
What scared me: the lair of the Pale Man
Critic Reviews:
Salon.com: http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2006/10/13/pans_labyrinth/index_np.html
Chicago-Sun Times: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061228/REVIEWS/61228001/1023
The Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/10345062/review/12987263/pans_labyrinth_el_laberinto_del_fauno
And if all that doesn't convince you to go out and see this film, let me tell you this much: I bet Neil Gaiman would love this movie. He totally would, and I know many of you are fans of his books.
Edit: Yep, I was right: totally loved it.
EDIT: HEAVY SPOILERS IN COMMENTS! BIG SPOILERS! DO NOT READ COMMENTS!
Today I saw a matinee, and it is the hands-down the best fantasy film since The Lord of the Rings. In the specific genre of "fantasy-horror" it is flat-out the best I've seen. PL is frightening, dark, beautiful, and haunting. I recommend it, but if you go you better leave the kiddies at home.
Story: This is an alegory of the finest form. It is a fantasy and a war movie told in tandem, wrapped up and tied with leaves and dew drops. The basic fairy tale has similarities to a wide range of previous stories or fiction works: the Greek myth of Hades & Persephone, Alice In Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, Rumplestiltskin, and even the cheesy 80s movie The Labyrinth. The giant faun Pan even vaguely resembles the Minotaur that guarded the labyrinth of Crete. Alice In Wonderland and Hades & Persephone are probably the most easily visible homages, but in totality this film is not like any of those. It borrows a symbol here, a thematic element there, and it runs like crazy into the night. It resembles the oldest fairy tales as they should be: tales of cruelty and valor, where everything beautiful has teeth, and only the courageous can earn their right not just to survive, but to transcend.
Plot: Well-written, exciting, tightly directed. I was never bored. It is very dark, very heavy for a fairy tale. This is not the Shire-- this is what the Shire would look like if Mordor had overrun the lands and Lord Sauron was now Sam Gamgee's step father.
Rating: Don't kid yourself by the pretty movie poster-- this movie deserves an R rating. There were at least four times that I flinched at the cruelty of what we see happening in front of us, and most of those times had to do with war violence. But at the same time, I would almost like to take kids to see it, particularly young girls. Because the film is just that good; it has important lessons, and it has an amazing set of protagonists in Ophelia and Mercedes. Now mind you I wouldn't-- because it really is too gorey for kids-- but I'd probably bring young teenagers because this film is too rewarding to miss. It will impress you and linger in your thoughts.
Characters: Exceedingly well-acted, from the young heroine to the villainous military Captain to the tenacious housekeeper. Each of the characters is given lush development, though I would have liked to have known a bit more about the origins of the labyrinth itself, and the faun Pan. While everything you need to know to enjoy the story is explained, the fantasy fan in me wants even more of this strange world. But onto the characters... Ofelia is wonderful. She's exactly the kind of film role model I think young girls should have. She's brave, smart, resourceful, and ultimately a master of her own fate. She's a hero, but she's also heartbreakingly human, and young. I loved her character.
The film is also good to the other major female characters. Ofelia's mother is sickly but strong of heart and in Ofelia's actions we can see what a positive, strong person she was as a mother. Mercedes, the housekeeper, is in many ways the adult foil to Ofelia. She is also navigating a world of traps and tunnels, where any misstep could be death and failure is equally devastating. She's strong an brave and I felt for her journey as much as for Ofelia's. I don't often discuss feminist issues when reviewing films because I'm so used to stereotypes and disappointment. But this is a film that gets an A+ for its portrayal of female characters. And although most of the violence in the film is done by male characters (to other men and to women)-- they are not all bad; there are a few minor male characters as well that represent the hope and decency and honor that are so contested over in this film.
Music: Subtle but powerful, especially the lullaby leitmotif for Ofelia and the Labyrinth. I already want the soundtrack. It lingers, with haunting slow notes, eerie vocals, deep horns, and soft piano.
What I liked: the toad and the key
What made my skin crawl: the tree insects, the bottle-smash
What scared me: the lair of the Pale Man
Critic Reviews:
Salon.com: http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2006/10/13/pans_labyrinth/index_np.html
Chicago-Sun Times: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061228/REVIEWS/61228001/1023
The Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/10345062/review/12987263/pans_labyrinth_el_laberinto_del_fauno
And if all that doesn't convince you to go out and see this film, let me tell you this much: I bet Neil Gaiman would love this movie. He totally would, and I know many of you are fans of his books.
Edit: Yep, I was right: totally loved it.
EDIT: HEAVY SPOILERS IN COMMENTS! BIG SPOILERS! DO NOT READ COMMENTS!
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no subject
Date: 2007-01-16 08:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-16 08:38 am (UTC)I'm glad you liked the review; thank you for saying so. And I do hope you get to see it.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-16 04:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-16 08:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-17 08:38 pm (UTC)As always, feel free to ignore me.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-17 08:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-22 03:14 am (UTC)You know, I told my little sister (10 years old) that it would be bloody, and complex, and weird, and she shouldn't come. She cried to my mother and came anyway, but it's definitely not my fault she spent half the movie with her hood over her head. But she loved it, nearly as much as I did, and cried at the end of the movie. Hell, she cries whenever she hears Ofelia's lullaby, which I did NOT hesitate to find when I got home.
Now I realize that she understood it, and more importantly, identified with Ofelia. I'm bordering on dumbfounded, since she usually isn't sensitive to that sort of thing.
Wish I could say the same for the older friends I dragged along. I brought six friends, and I could've sworn that about five were likeminded companions, but only three of us came out emotionally affected (five if you include my mother and sister), one came out unable to say more than "That was so weird", one jumped on the "wow, weird" bandwagon, and the other came out laughing and demanding a refund. (but she didn't even pay for her ticket) Of course, Pan's Labyrinth is too good of a movie for something like *that* to ruin it, but it'll be years before I take her to the movies again, and lightyears before I pay for her movie ticket.
I suppose the only shaky thing about this movie would be its ending, and this time the fault may be in the audience instead of the movie itself. Personally, I thought it was one of the best endings I had ever seen, and certainly the only ending there could've been for this movie. Those who disagree, however, probably do so not because it was "bad" or "badly executed" (though they may think so) but because it's so unconventional. If this were any other movie, it might've ended with Ofelia alive in our world somehow, after being revived by, I dunno, someone crying on her face or something of the sort. (at least, that's what I've gathered from my experience, having seen so many movies with cheapening happy endings.) I almost expected that, and dreaded it, and I wish I knew my expression when she died and stayed dead, because such an honest portrayal of reality, and such an ironic "happy ending", was almost *too* bittersweet for the big screen.
What saddens me, though, is how it ended more tragic than it did hopeful. (though it did end as both) That magical world of Ofelia's may as well not even existed. (It did, but its role in the story was so ironic. It was a metaphor more than anything else.)
no subject
Date: 2007-01-22 05:26 am (UTC)It's wonderful to hear that your sister understood and identified with the film-- that's the interesting thing about it. I don't actually think it's too difficult for a kid to understand; the story is told from an 11 year old's POV so it makes sense that a young girl could follow the main story events. But I am surprised she wanted to see a subtitled movie! I don't even know when it was that I first watched a full-length subtitled feature film, but I think I was in middle school at least.
Now I realize that she understood it, and more importantly, identified with Ofelia. I'm bordering on dumbfounded, since she usually isn't sensitive to that sort of thing.
Great! That's why I said it'd be a great movie for young girls to see, if it weren't so bloody and cruel. Because Ophelia is a wonderful movie hero and her strength is inspiring; exactly what a movie protagonist should be. I didn't cry in the film, but if I were young I probably would have cried.
I'm surprised so many of your friends reacted taht way, when you knowing them expected otherwise. I went wtih my mom and my brother-- my brother's reaction was a less squeally version of mine-- he was impressed and he'll probably recommend it to others when asked, but I doubt he'll see it again any time soon. My mother thought it was interesting and intense, but she found the cruelty unnecessary and the overall tone to be too somber for a movie-going experience. She's like my dad-- if it doesn't make you feel good, don't spend your money on it. It didn't make me feel *good* like happy, but I came away with a sense of awe and emotional upheaval that I count as a positive movie experience. I think it helps to know it's going to be dark before you go in; even having read the review in Rolling Stone magazine I didn't realize that it would be *this* dark and *this* bloody. The temptation to look at it as family-oriented by the label "fantasy" is very strong, which is why I've been calling it "horror-fantasy" now.
I actually forgot through the whole film that the opening scene is her lying there bleeding. I didn't remember until she gets to the center of the labyrinth with the baby that we'd had that future shot earlier. For most of the movie I'd wondered how she could go into the underworld and still live, but as mystical things appeared to have physical presence in our world (the root, the fairy), I was taking it literally. The option that she might have to die came slowly, over the course of the film. Somewhere around the hour and a half mark I had decided that she probably was going to live but was going to refuse to go back because she had to take care of her brother. In that way I was suprised by her death-- but only in that it was secondary option in my mind.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-22 05:26 am (UTC)What saddens me, though, is how it ended more tragic than it did hopeful. (though it did end as both) That magical world of Ofelia's may as well not even existed. (It did, but its role in the story was so ironic. It was a metaphor more than anything else.)
I tried to explain this to my parents when we discussed it tonight-- the ending is kind of like how I felt about Donnie Darko. Movies can have endings that are, from our perspective tragic, but from the view of the protagonists not necessarily so. Ofelia was scared of being shot and of dying, but she wasn't scared of her destiny. She was prepared to forsake the world anyway (though perhaps she didn't connect that to dying yet, being innocent), and she certainly got her reward in being sent into the fantasy kingdom and/or heaven. But it is sad that in her final moments she probably didn't realize that she was going to that place-- she thought she was dying alone. That's sad. But ultimately her fate didn't feel sad to me because she literally went to a better place. Being an atheist I find it difficult to buy into the "better place" aspect of heaven in movies or tv, but in this one her heavenly world was literal and real; and I was happy that she was going to be happy now. That's an amazing thing--- that the movie could convince me of that.
For the other characters, the ending was very hopeful: the bad guy died (in rich storytelling tradition), the baby was kept safe, Mercedes and her brother and their rebels lived and, for the moment, fought off their enemies. Justice was done. It's just so sad that the captain, the horrible man, would shoot a little girl. As if to show how ultimately and unflinchingly evil he was, even to the end. But even though he killed her, I still felt like she beat him. In their battle, she still feels like the victor. It's sad that she didn't know that before she died-- that to me is much more sad than the fact that she died and went back to her kingdom. The transcendence of the ending takes away from the tragedy of it; she didn't so much die as she transcended. And the fact that she had to die to transcend feels just like the final arc of the hero's journey. I'm so *proud* of her character that I can't be sad for her.
no subject
Date: 2007-02-24 12:38 pm (UTC)hahahahaha neil gaiman would've loved it. brutality, little girls with fantasy faun, ending in horrible death with meaning...etc. so him.