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I just got back from the theatre and wow. I have never seen a movie that was so well done given the storyline, not only was this the best fantasy movie I've ever seen, it's quite possibly the best movie I've ever seen. 5/5
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Feb 9, 2007 06:42
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While I enjoyed KPAX (which leaves the audience the same underlying question), I really really liked this film. The plot has been rehashed a dozen times by now, but I'd like to say that I think the balance between the two worlds was done just right. An entire movie could have been made by focussing just on one, but I think this movie is better for having both in. The moments where the fantasy and real-world collide are also done well. For the mandrake baby, you see it as the magical healing being destroyed or you could argue that the stress of her argument with Ofelia is what triggered her mother's labour. 5/5.5 Papercut posted:Cons: [...] yet ANOTHER Franco escapism piece from a Spanish director Mexican director! 
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Feb 10, 2007 04:21
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I just got back from seeing this and thought it was great. Truly a dark movie in both the real and fantasy parts. For the guys who didn't think it was real: After the faun gave her the second piece of chalk and told her to get her brother, how would she have gotten out of that room and into the Captain's room without using the magic chalk? Her room was being guarded and the captain was too observant (noticing the lock, the antibiotics and the chalk on his desk) to have not seen her come in the front door.
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Feb 12, 2007 03:44
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I saw this film a couple days ago and had such huge expectations. In all honesty, I left the theatre completely underwhelmed. I saw no correlation between the fantasy world and the real world. I'm usually pretty good at picking up on little nuances or clues that might a film-maker puts in to give clues but I couldn't find one thing. Like others have already said, by the end of the movie I was so uninterested in what happened to any of the characters that I was just hoping another fantasy scene would come so I could be entertained by the visuals. I gave it a 3/5.
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Feb 15, 2007 05:25
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I enjoyed it a lot, although I was disappointed by the fantasy/real-world ratio, the movie would have been much stronger if there were more fantasy scenes. I really wanted to see more of the underground kingdom and the other creatures that dwelt there. All we got were the 4 or 5 creatures (which were AWESOME, great special effects). I need more dammit! I guess the trailers gave me the impression it was more about her quest than the rebels fighting the fascists. The real world stuff was well done, but I felt the movie suffered here because what fantasy scenes there were meant less time getting to know any of the characters. Everybody was fairly one dimensional, except the Captain and Mercedes. I would have liked the doctor and the rebels to have gotten more time, maybe even Ophelia's mom too. Maybe del Toro should have made two separate movies about the same thing, like Eastwood's Iwo Jima ones. That could have been cool. All in all, the movie looks gorgeous, the cinematography and special effects are perfect. Both story lines, Ophelia's quest to save her brother and claim the throne of the underworld, and Vidal's crusade against the communists are very enjoyable if not exactly evenly split. Also I knew there was violence and gore in it, but I seriously underestimated how brutal it would be. WARNING: Not a good first date movie, unless the girl doesn't mind that sort of thing. drat you del Toro! 4/5 edit: And anyone who liked this movie ought to check out his earlier Spanish work, The Devil's Backbone. It's easily the one of the best ghost movies out there. Blood Boils fucked around with this message at 06:25 on Feb 18, 2007 |
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Feb 18, 2007 06:18
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I didn't really like it, the running theme throughout the whole movie seemed to cave in at the end. As awful as that was it still could've been a good movie were there a more enveloping plot or in depth character development. The whole movie felt like it was trapped in this little world to me, whereas in other fantasy movies it carries the sense that you're seeing a small part of something big, this absence of an epic feeling ruined it further. All in all I wasn't that impressed. 2/5
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Feb 18, 2007 12:56
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I thought this film did a great job of mixing fairy tale and reality. I couldn't help but be reminded of "The Little Match Girl" when watching the plight of Ofelia to escape the world that she is caught in. In many ways I considered it to be absolutely perfect example of what encapsulates a fairy tale: tasks to be completed (almost always using the rule of 3), temptations to overcome, archetypal characters being either mostly good or mostly bad, scenarios which don't always make sense plot-wise but nevertheless add to the excitement of the story-Yes, Ofelia really shouldn't have eaten those grapes, but what would be the excitement in that? I would have loved to have seen a bit more development of the fairy tale side of the story, but frankly I thought it all worked well enough for what was presented. I also appreciated the gorgeous cinematography and the great use of weather to set the mood. 5/5
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Feb 20, 2007 03:59
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I really liked this movie. The juxtaposition between the 'real world' and the 'fantasy world' was very subtle, which resulted in a very terrifying atmosphere. To agree with most reviewers thus far, I felt that too much time was spent in the brutal realm of reality which, even though it was shown in a very powerful, visceral way, distracted from Ofelia's fascinating fantasy world. I wanted to see more of the pale man. I wanted to see more intricate, in depth quests into the labyrinth. All that aside, Pan's Labyrinth is a great film. The depiction of fascist Spain really stuck with me, and I did indeed feel empathy for the socialist guerrillas, (whom in my political opinion of the history, one should.) An artistic spectacle, with action, and story to boot. This is probably the best movie I've seen so far this year. I enjoyed it more than 'Children of Men'. 4.5/5.5 needle exchange fucked around with this message at 12:23 on Feb 20, 2007 |
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Feb 20, 2007 12:17
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5.5/5.5 The movie was amazing. It's interesting to read this thread and see how some people were disappointed by the fact that instead of an easy to parse, blunt, throwaway FX movie, it was an extremely subtle, beautifully executed story with most of the meaning below the surface. Take for instance the significance of the Captain's watch. Someone mentioned a while back that it seemed to be building up to something but never went anywhere. What the hell? It was a perfect symbol for all sorts of crazy human behavior that can't be explained in simple ways--so it wasn't explained in a simple way. It stands for the effect of time on human relationships, and the weight of tradition against reason, and just the complexities of a father/son relationship that endures even when it's nearly nonexistent. If that was in a novel we'd be writing essays about it in English class and bitching about it. Instead it becomes dull because we don't feel like looking for any deeper meaning--we feel cheated if it doesn't thrust itself into our brains without any thought.
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Feb 22, 2007 11:41
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first off I'll mention that when Mercedes stuck the knife in Vidal's mouth and ripped his cheek out I whole-body flinched so hard I got a leg cramp in the theater. I've definitely seen more violent films, but this one was very down-and-dirty and real. Rather than me spoiling chunks out of this paragraph, just realize that there are spoilers below, as in many posts in this thread: At first, I thought this movie had a very sad/tragic ending, but I've since realized that it really didn't. I can't figure out whether I think the fantasy world was real or not, but I've decided it doesn't matter. If the fantasy world was real, then Ofelia's death was just what the movie displayed on the surface: a way for her to regain entrance into her fantasy kingdom and live happily ever after. If the fantasy world was all in her head, then the ending is still "tragic", but not as sad. Any girl for whom such fantasies are so real isn't normal. I spent the movie trying to figure out if Ofelia had serious mental problems (if you've read the book I Never Promised You A Rose Garden, it's similar). I thought it was horribly sad that this girl was hiding within her own deranged mind to escape the cruel reality all around her, and that at some point she was either going to go in so deep that she would completely lose her mind, or that she would lose her fantasy world and in doing so lose the only buffer that existed between her and her tragic existence. But her death, while sad to the one person, Mercedes, who cared for her, was a way for her to finally and completely realize the fantasy world that had been her escape. For her, it was another happy-ever-after situation. I also think that the director/writer didn't intend to tell you whether the fantasy world was real or only in Ofelia's mind. He gave a couple clues that would support each side of the argument, and I think he wanted you to pick which one you believed. For reality: the mandrake root's effect on her mother, the flower blooming in the woods, the labyrinth opening to allow her to escape Vidal for a while longer. For fantasy: people seeing her talk to thin air while she thinks she is speaking to the faun, the chalk outline being left on the wall after it should have disappeared along with the door it made. I thought this was a very powerful movie, and I loved it
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Feb 24, 2007 02:06
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One sign of a really great movie is that it can be interpreted multiple ways by the audience and not collapse under the weight of the ideas running between it. This movie can be taken as fantasy created in a sad little girl's imagination, a real-life fairy tale, or allegory about doing the right thing instead of merely following orders. I personally took it as a fairy tale set in a time period perfect for invoking allegory, since even in fairy tales, only the very clever or the very young can see fairies. This film is my personal favorite of the year, and struck an especially big chord with me given all the anti-fascist german/italian postwar films I've watched. To me it felt like the best qualities of those very important films intermeshed with other stronger, deeper, more important things than war - like trees and fauns. 5/5 Spacedad fucked around with this message at 02:46 on Mar 2, 2007 |
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Mar 2, 2007 02:41
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I don't often give this high a score to a movie, but this really deserves it. It was both beautiful and terrible, and it was a real fairy tale. The escapism and ambiguity of what's real are what set it apart from other movies, as does it's refusal to play it safe. It's a really moving story. 5.5 / 5
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Mar 3, 2007 23:39
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The movie was ok. The visuals were impressive, but the director often lingered on the violence more than he needed to. Some of those scenes just dragged on and on and on... In any case, I'd say the story that really caught me in this movie was actually Mercedes. She was a very interesting character, and I spent most of the fantasy sections waiting around to find out what was happening with Mercedes. Basically I would say this movie was pretty but kinda pointless. 3/5
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Mar 4, 2007 07:45
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My friend: Pan's Labyrinth is all subtitles. Me: gently caress it then, let's watch something else. My friend: But it's really good. Me: I don't watch movies to read, let's watch something else. My friend: Just give it a chance, if you don't like it in the first 20 minutes I'll put something else in. Two hours later, 4.5/5. One of the best movies I've seen. The violence was a little bit over the top at some points, which is why it doesn't get a perfect score, but the fact that it was in subtitles and I hate subtitles is what really surprised me. I didn't feel like I was reading subtitles, but I was instead actually watching the movie. After I saw it I went and bought the soundtrack. The atmosphere the soundtrack sets is one of the most amazing things about this movie. And the ending is one that gave me mixed emotions (not a bad type of mixed emotions, more of a confused about how I should feel). After watching it I just wanted to watch it again.
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Jul 30, 2007 00:26
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Only a recent viewer I was expecting to be disappointed by all the hype it received. But it didn't- this was one of my favorite movies in the last few years. The blend between the fantasy world and the real world was executed perfectly. All the characters were very believable and I really couldn't find any flaws. Great score as well. 5/5
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Aug 1, 2007 09:38
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I hate Fascists. But I hate Communist rebels just as much. Sorry if that makes me a little biased, but if the roles were reversed the Communists would have been just as brutal. Can we please loving stop making certain political extremists (hardcore leftists) into some kind of heroes? So that part alone seriously rubbed me the wrong way. Moving on....there was very little plot and virtually no character development. The girl was a fool for eating the grape when the faun clearly told her NOT to. Probably the only thing good about the movie is that the visuals were amazing, and it was pretty cool how the brutal reality clashed with the fantasty. They could have made the movie just as brutal without making the communists look like heroes though. 1/5
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Aug 19, 2007 18:32
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I'm not sure what the poster above me was doing while the movie was on, but the characters were developed very well. At first I thought it was a decent movie, but towards the end it really was exactly what the majority of the people here are saying. I normally don't watch fantasy movies, but this was a really great watch. I really recommend it. 5/5
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Aug 27, 2007 21:07
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 19:56 |
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I watched this again the other day for the second time and it didn't lose any of it's impact the second time around (apart from the face smash scene being censored, drat you Singapore  ). Vidal is such a well fleshed out character, he's not just a faceless evil. He's got this burden of having to live up to his father's memory (who was a General, Vidal is only a Captain) and a very strict sense of paternalism that drives him to every act. I'm not sure where iceaim gets the idea that the rebels were heroes from. They certainly weren't virtuous, they shot all the wounded facists just as the facists shot all the wounded rebels. They're only the good guys in the sense that they are completely opposed to the monster that is Vidal. I also noticed at the end that Ofelia's mother in the fantasy world was the same as in the real world. I think that lends credit to the idea that the fantasy world was all in her head and that it developed out of her missing a father figure in her life. Superb from beginning to end. 5.5/5
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Aug 28, 2007 05:57
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