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This is a good example of a great movie being sold the wrong way for the right reasons. I'll go further without spoilers in a minute, but really, if you're reading this and are genuinely on the fence about seeing it, just read this one thing and then go see it: this is not really a fantasy movie. It is more a coming of age story set during the Spanish Civil War. It's being sold the other way around: a fantasy movie set in the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War. There, now go see it and stop reading. Or not. The reason I cite this as damaging to the movie is that when it was ending, I realized that there was a question that was supposed to be implied from the very beginning: are any of the fantasy passages even real? It's certainly not an original question for a movie, but, I suspect because of the way it was sold, or maybe because there are so many fantasy movies these days that the genre is not viewed with the skepticism it once was, I didn't think to question it. But the question is implied; from the very beginning, Ofelia sits, reading fairy tales and becoming lost in the world. Her adventures occur when she is alone. The movie seemed to want us to be asking, is this simply the escapism of a child with an active imagination, or is this really happening? But not a bit of that occurred to me. Fortunately, none of these things particularly detract from the movie (the plot of which is adequately summed up in other posts, so I'll refrain), in my opinion, though I think it at least partially explains the reactions of others who have reviewed this, wanting more of the fantasy that they were, frankly, lead to expect. Pan's Labyrinth is, at its heart, a movie about fairy tales and how they relate to our lives. You remember all the fairy tale rules, don't you? The flavor of it, anyway? Turn around three times, open the door that wasn't there before, walk through a room full of jewels, don't touch any of them, don't look back, find the item you were sent for, etc., etc. Once you're an adult, these sorts of stories hold the power of nostalgia, but not much else, frankly. What, you find yourself wondering, is the point of all this? Why the arbitrary rules? What I found exceptionally satisfying about Pan's Labyrinth was a coherent answer for that question, which I will only partially explain here. The world of fantasy, the movie argues with its dual storylines, is no more arbitrary than the real world. The obvious comparison here is the war, Franco, and of course the Captain. But more subtle points abound. The sexist nature of life in any nation at that time is touched upon repeatedly, for example. Is what is considered proper conduct for a woman at the time any less arbitrary than the rules of a fairy tale? Especially in the eyes of a child? The plotlines of Pan's Labyrinth initially seem separate, but are drawn together with questions like this and parallels between the worlds, some obvious, some more subtle (for this reason, I'm dying to see the movie again to see what I might have missed). A couple of other notes: Benecio Del Toro has always excelled with visuals, but outdoes himself here, using the camera in new ways. The movie is gorgeous, and the work done by Doug Jones as Pan and The Pale Man is simply awesome. This isn't a case of motion capture suits; the guy actually went and climbed into these insane costumes and spoke a foreign language with an accent to a Spanish audience. They don't give awards for that, so he's worth singling out. I was surprised to see complaints of Ivana Baquero's performance at all; I thought she was remarkable, but then again, I don't speak Spanish, so if she was stilted or anything along those lines, I probably wouldn't know. And Sergi Lopez is scarier than his character in Dirty Pretty Things, which is quite a feat. Overall, 4.5/5. Bear in mind that I pretty much never give out 5s or 5.5s.
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Jan 18, 2007 05:43
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 06:33 |
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