Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) 8/10
There are 2 sides to director Guillermo Del Toro- there is the more famous side where he is known as the director of Hellboy and Blade 2. Not surprisingly, his Hollywood efforts are mediocre offerings. But when he directs Spanish films, and is given full reign to use his imagination, he is capable of brilliance like his 1999 masterpiece The Devil’s Backbone. Pan’s Labyrinth, his newest work, falls into the latter category and it is a breathtaking yet dark piece fantasy film-making that is worlds ahead of mediocre fantasy flicks like Eragon or Narnia.
Playing out like Alice In Wonderland, he takes a familiar premise of a child who stumbles into a magical land and weaves movie magic from it. Absolutely breathtaking characters and vivid visuals makes this film a feast for the eyes. Not only that, the film in dark in terms of themes and not afraid to use violence- an thinking version of fantasy films that does not insult your intelligence. With a stirring soundtrack and well crafted characters, Pan’s Labyrinth is a joy to watch.
Just like the director, there are essentially 2 elements in the film- the fantasy element and the real world plotline involving a rebellion. The fantasy plotline is impeccable and completely riveting. Too bad there isn’t enough of these fantasy elements for my liking because the other half of the film is about a group of rebels trying to attack a base. The non-fantasy part of the film is decent but not really engaging, and is the reason why the film is not a perfect 10. As one reviewer has noted, Pan’s Labyrinth feels like 2 movies cobbled into one, with the real world storyline feeling significantly weaker. But that does not mean that it is superfluous. The interaction between reality and fantasy is one of the themes of the film, and the injection of Fascist ideology is another. One scene in the ‘real’ world has a doctor asking rhetorically what is the point of obeying for the sake of obeying, which mirrors a similar situation in a fantasy world later on.
Nevertheless, even if Pan’s Labyrinth is brilliant half of the time, its still much better than 95% of the fantasy films churned out. Its better than the entire series of Harry Potter whilst using maybe a fraction of its CGI budget. In terms of imagery and visuals, Pan’s Labyrinth has no peer and is currently my vote for the most visually beautiful film of 2006 (bearing in mind that I’ve not seen the Fountain yet.)
“Dark, dreamlike and dangerous, Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth is a fairytale every bit as scary and moving as they were always meant to be.”- BBC
“This is Guillermo del Toro’s masterpiece to date and easily one of the films of the year. Unmissable.”- Turner
“The moment “Pan’s Labyrinth” ended, I wanted to start it over again.”- Emerson
Official website here.
