Pan's Labyrinth

There are not enough superlatives to explain the full brilliance of this masterpiece. Like The Prestige, The Departed and Children of Men, this movie is perfect. Director Guillermo Del Toro has created a beautifully harsh reality and at the same time created a dark, yet gorgeous fantasy world and when he weaves them together it is hard not to feel like wishing you were a child. See, the fantasy world exists in innocence, where a young girl has the soul of an ancient princess inside her and she must complete 3 tasks before she can get back to that world. It is a truly magnificent accomplishment of a film and the final 20 minutes will leave you breathless and leave your body filled with goose bumps


12 year old Ivana Baquero stars as Ofelia, the young girl whose innocence allows for this fantasy to take place. However, in reality she is in Spain right after the war in 1944, but there is not peace because her mother has married a Captain in the Spanish army and he is currently fighting off a pack of revolutionaries. The captain is a cruel man who gets off on torture. Ofelia’s mother is pregnant with his son and the captain needs the son to carry on his name. The mother has complication with the pregnancy and Ofelia worries about what will happen. Enter, Pan. Pan is a keeper of the fictional world, sort of. He is Ofelia’s guide and a messenger of sorts between the two worlds. I don’t want to give anything more away because everyone should go out and see it so I will focus on other aspects of the film.

First off, it is in Spanish with English subtitles and while I am rarely one for watching subtitled films, I have to say that the Spanish is what helps make this movie gorgeous. The language fits the mood and the style of the film and I was never once bothered by reading the subtitles. In fact, there were times I didn’t need to look at them because I could understand the emotions conveyed by the words without needing to know the words. The movie is layered in constant metaphors as it flawlessly switches from the brutal war time reality and the fairy tale world. Be warned that this movie is brutal in showing the fascist war regime. There is a lot of close up blood and torture, but I think it only adds to what makes this movie fantastic. The visuals are stunning, the script is rich with gorgeous poetry like words and the acting is superb. I know this movie will require further viewings to fully grasp every metaphor and symbol hidden throughout and that is just fine with me because I could sit through this countless times. For anyone saying 2006 was a bad year for film, obviously missed the 4 perfect films of the year and I am glad to say I did not miss them and glad that I got to see this movie and I hope everyone else will as well!