A grim fairy tale indeed
I saw Pan's Labyrinth (Sp: El laberinto del fauno) over the weekend.
The movie takes places in the years immediately following the Spanish Civil War. What little I do know about the SCW comes from some Hemingway that I've read and the fact that, at the time, Generalissimo Francisco Franco was not "still dead."
But from what I could piece together from the movie, just because the war had ended didn't mean the hatred hadn't yet died down. (Perhaps Spain had its own version of Reconstruction?)
The girl's stepfather, a Francoist captain, was quite ruthless and indiscriminant when it came to firing his gun. You want an example? Try promising a stuttering rebel that you'll release him if he can cleanly count to three.
What I found interesting during this movie is the Biblical parallel: a young princess leaving her father's eternal kingdom, becoming mortal, and facing a rough path in returning home. OK, Jesus didn't have magical dragonflies and fauns guiding Him along the way, Joseph wasn't Rambo -- but you get the idea.
The images of the mythical creatures were quite frightening to me, but apparently a 10-year-old girl in a war environment can handle it.
But the funniest part of the day was standing in the ticket line. In front of me, a young child, perhaps 9 or 10, was telling his parents about A Bridge to Terabithia:
"I read the book. Did you know that at the end that [spoiler deleted]?"
In mock disappointment, mother turned to father and said, "Well, then. Maybe we should take him to see Hannibal Rising. He won't see that one coming."
The movie takes places in the years immediately following the Spanish Civil War. What little I do know about the SCW comes from some Hemingway that I've read and the fact that, at the time, Generalissimo Francisco Franco was not "still dead."
But from what I could piece together from the movie, just because the war had ended didn't mean the hatred hadn't yet died down. (Perhaps Spain had its own version of Reconstruction?)
The girl's stepfather, a Francoist captain, was quite ruthless and indiscriminant when it came to firing his gun. You want an example? Try promising a stuttering rebel that you'll release him if he can cleanly count to three.
What I found interesting during this movie is the Biblical parallel: a young princess leaving her father's eternal kingdom, becoming mortal, and facing a rough path in returning home. OK, Jesus didn't have magical dragonflies and fauns guiding Him along the way, Joseph wasn't Rambo -- but you get the idea.
The images of the mythical creatures were quite frightening to me, but apparently a 10-year-old girl in a war environment can handle it.
But the funniest part of the day was standing in the ticket line. In front of me, a young child, perhaps 9 or 10, was telling his parents about A Bridge to Terabithia:
"I read the book. Did you know that at the end that [spoiler deleted]?"
In mock disappointment, mother turned to father and said, "Well, then. Maybe we should take him to see Hannibal Rising. He won't see that one coming."