Pan's Labyrinth, dir. Guillermo del Torro, 2006.
Pan's Labyrinth.
Dir. Guillermo Del Torro, 2006.
A beautifully shot film. Del Torro's cinematographer and editor are fabulous. The use of colour and the montages are so seamlessly done, the editing is gentle and smooth, a wonderful change from the chop-cut-slap school of editing. Yes, I am an editing critic. It's a thankless, horrible job in the world of filmmaking and it takes real skill and talent, not to mention patience to edit well, not to say edit with such care to attention as is illustrated in this piece.
I admit I'm a bit behind in seeing this film, but RL does tend to get in the way, can't be helped. Having said that, this film was all I'd heard and more. The use of stark colour schemes from the blues of the Labyrinth to the greys and blues of the forest at night really added to the atmosphere of the story. Ofelia, the main character, has a very tragic life and her story is told with sensitivity to the subject matter, that of a child seeking to escape the harsh realities of living in Fascist Spain during WWII through fairy tales.
I have only one real complaint about this film, and that is the whole Fascists = evil was laid on pretty heavily. If not for the brilliant and icy portrayal of Captain Vidal, I think it could have pushed beyond being laid on so thick it was with a filmic trowel into over the top unbelievability. Del Torro grew up in Fascist Spain, so I'm told, and it's understandable that he would have little love for that Fascist regime, but there were points in this film that I cringed at just how much he was laying on the hate with the actions and dialogue of the Captain.
The ending was particularly poignant, in that Ofelia's fate could easily be read two ways, whichever way suits the viewer, so that the film could either be a tragedy or hopeful. The final scene of Captain Vidal surrendering his son to the rebels and telling them what they should say to him, being cut off with a very abrupt, "No. We will tell him nothing of you. He will not know anything about his father." was truly one of the highlights of the piece. Such an intense scene and so well acted and filmed.
Overall, I enjoyed 'Pan's Labyrinth' quite a lot.
Dir. Guillermo Del Torro, 2006.
A beautifully shot film. Del Torro's cinematographer and editor are fabulous. The use of colour and the montages are so seamlessly done, the editing is gentle and smooth, a wonderful change from the chop-cut-slap school of editing. Yes, I am an editing critic. It's a thankless, horrible job in the world of filmmaking and it takes real skill and talent, not to mention patience to edit well, not to say edit with such care to attention as is illustrated in this piece.
I admit I'm a bit behind in seeing this film, but RL does tend to get in the way, can't be helped. Having said that, this film was all I'd heard and more. The use of stark colour schemes from the blues of the Labyrinth to the greys and blues of the forest at night really added to the atmosphere of the story. Ofelia, the main character, has a very tragic life and her story is told with sensitivity to the subject matter, that of a child seeking to escape the harsh realities of living in Fascist Spain during WWII through fairy tales.
I have only one real complaint about this film, and that is the whole Fascists = evil was laid on pretty heavily. If not for the brilliant and icy portrayal of Captain Vidal, I think it could have pushed beyond being laid on so thick it was with a filmic trowel into over the top unbelievability. Del Torro grew up in Fascist Spain, so I'm told, and it's understandable that he would have little love for that Fascist regime, but there were points in this film that I cringed at just how much he was laying on the hate with the actions and dialogue of the Captain.
The ending was particularly poignant, in that Ofelia's fate could easily be read two ways, whichever way suits the viewer, so that the film could either be a tragedy or hopeful. The final scene of Captain Vidal surrendering his son to the rebels and telling them what they should say to him, being cut off with a very abrupt, "No. We will tell him nothing of you. He will not know anything about his father." was truly one of the highlights of the piece. Such an intense scene and so well acted and filmed.
Overall, I enjoyed 'Pan's Labyrinth' quite a lot.