Time for movie blather
What's with all these amazing movies coming out this winter? The last three movies I've seen have all been much more than I've come to expect out of current cinema. (Oh wait, maybe it's got something to do with the fact that none of these were written, acted, or directed by anyone big in Hollywood. Because apparently, they don't know how to produce anything but CRAP.) Last night, I went to go see Pan's Labyrinth.
I know there's been this kind of new-wave fantasy/fairy tale revival in literature and cinema, and even for a geek like me, it's getting a little tiring. There's only so many times you can watch a lovely little child find a doorway into a beautiful, dangerous new world without wishing said child a quick, nasty death at the hands of whatever monster is around. HOWEVER. Pan's Labyrinth is not one of these movies. First of all: It's rated R. This is movie that does not pander to an under-15 audience. Not a kid movie, not a family movie, not a date movie. There is horrific violence in it. I actually covered up my eyes. TWICE.
I used to forge notes from my mother giving me permission to rent horror movies when I was seven. I'm not new to blood and gore, but this violence, like that in Children of Men (another recommendation), is disturbingly realistic. But in the movie, it works. The violence heightens the suspense, heightens the stakes and consequences of the action, and draws some really unpleasant parallels between the real world (in this case, Spain under control of Franco fascism) and the world of monsters and other various nasties.
(My roommate Donna might disagree on the use of violence in this; she liked it, but afterwards she remarked, "I guess, after hearing the word 'labyrinth,' I was expecting more songs and puppets, less torture scenes.")
The last thing I'll say about this movie is that is has some of the most beautiful art direction I've seen in a while; think of a threesome between LOTR, Empire of the Sun, and Harry Potter 3. Only better.
I know there's been this kind of new-wave fantasy/fairy tale revival in literature and cinema, and even for a geek like me, it's getting a little tiring. There's only so many times you can watch a lovely little child find a doorway into a beautiful, dangerous new world without wishing said child a quick, nasty death at the hands of whatever monster is around. HOWEVER. Pan's Labyrinth is not one of these movies. First of all: It's rated R. This is movie that does not pander to an under-15 audience. Not a kid movie, not a family movie, not a date movie. There is horrific violence in it. I actually covered up my eyes. TWICE.
I used to forge notes from my mother giving me permission to rent horror movies when I was seven. I'm not new to blood and gore, but this violence, like that in Children of Men (another recommendation), is disturbingly realistic. But in the movie, it works. The violence heightens the suspense, heightens the stakes and consequences of the action, and draws some really unpleasant parallels between the real world (in this case, Spain under control of Franco fascism) and the world of monsters and other various nasties.
(My roommate Donna might disagree on the use of violence in this; she liked it, but afterwards she remarked, "I guess, after hearing the word 'labyrinth,' I was expecting more songs and puppets, less torture scenes.")
The last thing I'll say about this movie is that is has some of the most beautiful art direction I've seen in a while; think of a threesome between LOTR, Empire of the Sun, and Harry Potter 3. Only better.