Pan's Labyrinth
I saw Pan's Labyrinth yesterday, an absolutely packed afternoon session at George St. And...to be honest, I wasn't totally won over. Yes, visually, the production and creature design were amazing and beautiful. And for the first half hour or so, I was completely transfixed by the film. I can pinpoint precisely the moment when that exhilaration and contentment was jolted into The Fuck? When Ofelia ate those two grapes. Was it worth that moment of deference to classic fairy tales of old - where the hero or heroine always disobeys the stern warnings of their guides - when that very foolish and contrived act effectively made it impossible for me to re-immerse myself in the fantasy from that scene onward?
When Mercedes' brother stupidly left the lock on the storeroom door intact after the raid, I was disgusted. And when Ofelia left her piece of chalk on the table for Vidal to find - not because she was startled and had to duck out of sight, but simply because she was careless, any remaining respect for her that I had disintegrated. It no longer mattered to me whether she lived or died. These contrivances had the effect of turning our "good guys" into players at the mercy of the plot; for me, too many of their actions lacked interior logic. The only characters that came out with real self-dignity were Dr. Ferreiro and Capitán Vidal, who were stubbornly their own persons, and the only characters I still liked by the end.
Of the three "Mexican films" of 2006 - Children of Men, Babel, Pan's Labyrinth - Pan's Labyrinth is the one most committed to creativity for its own sake, delighting in the joy and horrors of the imagination, forsaking realism. But Del Toro's enthusiasm for fantasy always feels somewhat amateurish to me, playful but not fully comprehending the sources of its stock material, the creatures and myths that he builds his melange out of. This is a very personal film, you feel; behind every word, every shot, is Del Toro. It's a very lovely trinket that he is peddling, but I'm afraid I just don't buy it. I've read and loved too much fantasy, more original and more relevant than this, and done better.
When Mercedes' brother stupidly left the lock on the storeroom door intact after the raid, I was disgusted. And when Ofelia left her piece of chalk on the table for Vidal to find - not because she was startled and had to duck out of sight, but simply because she was careless, any remaining respect for her that I had disintegrated. It no longer mattered to me whether she lived or died. These contrivances had the effect of turning our "good guys" into players at the mercy of the plot; for me, too many of their actions lacked interior logic. The only characters that came out with real self-dignity were Dr. Ferreiro and Capitán Vidal, who were stubbornly their own persons, and the only characters I still liked by the end.
Of the three "Mexican films" of 2006 - Children of Men, Babel, Pan's Labyrinth - Pan's Labyrinth is the one most committed to creativity for its own sake, delighting in the joy and horrors of the imagination, forsaking realism. But Del Toro's enthusiasm for fantasy always feels somewhat amateurish to me, playful but not fully comprehending the sources of its stock material, the creatures and myths that he builds his melange out of. This is a very personal film, you feel; behind every word, every shot, is Del Toro. It's a very lovely trinket that he is peddling, but I'm afraid I just don't buy it. I've read and loved too much fantasy, more original and more relevant than this, and done better.