Are you a fairy?
URGA MOTW
Pan's Labyrinth
4WFR: Grim reality - Fantasy escape
Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Blade 2) writes, directs and produces this wonderful dark fantasy set just after the Spanish Civil War in 1944.
We follow young girl Ofelia and her heavily pregnant mother Carmen as they arrive on the countryside estate of Captain Vidal, Carmen's husband (and father to the unborn child). The Captain is primarily in this place as he and his troops are trying to track down and eliminate the final traces of the rebellion - the side that lost this Civil War. The Captain is a cruel and brutal man, and doesn't seem to care very much for his wife or her daughter - just for his unborn son. Unbeknownst to him, his maid Mercedes and the local Doctor are secretly aiding the rebels in the hills, by stealing food and medical supplies. Ofelia, a junior bookworm who doesn't really want to face up to the horrible reality around her, follows a stick-insect-cum-fairy into a nearby labyrinth, where she meets a Faun who believes her to be the reincarnation of an ancient princess. To really prove that she is this princess and to join her immortal father, she has to undergo three tasks.
As the captain's fight with the rebels continues in the 'real' world, Ofelia tries to complete the faun's challenges, and take care of her ailing mother prior to the birth of her brother.
This film is in Spanish with subtitles, so be prepared for some reading. The atmosphere of the film (cinematography, lighting, music) is suitably eerie, showing the similarities between the real and fantasy worlds. The parallels between Ofelia's experiences with her mother and The Captain, and those with the faun are not blatant, but you can still work them out with a bit of thought. Something like this from Hollywood would probably blatantly spell out any parallels which dumbs down the whole experience.
This is not a film for kids, despite the fact that the main character is one. It is quite brutal and horrific in places, and when adults in the audience grimace during certain scenes, you know that this would scare little kids silly. Keep it for the older teens and adults.
Ofelia is well done for such a young actress - she isn't totally bewildered and scared by everything, nor is she totally self confident and strong, her character lies somewhere in between. The Captain is not a nice man, and never appears to be one. He is handsome, but unfeeling towards everyone, rather than, perhaps, being kind and caring to his wife and yet horrific to his enemies. There is nothing about this man to like. The Faun is played really well under layers of costume and makeup by Doug Jones (Hellboy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer "Hush"), and he also does well as the Pale man, a truly creepy horror monster.
Note that the character is only identified in the film as "a faun", and never as Pan, except in the English version of the title (The Spanish title translates as "The Faun's Labyrinth"). I'm not sure how deliberate this was - is this faun Pan, or not? Does it matter?
In any case, a eerily haunting fairy horror tale, showing the brutality of reality - and the brutality of fantasy at the same time.
8/10
Pan's Labyrinth
4WFR: Grim reality - Fantasy escape
Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Blade 2) writes, directs and produces this wonderful dark fantasy set just after the Spanish Civil War in 1944.
We follow young girl Ofelia and her heavily pregnant mother Carmen as they arrive on the countryside estate of Captain Vidal, Carmen's husband (and father to the unborn child). The Captain is primarily in this place as he and his troops are trying to track down and eliminate the final traces of the rebellion - the side that lost this Civil War. The Captain is a cruel and brutal man, and doesn't seem to care very much for his wife or her daughter - just for his unborn son. Unbeknownst to him, his maid Mercedes and the local Doctor are secretly aiding the rebels in the hills, by stealing food and medical supplies. Ofelia, a junior bookworm who doesn't really want to face up to the horrible reality around her, follows a stick-insect-cum-fairy into a nearby labyrinth, where she meets a Faun who believes her to be the reincarnation of an ancient princess. To really prove that she is this princess and to join her immortal father, she has to undergo three tasks.
As the captain's fight with the rebels continues in the 'real' world, Ofelia tries to complete the faun's challenges, and take care of her ailing mother prior to the birth of her brother.
This film is in Spanish with subtitles, so be prepared for some reading. The atmosphere of the film (cinematography, lighting, music) is suitably eerie, showing the similarities between the real and fantasy worlds. The parallels between Ofelia's experiences with her mother and The Captain, and those with the faun are not blatant, but you can still work them out with a bit of thought. Something like this from Hollywood would probably blatantly spell out any parallels which dumbs down the whole experience.
This is not a film for kids, despite the fact that the main character is one. It is quite brutal and horrific in places, and when adults in the audience grimace during certain scenes, you know that this would scare little kids silly. Keep it for the older teens and adults.
Ofelia is well done for such a young actress - she isn't totally bewildered and scared by everything, nor is she totally self confident and strong, her character lies somewhere in between. The Captain is not a nice man, and never appears to be one. He is handsome, but unfeeling towards everyone, rather than, perhaps, being kind and caring to his wife and yet horrific to his enemies. There is nothing about this man to like. The Faun is played really well under layers of costume and makeup by Doug Jones (Hellboy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer "Hush"), and he also does well as the Pale man, a truly creepy horror monster.
Note that the character is only identified in the film as "a faun", and never as Pan, except in the English version of the title (The Spanish title translates as "The Faun's Labyrinth"). I'm not sure how deliberate this was - is this faun Pan, or not? Does it matter?
In any case, a eerily haunting fairy horror tale, showing the brutality of reality - and the brutality of fantasy at the same time.
8/10