To me, this is one of the most amazing fantasy films ever. Even more than the classic Lord of the Rings; Harry Potter; The Hobbit—Pan's Labyrinth has the perfect blend of supernatural and magic; brutality and beauty; death and love.
SPOILERS
I was sucked in immediately. The cinematography and sound create a brilliant atmosphere. The problem is that it didn't get any better than looking and sounding good. The fantasy plot didn't feel original or interesting. A self writing book, retrieving items that lead the next fantasy and crawling into the earth to find a creature - not exactly interesting. The fascist army plot wasn't interesting either. All we see was a sick captain in a dull drama. The characters are very obvious. By that I mean it's obvious Mercedes is with the resistance, instead of using her as a mystery or for some tension, and the Captain is a one dimensional sicko. There is nothing clever here. The fantasy and reality don't compliment each other. By the end the mentally ill girls dies and then the completely obvious story parallel from the start is connected, which is that the fatherless girl and princess who died in the fantasy are now both reunited. Is it panto season?
Didn't expect the violence at all. I was under the impression it would be a fantastic fantasy film and I was wrong. It just was something COMPLETELY different than what I thought it would be.
"Pan's Labyrinth" is a simple but heartful film that beautifully combines dark fantasy, mild horror and semi-realistic war drama in a truly unique atmosphere. It has been criticized for being a bit too simplistic and melodramatic, but if you take it as the allegoric fairytale it is supposed to be, I actually found it as one of the few successful attempts at transposing such a genre into adult cinema. The simple narration and archetypal characters reflect classic fairytale storytelling, while also managing to teach the values of rebellion and sacrifice without resulting tediously didascalic.
Ofelia's fantasy world has often been misinterpreted as an imaginary refuge from the horrors of war, or as a visual representation of war seen through the eyes of a child. However, as Del Toro Said himself, the faun and the other creatures are not a figment of Ofelia's imagination, and are supposed to exist within the film's reality. This made me think about how grown-ups tend to come up with elaborated explanations and expect overcomplicated developments from something that just wanted to tell a story.
My only complaint is that the creatures just appear like in a catalog with very little to say. It's a pity considering that Del Toro obviously spent a lot of time and effort to meticulously flesh out the hauntingly beautiful aesthetics and set the tone with his fluid direction and immersive sound design.
This was manipulating my emotions more than even Pixar can which is really saying something.
Other notes:
Not for kids due to violence
Plot Complexity:
Medium
Best Movie Quote:
You're getting older, and you'll see that life isn't like your fairy tales. The world is a cruel place. And you'll learn that, even if it hurts.
Post Credits:
None
It was just ok for me, not a very mystical movie that awes me enough. I'm someone who loves mystical stuff don't get me wrong, and the special effects of this show are pretty well done.. but it's not enough for me... Tbh, the only reason i found and watch this show was coz i found a gif of the part where she was with the monster sitting by the "buffet table" Lotsa people were also saying how good it was so i decided to give it a shot, sad to say it wasn't as impressive as i thought it would be. There were 2 parts which i found really stupid, 1 of them was the girl eating the grapes of course. Yea i know, she's juz a small girl and livin in her current condition, food should be something that she can't resist but like seriously? If you wanna die over a whole table of food, don't juz eat grapes? She even told the Faun "it was only 2 grapes..." my point exactly! LOL if u wanna risk dying over 2 grapes when u have a whole table of food, that's juz dummbbbb. Andddd with the creepy monster sitting there, u chose to eat with your back facing it? Like seriously, guess that monster wasn't creepy to her. (Maybe i'm too timid) It juz doesn't make sense to me at some point coz she knows how magical it is and the Faun specifically told her not to eat it but his advice juz fall on to death ears.. Makes me wonder, if u can't even follow simple instructions not to eat, why do u even bother bout coming out of the labyrinth before the hourglass run out of sand? "you'll only be in a better place with buffet" (Juz hafta be sarcastic LOL) And sadly, that's the only interesting part in the entire show, the creepy monster with his buffet and it didn't even last more than 10mins. Then there was the part Mercedes stabbed the captain, she walked out, then when the guards were chasing her, she juz ran a lil (maybe about 15 steps from the place) and stopped at a tree and then spaces out.. I was like huh? you're a lady and you know you're never gonna outrun them so you should have a headstart but no, she stops at the tree and let the guards juz catch up with her. Those were the 2 parts which i thought was really stupid. The rest of the show was juz alright. Definitely violent, Captain did a great job in the show but plot wise, the ending is considered a lil poor to me. As magical as they try to make it seemed for Ofelia, you gotta admit, she was the only one who can see those creatures coz her dad started that magical kingdom (I suppose).. So does this magic only work for Ofelia alone? Will anyone ever get to come across it and even if they do, why would they be allowed to join their kingdom if they are not related to Ofelia and her fam? And her mom was carrying a baby in the kingdom, was that her brother who was still alive in the real world? Is her brother gonna go through the same thing so that he can be a prince someday? So yea, overall.. juz an average film for me. =]
NOTE FOR MYSELF SO I REMEMBER SOMEDAY, ONLY REPRESENTS MY OPINION/THOUGHTS FOR MYSELF NOT A “REAL REVIEW“, SO YOU PROBABLY WONT AGREE WITH IT
(also its not my 1st language)
6.5
Im not sure why but I didnt like it that much, seeing all those high ratings and comments I expected better. Don't get me wrong its good but its not that exceptionally good or special. Did not fascinate me, mostly felt surprised and disgusted, or both. (I heard about it being traumatising but it still surprised me how graphic it was)
-expected the faun to be the villain, the mother said they can't be trusted and then he gave her that mandrake, and all I ever heard/saw about them is driving people insane when left under the bed
-her eating the grapes made me really angry, but then I remembered they prob didnt have that much food and so I think it was a bigger temptation, but still, very stupid and unneccesary (especially for that short amount of time she was in there)
An incredibly unique, devastatingly beautiful film, with an engaging plot, masterful editing, beautiful cinematography and amazing performances.
I love when contemporary movies bring back classical storytelling, reinventing it to fit current themes, in this case fascism. The ending really sold this movie for me - a esperança é a última a morrer.
Guillermo does fantasy like no other.
this man gets stabbed in the chest twice, poisoned, then dies via gunshot to the cheek? we love to see it.
also when this girl eats the grapes and the fairies die, I stopped rooting for her lol
Very strange fantasy / drama: a young girl, Ofelia, is the long lost princess from the "outerworld". Through "Pan's Labyrinth" she gets to know a Pan and has to pass 3 tests to "return" to her father and her homeworld.
All this takes place at a remote military base where her stepfather rules with an iron hand to destroy the rebels.
I didn't like the movie because the clues about the fairy-world of Ofelia are inconclusive and I don't understand why everything has to take place in a post world-war 2 scenario in Spain.
My favorite Guillermo del Toro movie. A beautiful dark fairy tale.
This film makes believing in fairies cool again.
The original title of the film is El Laberinto del Fauno.
My favorite movie of all time. Absolute masterpiece. Thank you for this Guillermo.
Very good, artistic and sucks you into the atmosphere. But it is a dark and twisted one. If you watch this expecting a happy fairy tale then you will be sorely mistake. This is a fairy tale story with the sickness of war, rotting humanity, and evil
Unexpected is the right word, I think. I thought this was going to be something like Narnia, until someone got his face bashed in. It’s dark, violent, weird and, most importantly, I had a great time with it.
I've known of this movie forever. Been wanting to watch it for a while. My biggest hindrance was it being a foreign film with subtitles. Del Toro has also never been my biggest interest. I appreciate what he does more than I actually enjoy it. With that being said, I am glad I got around to this. I am pretty sure this is my favorite thing he has produced and I am very happy to have watched it finally!
Rating: 4/5 - 85% - Would Recommend
Informed by the unrestrained hype, all the high scores and positive critiques, I expected much much more. For 2006 CGI is truly great, but except that, this film is nothing special. There's no message or lesson that these types of stories usually tell, the film is at least 15 minutes too long, the script is too focused on Ofelia and what bothered me the most throughout the film is that Ofelia's speech mostly doesn't follow her actress's mouth movements.
If it is a film made for children, then I sort of get it, but for the rest of us, all we learned is that fascists are inhumane cruel monsters who kill without remorse, which is something everyone should know already. I wouldn't say I wasted two hours, but I definitely forgot the reason why I wanted to see the film, which left me unsatisfied
Pans Labyrinth is a dark tale, masterfully told. It hits the entire spectrum of emotions. This film seems to encompass everything that is Del Toro.
I loved this movie it was both interesting and aesthetically pleasing
Excellent movie about how children use their imaginations to escape from a terrible reality. Fuck Vidal.
I loved the first 25 minutes of this movie. They are so full of life and characterization. Those transitions were insane.
The 2nd act is more straightforward, with some less interesting and/or questionable moments, particularly on Ofelia's side of things and the 3rd was pretty damn good, especially the conclusion of the movie, which I forgot was the opening sequence.
Also, Ivana Baquero was 11 at the time, but she put up a hell of a performance. Definitely one of my favorite child performances.
i tried to watch this twice while i was stoned and i still have no idea what it’s about
It was very good at first, but it was a movie that lacked excitement because everything was so obvious. I still liked it. the aims and situations of the characters could be kept a little more secret ..
Great movie. It was in my watchlist for a long time, I always skipped it don't know why? Maybe because I thought this movie is for kids? Maybe! I didn't knew about Guillermo del Toro up till now although having seen some of his work in past. Really liked his work. He definitely have made one more fan of him today! :sweat_smile:
I am not very fan of Ivana Baquero's acting, that's why I've never really connected with this movie. It is beautifully well done though.
An Amazing movie; I adore the combination of masterful storytelling, wonderful acting, and haunting music to tell a story that shows that an dark fairy tale is about. Even Years after seeing this movie in the theatre, I can still recall my emotions I felt so deeply when watching this for the first time. I strongly recommend this.
A very stylized movie that is beautiful visually. About a little girl with a horrible stepfather. Fantasy and horror in one film and it is beautiful to watch.
Pan's Labyrinth
A surreal film of a young girl, being promised the inheritance of a fantasy world.
The art direction is top notch.
Sergi López was fantastic as the sinister Capitan.
The CGI doesn't hold up and detracted from the experience at times.
8.5/10
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A fey, beautiful and dark masterpiece.
"Es que obedecer por obedecer así, sin pensarlo, eso solo lo hacen gentes como usted, capitán." FANTASTIC!
A fantasy movie. It's like a fairy tail but it contains some disturbing scenes involving kids.
very good fantasy movie
not a hollywood fantasy crap.
i liked it.
A great Spanish movie!
Epic, this is a must see
Shout by whitsbrainVIP 6BlockedParent2019-10-25T13:17:33Z
This is an amazing fairy tale. It looks incredible. It's both heartwarming and spooky. There's so much to try and absorb. I always feel like I need to watch it again because I keep thinking I'm not seeing everything I should be.
The plight of little Ofelia is so sad that it does take away from my enjoyment of the film. There is so much hardship and tragedy in her life that it's practically painful to watch. Also, Capitan Vidal (Ofelia's stepfather) is tremendously cruel. He's as extreme a villain as I can think of. There's a lot of gore and suspenseful moments of impending torture. This is not for the kiddies.
I acknowledge that this is a great film. The way it looks, the story, the direction. It's an achievement.