02-02-2007, 05:23 AM
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457430/
I watched Pan's Labyrinth today after hearing so much Oscar buzz about it and seeing the really cool trailers a million times. I enjoyed the film quite a bit, but the trailers certainly are misleading.
SPOILERS BELOW!
Pan's Labyrinth is NOT the pure fantasy film the trailers make it out to be. It is in fact the story of a young girl, and her experiences after traveling with her pregnant mother to meet her stepfather. Her stepfather is a brutal and sadistic military man of some rank and has been tasked with ridding the local countryside of a small rebel uprising. He doesn't care about his wife or stepdaughter, only about the son his wife is about to give birth to.
The film runs a dual storyline though. This is the fantasy stuff the trailers show. Ofelia (the young girl), has always been a fairy tale nut. While the story of her stepfather's attempts to quell the rebel uprising unfold, Ofelia finds an old stone labyrinth and embarks on her own fantasy adventure. She meets a faun (Pan), and is given three tasks to complete. If she completes the three tasks before the moon is full, she will earn her true heritage as princess to the king of the underworld and escape her pitiful real life.
The fantasy storyline is simply amazing. The "real" storyline is pretty good, though a bit depressing, but the fantasy sequences knocked my socks off. It has dark places, grotesque monsters, fairies, secret passages, and tons of atmosphere.
I could understand the dual storyline, because if Pan's Labyrinth was 100% fantasy it would not give the emotional attachment to Ofelia and her plight. I do think that more attention should have been paid to the fantasy sequences though. I wanted closure with that freaky eye-hand baby eater, damnit. He is easily one of the creepiest things I've seen in a movie.
The "real" storyline was quite good though. It was sorta Schindler's List meets Sophie's Choice. There were good guys, and there were bad guys. They clashed, but the innocents were the ones that suffered the most.
All in all, I rather enjoyed Pan's Labyrinth. It had its problems, but the atmosphere and emotion of the film more than made up for it.
I watched Pan's Labyrinth today after hearing so much Oscar buzz about it and seeing the really cool trailers a million times. I enjoyed the film quite a bit, but the trailers certainly are misleading.
SPOILERS BELOW!
Pan's Labyrinth is NOT the pure fantasy film the trailers make it out to be. It is in fact the story of a young girl, and her experiences after traveling with her pregnant mother to meet her stepfather. Her stepfather is a brutal and sadistic military man of some rank and has been tasked with ridding the local countryside of a small rebel uprising. He doesn't care about his wife or stepdaughter, only about the son his wife is about to give birth to.
The film runs a dual storyline though. This is the fantasy stuff the trailers show. Ofelia (the young girl), has always been a fairy tale nut. While the story of her stepfather's attempts to quell the rebel uprising unfold, Ofelia finds an old stone labyrinth and embarks on her own fantasy adventure. She meets a faun (Pan), and is given three tasks to complete. If she completes the three tasks before the moon is full, she will earn her true heritage as princess to the king of the underworld and escape her pitiful real life.
The fantasy storyline is simply amazing. The "real" storyline is pretty good, though a bit depressing, but the fantasy sequences knocked my socks off. It has dark places, grotesque monsters, fairies, secret passages, and tons of atmosphere.
I could understand the dual storyline, because if Pan's Labyrinth was 100% fantasy it would not give the emotional attachment to Ofelia and her plight. I do think that more attention should have been paid to the fantasy sequences though. I wanted closure with that freaky eye-hand baby eater, damnit. He is easily one of the creepiest things I've seen in a movie.
The "real" storyline was quite good though. It was sorta Schindler's List meets Sophie's Choice. There were good guys, and there were bad guys. They clashed, but the innocents were the ones that suffered the most.
All in all, I rather enjoyed Pan's Labyrinth. It had its problems, but the atmosphere and emotion of the film more than made up for it.