Film Illiterate, wherein the proprietor records movies seen, and sporadic progress through assorted lists of the "best". Originally started after regretfully renting something forgettable for the third time. I've forgotten what, but never again! A tedious endeavour since 2005. Hello. 🙂
The scene is the countryside of Franco's Spain as a young girl travels with her pregnant mother to her stepfather's encampment in the woods. He's a captain in the fascist army, there to root out the local revolutionaries. Over this backdrop of blood and violence, Ofelia explores the world of magic she discovers in the stone maze behind the farmhouse: at its centre is a faun, and he gives Ofelia a quest: there are three tasks she must complete, before the full moon...
The two stories are intertwined. By day, Capitán Vidal (Sergi López) hunts rebels; his wife lies in bed, suffering a difficult and dangerous pregnancy. By night, Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) explores the unsettling fantasy world she has discovered. Both are graphic. Vidal's world is one of cold-blooded executions and the torture of prisoners; and the faun's is more like the old folktales, where innocents were lured to their deaths by capricious fae, than the watered-down stories of faraway lands told today. This is not a story for children.
It's been called a fairytale for adults, which sounds about right. Whether or not there's much to it is a different question: it's gorgeous, to be sure, and amazingly well-realized, but it's not especially sophisticated. It's half a tale of unsettling wonder and half one of grim, horrible reality, but the juxtaposition of the two aspects is not illuminating. It's a story.
If you like your films full of deep philosophy or life lessons, Pan's Labyrinth may not be for you. If it's just a story you're after, though, it's not to be missed: it's not a pleasant world to escape to, but it's enthralling nonetheless.
The scene is the countryside of Franco's Spain as a young girl travels with her pregnant mother to her stepfather's encampment in the woods. He's a captain in the fascist army, there to root out the local revolutionaries. Over this backdrop of blood and violence, Ofelia explores the world of magic she discovers in the stone maze behind the farmhouse: at its centre is a faun, and he gives Ofelia a quest: there are three tasks she must complete, before the full moon...
The two stories are intertwined. By day, Capitán Vidal (Sergi López) hunts rebels; his wife lies in bed, suffering a difficult and dangerous pregnancy. By night, Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) explores the unsettling fantasy world she has discovered. Both are graphic. Vidal's world is one of cold-blooded executions and the torture of prisoners; and the faun's is more like the old folktales, where innocents were lured to their deaths by capricious fae, than the watered-down stories of faraway lands told today. This is not a story for children.
It's been called a fairytale for adults, which sounds about right. Whether or not there's much to it is a different question: it's gorgeous, to be sure, and amazingly well-realized, but it's not especially sophisticated. It's half a tale of unsettling wonder and half one of grim, horrible reality, but the juxtaposition of the two aspects is not illuminating. It's a story.
If you like your films full of deep philosophy or life lessons, Pan's Labyrinth may not be for you. If it's just a story you're after, though, it's not to be missed: it's not a pleasant world to escape to, but it's enthralling nonetheless.