Pan's Labrynth
Posted by: Bruce Woodhouse on 10 December 2006
Saw this movie yesterday, after being intrigued by the reviews.
The relatively unappetising scenario; the story of a young girl in the last days of the Spanish Civil war who travels to the countryside to meet her cruel step father. Two stories run in parallel, her escape to a magical world of fantasy and the battle between the cruel Franco forces and the local partisans. It is in Spanish and subtitled.
This does it an enormous misjustice really. Very far from being a childrens movie (it is Cert 15 and pretty brutal at times) it is original, striking and ultimately quite moving. My wife and I loved it (once she'd emerged from cowering below the seat in front and stopped crying enough to speak). Mark Kermode described it as the 'Citizen Kane of fantasy cinema' and if this is your thing then you'll undoubtedly love it (and by comparison it makes Lord of The Rings seem totally trivial). However fantasy is not my 'thing' and I still loved it. Visually striking, an absorbing fable and surprisingly poignant, I cannot think of anything I've seen remotely like it.
Go see for yourself if you like creative cinema.
Bruce
The relatively unappetising scenario; the story of a young girl in the last days of the Spanish Civil war who travels to the countryside to meet her cruel step father. Two stories run in parallel, her escape to a magical world of fantasy and the battle between the cruel Franco forces and the local partisans. It is in Spanish and subtitled.
This does it an enormous misjustice really. Very far from being a childrens movie (it is Cert 15 and pretty brutal at times) it is original, striking and ultimately quite moving. My wife and I loved it (once she'd emerged from cowering below the seat in front and stopped crying enough to speak). Mark Kermode described it as the 'Citizen Kane of fantasy cinema' and if this is your thing then you'll undoubtedly love it (and by comparison it makes Lord of The Rings seem totally trivial). However fantasy is not my 'thing' and I still loved it. Visually striking, an absorbing fable and surprisingly poignant, I cannot think of anything I've seen remotely like it.
Go see for yourself if you like creative cinema.
Bruce