film: Pan's Labyrinth

[dapurpman]

Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth, titled in Spanish as El Laberinto del Fauno, is a 2006 fantasy film directed by Guillermo del Toro. The film premiered in the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and was released in the United Kingdom on November 24, 2006. In the United States, it was initially given a limited release on December 29, 2006; nationwide release will follow on January 19, 2007.[1] The film has been chosen as Mexico's entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 79th Academy Awards[2] and has been nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2007 Golden Globes[3].

from wiki

so i had no idea what i was about to see... but my friend says to come check out this movie. only thing i knew is the name n' i saw the poster. LOL that shit was fuckin awesome! so anyways im not gonna go off n' like some detailed review n' shit or even what its about.. but i didnt hear of it so im just spreadin the word to all my fellow bl'ers, i think some of yall will def dig this, im goin to see it again probally tomorrow n' a few times after that. INSTANT 5 STARS, i hae no idea how to make polls if someone can that would be greatly appreciated. sayonara (thx alasdairm for the poll)

http://www.panslabyrinth.com/ official site wit trailer

 

[Benefit]

Never heard of this until last night when I saw a preview for it. It looks amazing.

 

[alasdairm]

rate this movie

alasdair

 

[L2R]

a mate from my sword school has this on dvd and loves it. we'll definitely check it when it hits the big screen.

 

[SA]

I almost saw this at the Toronto Film Festival last summer. I say almost, because I had to leave about a third of the way into the show. This thread is a good reminder for me to go see it in full. I heard good things.

 

[Hewhomustnotbenamed]

I really liked this movie. Very strange. fantastical, almost like a kids movie on the one hand, and yet definately not meant for children (it's quite violent. All in all a pleasure to watch.

It did have a few slight flaws (some of the characters were too polarized) but all in all it was a great film.

 

[DarthMom]

wow, that looks fabulous, thanks for the heads up!

 

[dapurpman]

It did have a few slight flaws (some of the characters were too polarized) but all in all it was a great film.

upon my second viewin, thats a good point. ima horrible critic. what i found after watchin it again also is i dig the spanish language, after it starts goin you dont notice the sub titles n' (this may be different if u understand spanish) but it fits in with the whole fantasy/mystic atmosphere. adios mi amigos .

 

[drEaMtiMe*@#]

i just read an article on this movie and now i'm really interested in seeing it. i also wrote down this quote from it by the director guillermo del toro, who said "the way i see fantasy is not a way to escape reality, but to articulate reality", which is an intersting way of looking at it, i think.. the way that fantasy can unmask reality, showing its core through the use of symbolism and images of grotesque or beautiful creatures and things.

however, at the same time i can also see myself waiting for this to come out on dvd.

 

[Benefit]

I saw it this afternoon. It was great.

 

[Vitality]

Loved it to death... Everything from the makeup and costumes, lights, soundtrack, and script were absolutely amazing. The only thing that held back this moving from being in my top 5 ever was that when it ended it left me disappointed that more of the movie didn't take place in the "underworld"

It was still a fantastic film and should be seen by everyone possible.

Also, just to reiterate what was previously said, this movie is NOT for kids by any means. I don't often get squimish with violence, but the guy getting repeatedly punched was pretty brutal.

 

[cubehead]

I absolutely loved this film. Saw it over the past weekend. Here's a good interview w/ Del Toro about the film. May kind of expose why a couple viewer in this thread felt he characters were too polarized.
http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/008508.html

 

[psood0nym]

Polarizing personalities is a way of drawing characters endemic to the realms of allegorical fantasy, e.g. Pan’s Labyrinth. This magnification is necessary to illustrate the interplay of virtues/vices etc. If this is a criticism--and I don’t think it should be counted as one in this case--it is one that should be leveled at the genre before this particular, and outstanding, instance of it. 5 stars.

 

[ego_loss]

^^
well said.

For those that dug this flick, I highly recommend one of Del Toro's other films "The Devil's Backbone". It has very similar themes: children living in revolutionary era Spain dealing with supernatural situations.

 

[dr-ripple]

Saw the preview about a month ago and the following night dnlded it and even in Spanish I thought it was a moving film.

 

[L2R]

I didn't like it all that much. It was just as deep and meaningful as any of Del Toro's previous efforts. Not very that is.
I was put off quite a bit cuz it seemed to be a spanish live action miyazaki film. Kind of a Spirited Away-like coming of age tale with a sad ending. The characters were far too characaturish and the voilence was completely unnecessary.
2/5

 

[dapurpman]

Kind of a Spirited Away-like coming of age tale with a sad ending. The characters were far too characaturish and the voilence was completely unnecessary.
2/5

sad ending ?

why do u think the violence was unnecessary when it takes place in the 1940s during a war ?

my bad forgot about spoiler, i apologize.

 

[L2R]

^dude, spoiler warning please

the violence added nothing to the story. absolutely nothing. gratuitous just for the sake of it.

Spoiler: pan's labrynth

I understood the story of it all being in her head. You see her die after her last hallucination

 

[wizekrak]

Saw it last night and thought it was fantastic. A friend had gone to see it expecting a fullblown fantasy film and was disappointed to find it was a dramatic escapist tale set within the context of a war film.

Having been told this I knew what to expect going in and was amazed. Granted the characters were rather archetypal I still found them fascinating. I tended to see the fantasy sequences as a metaphor for the political doings in Spain at the time, the conversation between the faun and the girl in the maze makes it more evident.

I have yet to see Letters From Iwo Jima but so far I'd consider this the best film I've seen this year. As long as you go in knowing what to expect you'll be pleased. A fantasy film it is not, a dramatic piece dealing with human nature and coping with life it is.

 

[Bauer095]

The way this movie was described on moviefone was "a visually stunning horror movie with a fairy tale twist"

I was neither visually stunned, horrored, nor fairy tale twisted.

I thought this movie sucked. It was predictable, slow, and I spent too much time reading to notice any really visually captivating scenes. Plus whenever they were talking about her brother they kept saying "Ray Romano" which threw me off a bit.

2 stars, 1 for that dude with eyes in his hands (could've used a whole race of those guys) and the other because I sat through the whole thing.