Finally found the time to catch Pan’s Labyrinth, and I must say I was very impressed by it. Saying anything about it will probably give away too much. Just know this… it’s as good or better than the hype I was hearing.
Guillermo del Toro kicked this ones ass. If you’ve seen it and want to discuss, feel free. That was definitely some tight shit that is worth a healthy discussion.
–sam
I know – that one stayed with me for awhile… the art direction was amazing for sure, though I found it very hard to watch some of the more violent parts. What I was most impressed by is how it took me to such emotional lows with the characters and then slapped me with all that beauty in the end. I sat there sobbing while the credits ran. I’m a sucker for all that fantastic create-your-own-heaven schtuff…
Yeah… the fantastical elements were nicely juxtaposed with the violence. And even the fantastical stuff was a bit more creepy than fantastic, which made it far more “believable”. If it had all been happy fairy goodness, it wouldn’t have worked as well, or at all.
Oh… and count me in for the sitting in the theatre dumbfounded with my eyes welling up with tears. Oh yeah… that’s me… luckily we sat in the front row so my street cred is intact. Only saw me cry. 😉
–sam
I applaud you for being moved to tears as well! In my universe it’s admirable for dudes to show emotion, so go on with your bad self… On the topic of the dark fantasty: I was struck by how it was the only comfort for the little girl although none of it was really comforting at all. It kind of seemed to show that frame-of-reference thing… that such comfort in fantasy would need to be aligned somehow with the drearyness of one’s earth-life in order to be believable (I also love how the fairy showed up as that totally creepy bug. I’ve seen bugs like that and wondered before…(haha)I agree it would’ve come off as more of a disjointed delusion if the fantasy elements were all sweet and disney-ish while all the graphic dysfunction of war and illness was going on…
That baby-eater thing totally grossed me out, though. eewwww.
Speaking of the baby eater, I loved the artwork depicting the actual baby eating. It was an excellent visual way to explain things without actually having to say it. Just another one of the good things about the movie.
–sam