Sellophane

It was probably the name and the length of the movie (just about two hours) that made me chose it as today's evening movie. I wasn't really expecting to be mindfucked considering that the same guy's made the highly strange Hellboy and the even stranger Blade Series. Don't get me wrong though, I loved Blade and Hellboy though a little excessively red was good fun. I just didn't expect a movie by Del Toro to rivet me and blow me apart systematically and alternatively.



What a movie though, it had everything in place, starting from the haunting melody in the beginning that slowly infused itself into the story to the amazing camera work as one scene merged into other. What I really liked however was the beautiful and flawless intermingling of the counter-realist and the Gothic with the stark and often violent reality of a brewing civil war. The movie is viewed through the point of view of a child which makes the over all viewing of the movie that much more mind-boggling.

Alongside an accurate and realistic depiction of the Spanish Civil War there is also the haunting fairy tale that serves as the backbone of this sublime movie. An opening prologue tells one of Princess Moanna, daughter to the king of the underworld. The princess became curious about the world above and fled to the surface, where the brightness of the sun blotted out her memories. Princess Moanna eventually became lost and died, causing turmoil in her kingdom. However, the king always believed that her spirit would one day return, even if reincarnated in the form of another.


Of course, the pleasure principal of Pan's Labyrinth is not different from it's predecessors...Magic. (Think: Lord of the Rings, Wizard of Oz, Prince of Baghdad, Conan the Barbarian, Lost Horizon) But it is the startling juxtaposition of the world of imagination with reality that makes this movie (for lack of better words) so fucking brilliant!

Stylistically perfect, the costumes and the make-up was brilliant. For once the "pale man" a monster who consumed human children while tempting them with a sumptuous feast seems, well a monster. Nothing excessive or digressive about him. Even the Faun(Who by the way is not the greek god Pan. Pan can't be pan without his flute now can he?)

A movie that explores a child's (Importantly, a girl child; Recalls: 'I was invisible to you because I am a woman') vehement desire to escape the cruel world, filled with violence and selfish interest that she barely understands.

We can all relate to this now can't we, at least I can. A door in the wall, traced with a blue, rubbed out piece of chalk, that would take me to the chamber of my dreams.

Facts and Figures

Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Produced by Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro
Written by Guillermo del Toro
Starring Ivana Baquero, Doug Jones, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú
Music by Javier Navarrete
Cinematography Guillermo Navarro
Editing by Bernat Vilaplana

Awards

The National Society Film Critics for Best Picture
Academy Awards for Achievements in Cinematography, Makeup, and Art Direction
BAFTA awards for Best Foreign Language Film, Costume Design, and Makeup and Hair.
Goya Awards(the Spanish equivalent of the Academy Awards) the film won in many categories including Best Cinematography, Editing, Make Up & Hairstyles, New Actress for Ivana Baquero, Original Screenplay, Sound, and Special Effects.
At Mexico's Ariel Awards, "Labyrinth" won in 9 categories, including Best Movie and Best Director. The film was also nominated for a number of other awards such as Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes.

http://www.panslabyrinth.com/
Oh, and thank you wikipedia

Hanedin Thinks: 4 1/2 Stars.